Washington Editor, Spectator USA
29 min listen
Amber Athey and Daniel McCarthy editor of Modern Age Journal and columnist at The Spectator join the Americano podcast to breakdown the long House speaker battle which has finally culminated in Trumpist Mike Johnson getting selected.
President Joe Biden’s re-election campaign has a major disadvantage. With no pandemic, Biden can no longer campaign from his basement and instead has to navigate the real world, which is filled with all kinds of hazards. Rogue sand bags, stairs, and bicycle pedals all threaten to trip up the president at any moment. It sounds absurd, but Operation Don’t Let Biden Fall is a 'critical project' for Team Biden, Axios reports. Surrogates for the president have publicly brushed away concern about Biden’s age as a right-wing conspiracy, but the campaign is well aware that there is a serious problem. Will Biden's team put him in front of the voters and risk whatever gaffes might come along the way?
The first Republican primary debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin wrapped in the early hours of this morning. Here is the definitive list of the evening’s winners and losers. Winners Vivek Ramaswamy Entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy is the only candidate on the stage who spoke to an issue larger than partisan politics: a lack of American identity and purpose. He accurately pinpointed the undercurrent of malaise in the country. Ramaswamy also was the first to raise his hand unapologetically when asked if he would stop sending money to Ukraine and if he would support former president Donald Trump as the nominee even if he were convicted in one of his pending legal cases. In his early moments he came off a bit arrogant, but that wore off as he settled in and set himself apart from the field.
17 min listen
Freddy Gray sits down with The Spectator's Washington editor, Amber Athey to discuss the US women's soccer team defeat in the World Cup and why some are fed up with their politics.
12 min listen
President Joe Biden landed in Belfast this week to mark the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement. For the podcast, Washington editor, Amber Athey is joined by Lew Lukens, former deputy chief of mission at the US Embassy in London to talk about the significance of this state visit for Biden who now embarks on a four-day trip visiting family in Ireland. With proud Irish roots, a hostility to Brexit, and someone famous for his gaffes, has the trip passed by without any awkward moments? Produced by Natasha Feroze and Saby Kulkarni.
Surprise! Rihanna is pregnant again. This was the big takeaway from the Grammy-winning singer’s Super Bowl half-time show on Sunday – her first solo live performance in seven years. The 34-year-old took a step back from her music career to focus on other projects such as her successful make-up and lingerie line Fenty, before giving birth to her first child in May 2022. Rihanna’s return to the spotlight was not met without criticism in America. Some Republicans condemned the NFL’s choice to have Rihanna perform due to her aggressively left-wing political views. Others took issue with the performance itself, pointing out that some of her lyrics and dance moves were quite raunchy.
23 min listen
Kevin McCarthy's hopes to be voted House Speaker reaches day four still without a resolution. How much will he have to concede in order to win over the Republican rebels? Freddy Gray speaks to Amber Athey, The Spectator's Washington Editor.
Ye is not in Calabasas anymore. The superstar rapper, designer and now 2024 presidential candidate flew to western Maryland on Monday alongside his new campaign manager, the right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulous and the de facto leader of the ‘Groyper Army’, Nick Fuentes. The trio landed at Frederick Municipal Airport only to find that their driver was nowhere to be found. The limo company had accidentally sent him to Washington Dulles. Ye, or the artist formally known as Kanye West, was in town to appear on Timcast, the podcast hosted by disaffected liberal Tim Pool. Timcast staff munched on Black Hog BBQ (they ordered it because they heard Ye likes barbecue) and wondered aloud if he’d still show up.
Former US president Donald Trump last night announced his candidacy for the 2024 election at his Florida resort in Mar-a-Lago in a swanky ballroom. The room was adorned in gold and Trump had a row of American flags at his back as he said he would run for president for the third time. Trump earned some ire from the GOP base last week when he attacked Florida governor Ron DeSantis and Virginia governor Glenn Youngkin, but this has not released his grip on the Republican Party. He opened his speech with a promise: ‘America’s comeback starts now.’ It’s ‘Make America Great Again’ …again. ‘This is not a task… for a conventional candidate,’ Trump said last night. ‘This is a task for a movement.
41 min listen
On this week's podcast: After the markets saw off Kwarteng, Trussonomics and now Truss herself, James Forsyth writes in The Spectator that the markets will be driving British politics for the foreseeable future. He is joined by Britain economics editor at the Economist Soumaya Keynes to discuss the institutions now dictating government policy (00:56).Also this week:Looking ahead to the American midterms next month, are we heading for a 'red wave'? Freddy Gray says in his piece for the magazine that the Democrats could be in for a shellacking come November. He is joined by Washington editor at Spectator World, Amber Athey (13:41).And finally:Should the Parthenon Marbles be returned to Athens?
