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The Impeachment Election? Trump, Mueller and the Fight for America

Politics &
Economics

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Our panel discuss the 2018 midterm elections in the United States.

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Is this the last stand for American democracy? That’s what many of Donald Trump’s opponents believe. The upcoming US midterm election is the last chance to prevent the United States from becoming a truly authoritarian state. That fear has the Democrats campaigning hard. But the Republicans are scared too: If Democrats sweep the House and Senate, they could kill off Trump’s legislative agenda and gain new investigative powers to hit Trump hard over Russia, alleged obstruction of justice and the numerous allegations of influence-peddling at Trump’s businesses. And then there’s the Mueller investigation, which is due to conclude next year: if the special counsel finds evidence of criminal wrongdoing by the President, Democrats could begin impeachment proceedings. This may truly be the impeachment election.

So what future awaits America in this historic election? Will Justice Kavanaugh’s acrimonious confirmation lead to a pro-Trump surge or will a wave of women voters sweep Republicans out of office? And in this hyper-partisan atmosphere, is there any chance to repair America’s fractured political landscape?

To answer these questions and many more, Intelligence Squared brought together a panel of top US political experts the night before the voters went to the polls.

Featuring

  • Timothy Snyder

    Renowned American author and historian

  • Sarah Elliott

    Chair of Republicans Overseas UK

  • Philip Bobbitt

    Professor at Columbia University

Chair

  • Jonathan Freedland

    Guardian columnist, author and broadcaster

Speakers

Chair

Jonathan Freedland

Guardian columnist, author and broadcaster

Guardian columnist and former foreign correspondent. He is the presenter of BBC Radio 4’s contemporary history series, The Long View, as well as two podcasts, Politics Weekly America for the Guardian and Unholy, alongside the Israeli journalist Yonit Levi. He is a past winner of an Orwell Prize for journalism. He is the author of twelve books, the latest being The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World.
Featuring

Timothy Snyder

Renowned American author and historian

Renowned American author and historian specialising in the history of Central and Eastern Europe. He is the Richard C. Levin Professor of History at Yale University and a Permanent Fellow at the Institute for Human Sciences in Vienna. He is the recent author of The Road to Unfreedom: Russia, Europe, America, about Russian attempts to influence Western democracies.

Sarah Elliott

Chair of Republicans Overseas UK

Chair of Republicans Overseas UK, the chapter for Republican expats in the United Kingdom. Her background is in Republican politics in Washington, D.C., having worked at Americans for Tax Reform and Americans for Prosperity. She is a veteran of many Republican political campaigns, including George W. Bush’s campaign in 2004.

Philip Bobbitt

Professor at Columbia University

One of America’s leading experts on constitutional law who is a professor at Columbia University. A life-long Democrat, he has worked extensively in government for both Democratic and Republican administrations, and has been described by Henry Kissinger as ‘the outstanding political philosopher of our time.’