Amber Athey

Washington Editor, Spectator USA

Wednesday

Amber Athey

We need to talk about Joe Biden

Americans are increasingly concerned about President Joe Biden’s mental state, and for good reason. It’s not just some mean right-wing trope. Biden routinely forgets the names of world leaders as well as officials in his own cabinet. He can just about get through a speech with a teleprompter, but anything off script leads to trouble.  This is embarrassing enough to watch when Biden is addressing domestic issues. When his fatuity plays out on the world stage, as it did on Tuesday, it can be downright horrifying.  The most powerful man in the world isn’t all there. Biden’s first address to the United Nations General Assembly suggested that he lives in an alternate reality.

Sunday

Amber Athey

Is CPAC now TPAC?

14 min listen

Freddy Gray, Amber Athey and Matt McDonald discuss 2021's Conservative Political Action Conference in Florida, ahead of Donald Trump's appearance tomorrow.

Tuesday

Thursday

Amber Athey

Macron alone: where are France’s allies in the fight against Islamism?

36 min listen

First, France has been shaken by a series of gruesome terror attack – yet western leaders seem remarkably reluctant to support President Emannuel Macron. (01:04) Lara speaks to The Spectator's associate editor Douglas Murray and writer Ed Husain. Next, this year's US election was truly remarkable – but what was it like to report on it? Lara is joined by the editor of The Spectator's US edition Freddy Gray and Washington editor Amber Athey. (17:31) And finally, the British pub has historically been remarkably adept at circumventing restrictions on drinking – but how has it dealt with lockdown? Lara talks to journalist John Sturgis and Spectator writer Mark Mason. (27:21) Presented by Lara Prendergast. Produced by Gus Carter and Matthew Taylor.

Saturday

Amber Athey

When will Trump concede?

22 min listen

Joe Biden edges ever closer to the White House, but the Trump campaign has launched a flurry of lawsuits to aim for recounts of the vote in various states. Will he concede? Freddy Gray talks to Amber Athey and Matt McDonald.

Friday

Amber Athey

This was Donald Trump’s best debate performance yet

Donald Trump had arguably his best debate performance ever on Thursday night, for which he owes a big 'thank you' to the Commission on Presidential Debates. The CPD instituted a new rule for the debate in Nashville: each candidate would have their microphone turned off while their opponent was giving their initial two-minute response. This was intended to prevent the consistent interruptions that occurred during the first debate, which were primarily blamed on Trump but were started by former vice president Joe Biden. I suspect that the CPD, which has proved itself to be very biased, thought this would harm the President most.

Thursday

Amber Athey

Pence takes Harris to the cleaners in VP debate

Vice President Mike Pence emerged from the 2020 vice presidential debate Wednesday night with a sound victory over challenger Sen. Kamala Harris. The debate was, of course, calmer and more focused on policy than the presidential debate between Trump and Biden last week. Although it may seem surprising that such conditions would work in favor of the bombastic Trump administration, Pence's unflappable demeanor and meticulous preparation proved to be his big advantages of the night. Pence started the evening by mounting a much better defense of the administration's COVID response than Trump ever could. It was not necessarily convincing, but all he really had to do was survive what was sure to be the most challenging segment of the night.

Tuesday

Amber Athey

Is Trump really ‘feeling great’?

14 min listen

A Covid-positive Donald Trump returned to the White House yesterday evening after spending 72 hours at the Walter Reed hospital. After landing on the south lawn in a helicopter, the President removed his mask and waved to the media below, flanked by American flags. He later tweeted: 'FEELING GREAT!' But has Trump really recovered? Freddy Gray speaks to Amber Athey.

Saturday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Amber Athey

Every Democrat lost in last night’s South Carolina debate

Former South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg said at least one accurate thing in South Carolina on Tuesday night: ‘Russia doesn’t have a political party… they want chaos’. But Mayor Pete was dead wrong when he said the chaos would come from a presidential race between Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders and President Donald Trump. The chaos was right there on stage. The candidates went south in more than one way tonight. CBS’s attempt at moderating the latest Democratic debate was a disastrous hellstorm of candidates yelling over one another, sharing bad jokes, lobbing tired and petty attacks, and, worst of all, trying to show some semblance of self-awareness with the final set of so-called ‘personal’ questions.

Thursday

Amber Athey

Hinden-Bloomberg: NYC mayor goes up in flames at Vegas debate

Former New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg got a taste of front-runner status on Wednesday night, getting absolutely walloped by his primary opponents during the ninth Democratic debate in Nevada. Bloomberg, who was not on the ballot in the Iowa caucus or the New Hampshire primary, has been surging in the polls thanks to massive ad buys and a social media-oriented campaign. However, his absence from debates has allowed him to avoid scrutiny for the issues raised by massive opposition research dumps. Bloomberg took a gamble by appearing at Wednesday’s debate — presumably he assumed he had the political experience to put up a good performance.

Tuesday