At the start of the year, largely thanks to the actions of the president, the Republican party was sitting pretty. It would be generous to say that Joe Biden’s first year in office didn’t live up to expectations. The former vice president who was heralded by his party and the liberal media as the man who would return the country to normalcy, restore faith in government institutions and protect democracy instead created new post-pandemic chaos. Biden and the Democrats failed to deliver in pretty much every area that mattered to Americans: gas prices, inflation, supply chains, the southern border, Afghanistan, Covid-19 and crime.
15 min listen
Freddy Gray speaks to Amber Athey about yesterday's FBI raid at Mar a Lago, and Donald Trump's subsequent release of a video that looks suspiciously like a prelude to a campaign in 2024.
Donald Trump announced Monday night that the FBI had raided his home in Mar-a-Lago. One would assume the bar should be exceedingly high for the Department of Justice to execute a search warrant on a man who was previously the leader of the free world. That would not appear to be the case here. Nor, sadly, is it surprising, given the seemingly endless fishing expedition that Biden and the Democrats have subjected Trump to over the past year and a half. According to a report from the New York Times, agents supposedly went into Trump’s home in Florida to check whether he had retained or hidden any classified documents from his time at the White House.
Former president Donald Trump returned to Washington, DC for the first time since leaving office last night. He did not like what he saw. During his keynote address at the America First Agenda Summit held at the Marriott Marquis, Trump derided the filthy homeless encampments that have popped up throughout the city and called for a return to 'law and order'. These tent cities, Trump said, are 'all over some of, I think, the most beautiful public spaces in the world'. Indeed, if you drive through downtown DC or catch a train out of Union Station, you will encounter the haphazard tents and the desperate drug-addicted and mentally unwell folk who roam within. Trump’s solution?
Washington, DC Prince Harry is once again mouthing off about American politics despite a rudimentary understanding – at best – of our founding principles. The pampered Brit delivered a speech at the United Nations on Monday insisting that we are witnessing a 'rolling back of constitutional rights here in the United States'. Prince Harry, who only lives here because his wife dreams of doing animated voiceovers for Netflix, routinely opines on our constitution with all of the British pomposity that led to the Revolutionary War. Newsflash: Americans do not like it when foreigners tell us what to do or how we should feel, and yet Prince Harry (do I even have to use his title anymore?) is too arrogant and lacking in self-awareness to sit down and shut up.
Raise your glass to Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who hypocritically escaped record Covid cases in her home state of New York to drink cocktails and attend a drag brunch in free Florida. It's not uncommon for a politician's vacation to become the subject of national criticism, but in response, AOC has managed to deploy the worst communications strategy since 'hiking the Appalachian trail' became code for banging your mistress in Argentina. After being called out on Twitter for her newly attained snowbird status — and her boyfriend's gaudy choice in footwear — AOC declared that her critics are just upset that they don't get to sleep with her. https://twitter.com/AOC/status/1477000469318885385?
At least five people were killed and more than 40 injured on Sunday night when a driver drove his SUV into attendees of the annual Christmas parade in Waukesha, Wisconsin. The driver has been identified in news reports as Darrell Edward Brooks Jr. The horrific attack immediately made national news in America because of the death toll and brutal nature of the crime. Videos surfaced online showing the driver veering towards members of the parade and narrowly missing many others. Sunday's incident appeared eerily similar to the 2016 Berlin terror attack, where an Isis member killed 12 people by ramming his truck through a Christmas market.
20 min listen
Freddy Gray talks to Amber Athey and Matt McDonald about the results of the race for the governorship of Virginia and more.
The Spectator’s Washington editor interviewed Donald Trump this week. The full article will appear shortly, but here is an excerpt of their conversation: On the FBI going after parents who protest against critical race theory Amber Athey: I'd love to get your reaction to Attorney General Merrick Garland mobilising the FBI against parents who oppose CRT at local school board meetings. Donald Trump: Well, I'm very surprised that he'd do it. The local boards have gone out of their way to really take over the school system and to do things that a lot of the parents disagree with — I would say almost all of the parents disagree with. It's shocking what they're doing. So I was surprised to see it. The school boards have really been changing. They first, they changed for the worse.
10 min listen
President Biden has spent the week meeting with foreign leaders including Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Now, the number of people starting to speculate about the state Joe Biden’s health is growing. Freddy Gray sits down with Amber Athey, the Washington Editor for The Spectator to discuss where the cracks are beginning to show and what this could mean for Kamala Harris.
