The Dangers of Trump’s Cynical Anti-War Message
On this episode of The Time of Monsters, Matt Duss on how Democrats have ceded peace to the GOP.

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On this episode of The Time of Monsters, Jeet Heer is joined by Matt Duss to discuss Trump's anti-war pitch.
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Donald Trump and JD Vance have a surprising closing message in the 2024 election: They are the anti-war candidates. About the rising conflict in the Middle East, Trump has said, “I wanna see it all stop. I wanna see the Middle East get back to peace.” On a podcast, Vance criticized the Biden administration. “Even though they say they want to minimize Palestinian civilian casualties, they pursued the pathway that maximizes those casualties. They say that they’re pro-Israel. They’ve pursued the pathway that has prolonged the war as long as possible, which is bad for Israel.”
This message is, of course, deeply cynical, since Trump is planning on staffing his administration with hawks, as he did in his first term. But it might have appeal to undecided voters, who polls show to be strongly anti-war. To discuss why Democrats have ceded the peace vote to the GOP, I talked to Matt Duss, vice president of the Center for International Policy and a frequent guest of the show.

Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.
The ceasefire between Israel and Hamas turned out to be short lived: Israel has now decisively broken the ceasefire and launched an even more intense onslaught into Gaza. Coupled with this renewed attack, Israel (sometimes in conjunction with the united States) is also carrying on military campaigns against Yemen, Lebanon and Syria, with rumors floating of a new attack on Iran. I discuss this rapid resumption of regional strife with Yousef Munayyer of the Arab Center Washington, D.C.
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