Donald Trump Interview | Lex Fridman Podcast #442

[Leo Gura]

1 hour ago, lostingenosmaze said:

So why are you turning the other cheek when Lex Fridman does it?

Because I don't need everyone to be a leftist. This expectation is such a disease on the left.

Edited September 5 by Leo Gura

[Hardkill]

2 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

No I shouldn't.

Criticizing a centrist moderate for not being radical like you want is peak cringe.

Even though moderates are always a necessary part a society, I a lot times get very worried about centrists becoming easily swayed by the radical right or doing too “both sideism.” 
 

In fact, if you look at many points in world history, authoritarians have been able to rise to power by easily manipulating moderates into believing that they are no worse than those on the other side of the issues. Particularly during times of major crises or even when enough people perceive something to be a serious crisis even if there is no real crisis such as “the white replacement theory.”

Edited September 5 by Hardkill

[Emerald]

28 minutes ago, Inliytened1 said:

But they still ALL lie.   I guess it's OK to be less of a liar..we will give them a pass because we're democrats lol.

Your viewpoint only works in a casual social setting like if you're choosing friends. Like you can avoid both Jim and Jane if both of them are dishonest (a lot or a little bit) because you have TONS of other people you can choose to spend time with.

And in this context, neither Jim nor Jane is having to navigate the realities of having power and being a politician, which often necessitates some degree of opacity to get elected and do the job effectively.

But, if you're going to vote to choose a commander in chief for the most powerful nation on the planet, and your only two real choices are one politician who is a pathological liar who CONSTANTLY lies every time he opens his mouth AND another politician who lies about as often as your average politician... then you're much wiser to choose the latter to be in the position of power. 

Having a pathological liar in a position of power is very dangerous, as the commander in chief's role is that of a very influential moral leader. And a moral leader who doesn't value truth or honesty at all can convince huge swaths of the population lies that mobilize them towards things that cause harm to themselves or others.

[aurum]

3 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

Lex isn't pandering, he's just trying to be Larry King.

Larry King's whole shtick was to interview everyone under the sun and not challenge them, not judge them.

Larry King could interview Hitler and ask him friendly softball questions.

And there is value in that.

Everyone wants Lex to be a radical, but Lex is an extreme centrist. It is not Lex's role to be a radical. That is his chosen style for his shown. Lex is the new Larry King.

If Lex wants to be Larry King, fine. I suppose that’s just not how I interpreted the goal of his podcast.

[Emerald]

11 minutes ago, Leo Gura said:

Because I don't need everyone to be a leftist. This expectation is such a disease on the left.

Calling a pathological liar out on their lies isn't a leftwing position.

I get what you're saying about Lex Friedman acting as Larry King. And I don't expect him to grill Donald Trump on his lies for that reason. It's just not his brand.

But let's not frame pressing Donald Trump on his lies (or pressing anyone else on their lies) as "leftwing"... and let's especially not frame calling out dishonesty as "radical".

Let's let go of assigning apolitical virtues to partisan groups, and rehabilitate the frame from the pre-Trump era that the expectation of honesty is a neutral apolitical position that everyone with a good head on their shoulders would agree with.

[Lyubov]

1 hour ago, Inliytened1 said:

Did all of you guys miss that Harris and Biden lie too?  They all lie.  So Trump lies more, lets stone him!  That's like saying Jim steals constantly..   But Jane steals only some of the time.   So hey let's throw jim in jail and let Jane walk free! 

I hold them both to the same standard. Politicians across the board need to stop lying, flat out. 

[Yimpa]

6 minutes ago, Lyubov said:

I hold them both to the same standard. Politicians across the board need to stop lying, flat out. 

People lie. And the politicians are elected by the people. 

So therein lies the problem 

[Lyubov]

12 minutes ago, Yimpa said:

People lie. And the politicians are elected by the people. 

So therein lies the problem 

Exactly. And one lies through their teeth while the other one subtly twists things. Which to choose 

[ted73104]

Closed the interview after 15 minutes, I didn't think Lex would allow Trump to keep dodging important questions and non-stop BSing.

