Democrats saw major gains in off-year elections yesterday. They won both houses of the Virginia legislature and appear to have won the Kentucky governorship. Meanwhile, Republicans are worried about a trend showing suburban women moving solidly to the Democrats.
A lobbying firm representing Burisma Holdings, the Ukrainian energy company that famously had Hunter Biden on its board of directors, referenced Biden’s role in the company when it contacted the State Department in 2016 to downplay concerns about corruption. The revelation, so far published only in the conservative media, is important because the lobbying took place at almost exactly the same time that then-Vice President Joe Biden was pressuring Ukraine’s president to fire a prosecutor in order to secure $1 billion in loan assistance. Brian and John speak with Jim Kavanagh, the editor of thepolemicist.net.
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson kicked off the country’s election campaign yesterday by saying that his Conservative Party would get Brexit “over the line” and would then unleash the UK’s real potential. Britain’s other main parties--Labour, the Liberal Democrats, and the Brexit Party-also began their campaigns, with Labour saying virtually nothing about Brexit. Neil Clark, a journalist and broadcaster whose work has appeared in The Guardian, The Week, and Morning Star, joins the show.
Mass protests have effectively toppled the Prime Ministers of Lebanon and Iraq, but actions are continuing in both countries targeting government institutions and key infrastructure. A fierce debate over the political, social and economic future of these countries. Massoud Shadjareh, founder of the Islamic Human Rights Commission, joins Brian and John.
Demonstrations resumed in Chile today as tens of thousands of people took to the streets to protest government corruption, poor social services, and an end to economic inequality. Twenty people have died in clashes so far, but President Piñera is refusing demands to resign. Journalist Alina Duarte, on Twitter @AlinaDuarte_, joins the show.
It’s time for In the News, where hosts look at the most important ongoing developments of the week and put them into perspective. Today they focus on the elections yesterday, with big races in Virginia, Mississippi, and Kentucky, then take a broader perspective on elections — what does it mean that the largest bloc yesterday was actually nonvoters? Sputnik news analysts Walter Smolarek and Nicole Roussell join the show.
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