People vote for candidates that resonate with them, like from a very personal level. Trump has the personality, maturity, and IQ level of the basic average American, especially the Midwest white folks. So he naturally attracts those type of people which I believe is the majority of Americans. However Trump himself is not really dumb, he knows he can manipulate other this way. So he always say what his supporters want to hear, and acts in a way his supporters like. He says only what he believes or what he wants to become true. He has no regard for what the truth is or what people who don't support him feel.

[Leo Gura]

People who criticize Lex are like people who criticize white bread.

Lex has his vanilla style and he does fine work overall. His job is not to grill people.

Edited September 5 by Leo Gura

[Buck Edwards]

2 hours ago, Yimpa said:

People lie. And the politicians are elected by the people. 

So therein lies the problem 

And sometimes people like liars. 

Edited September 5 by Buck Edwards

[Reciprocality]

Trump accepted the interview because of how Lex conducts them, to expect Lex to ask tough questions with tough follows ups is effectively to ask that Trump only gets interviewed by rightwing media and very likely to expect Lex to change as a person.

Edited September 5 by Reciprocality

[Buck Edwards]

6 minutes ago, Reciprocality said:

Trump accepted the interview because of how Lex conducts them, to expect Lex to ask tough questions with tough follows ups is effectively to ask that Trump only gets interviewed by rightwing media and very likely to expect Lex to change as a person.

If Trump is comfortable with an interview, you already know it's gonna be a softball interview. 

[lostingenosmaze]

1 hour ago, Leo Gura said:

People who criticize Lex are like people who criticize white bread.

Lex has his vanilla style and he does fine work overall. His job is not to grill people.

Lex is not gonna get you on podcast, Leo. He probably did saw what you said about his people anyways, let it go man... 

Edited September 5 by lostingenosmaze

[questionreality]

10 hours ago, DocWatts said:

How about "don't incite an insurrection when you lose an election" as an example of abiding by democratic norms.

 

Except that's not what we are talking about here. These are 2 separate issues, but you clearly want to strawman this one to justify not allowing someone to go on a podcast. 

[gettoefl]

10 hours ago, aurum said:

his open-mindedness is being somewhat exploited

There is a thin line between open-minded and naïve

Open-minded refuses to let another walk over you

since doing so indicates you closed your mind to alternatives

Churchill liked to say, speak softly but carry a big stick

Edited September 5 by gettoefl

[questionreality]

3 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

People who criticize Lex are like people who criticize white bread.

Lex has his vanilla style and he does fine work overall. His job is not to grill people.

And that's why many people love Lex. He has the ability to listen with an open-mind, without asserting his own agenda/narrative. And he let's the viewers decide what they think of the guest for themselves.

Eckhart Tolle actually loved Larry King  - he said that the guy displayed immense ability to be present with the person who he interviewed and considered him a very great interviewer for that reason.

 

 

[Consept]

3 hours ago, Leo Gura said:

People who criticize Lex are like people who criticize white bread.

Lex has his vanilla style and he does fine work overall. His job is not to grill people.

Ive seen some of his podcasts where hes really pushed people to explain their positions. Even with Kanye he really pushed him on the anti-semetic stuff to the point where Kanye got angry with him (although it doesnt take a lot). 

He does have the 'open minded' style but he definitely has a bias toward Trump, either because he likes him or because he was a bit starstruck with him. 

 

[Buck Edwards]

2 minutes ago, Consept said:

Ive seen some of his podcasts where hes really pushed people to explain their positions. Even with Kanye he really pushed him on the anti-semetic stuff to the point where Kanye got angry with him (although it doesnt take a lot). 

He does have the 'open minded' style but he definitely has a bias toward Trump, either because he likes him or because he was a bit starstruck with him. 

 

Or because he is Trump lol. Who can imagine making Trump angry? 

[Consept]

2 minutes ago, Buck Edwards said:

Or because he is Trump lol. Who can imagine making Trump angry? 

He gets angry all the time when he gets questions he doesnt like, when he was president he pretty much wouldnt take questions from publications that he didnt like. Whats a lot more rare is seeing Trump genuinely laugh, i cant imagine that