Up First from NPR - Trump's Busy Week, Hit Song's Extreme Themes, Wagner Group's Africa Aims

Episode Date: August 25, 2023

From counterprogramming a GOP debate to posing for a mug shot in Georgia, Donald Trump had a busy week. A chart-topping song holds extreme themes. And Russia's Wagner mercenaries recruit for Africa.Want more comprehensive analysis of the most important news of the day, plus a little fun? Subscribe to the Up First newsletter.Today's episode of Up First was edited by Megan Pratz, Tara Neill, Michael Sullivan, Andrew Sussman, Jan Johnson and Alice Woelfle. It was produced by Mansee Khurana and Claire Murashima. Our director is Lilly Quiroz. Our technical director is Zac Coleman, with engineering support from Carleigh Strange. And our executive producer is Erika Aguilar.Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Every time I cook, I set my smoke alarms off. Oh. It's terrifying. But that's a sign of good cooking. That's what I'm told anyway. Or bad cooking. No. It's intensive.

Lots of smoke. You're working hard. Maybe got one of those hood fans over the... I do. So now I turn that on and open windows. Yeah. So, I mean, you should really try my food. You do that preemptively?

I do it preemptively now. They're just so sensitive. Start. I'm like, all right, got to air this out. Layla, it's 100 degrees. Why are your windows open? Yeah, well, I'm cooking. My meals are delicious with a tinge of charcoal.

I'm kidding. I'm a great cook-ish. I believe it. No, I believe it. Donald Trump posed for a mugshot and dodged a debate and sat for an interview on social media. It's been a really busy week for the former president, so what will it mean for his campaign? I'm Steve Inskeep with Leila Fadal, and this is Up First from NPR News.

A musician who seemed to have come out of nowhere as a number one song that some extremists may like. It could potentially open up a wider audience that they might normally not have access to. What does Richmond, north of Richmond, say? And a mercenary leader's last act before his presumed death was to recruit for operations in Africa. Will the Wagner Group's influence continue to grow there? Stay with us. We have the news you need to start your day. Now, Our Change will honor 100 years of the Royal Canadian Air Force and their dedicated service to communities at home and abroad. From the skies

to Our Change, this $2 commemorative circulation coin marks their storied past and promising future. Find the limited edition Royal Canadian Air Force $2 coin today. From being an unseen presence on a Milwaukee debate stage to posing for a historic mugshot, a shot heard around the world, if you will. Former President Donald Trump has had a busy week. Yeah, Wednesday night, eight of his rivals made a case for themselves, although most avoided direct criticism of the frontrunner they, in theory, are trying to catch.

Trump spun his own narrative in an interview on X, the former Twitter. And then last night, he was booked on 13 felony counts related to election interference in Georgia. NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordonez covers the four-time indicted former president, as well as the president currently in the Oval Office. And he's here to unpack Trump's week and the weeks ahead. Good morning, Franco. Good morning, Leila. So let's talk about this week topped off with a mugshot, as we mentioned. What were the highs and the lows? Although I guess I can guess the low there. Yeah, I mean, it was not really the best week for Trump at all.

I mean, you could make the case that he made the right move skipping the debate. And tens of millions of people also watched his interview with former Fox News host Tucker Carlson. It really was a defiant act of counter-programming where he attacked several of his Republican rivals on stage, also President Biden and Fox News itself. I mean, he argued that it was not worth it to debate when he was so far ahead. But all this, the debate, his interview, was really, really overshadowed. But as you guys were saying, his Georgia indictment and the trip he took to the Fulton County jail yesterday to turn himself in. And yet, with the mugshot, the criminal indictments, the sets of fingerprints, he's still in the lead for the GOP nomination.

Can anything shake his support within the Republican voting base? I mean, it doesn't look that way. Certainly not yet. I mean, at the debate, as Steve was saying, his top rivals really continued to largely stay away from directly attacking him. And those who tried were booed. I mean, any line of support for Trump was widely cheered. I will note, though, that most on stage backed Pence for his actions on January 6th, saying he did the right thing in rejecting Trump's efforts to get him to stop the certification of the vote.

So after a busy few days with rivals debating his relevance and a booking in Georgia, what's coming up for Trump in the weeks ahead? I mean, the indictments are just the beginning. Last night, we covered the trip to the jail. He got the mugshot, as you noted. And you know, this is just one of four indictments. The first hearing related to January 6th is on Monday on federal charges. And he's not stopping run for president. I mean, within hours, his super PAC was circulating his mugshot to stoke support and raise money. And apparently, he's returned to Twitter, or as it's X, as it's called now, posting his mugshot. It's the first time he's posted in more than two years. And PR's Franco Ordonez. Thanks, Franco.

Thank you. At the Republican debate in Wisconsin, this was playing before the candidates even spoke. It's by Oliver Anthony. He is the first musician ever of any genre to top the Billboard 100 chart without making the list beforehand. That is how quickly his fame has risen. His song takes the perspective of a working man who thinks the rich take advantage of him. That's a familiar theme in country and all sorts of music. The song also nods to some conspiracy theories, which has caught the attention of experts on extremism. So joining us now to discuss is NPR's domestic extremism correspondent, Odette Youssef.

Good morning, Odette. Hey, Leila. So why exactly is this song raising red flags? Well, there's one line in it, and it goes, I wish politicians would look out for minors, that's minors with an E, and not just minors on an island somewhere. And that second minors is with an O. And this is a reference to the Jeffrey

Epstein scandal. And Layla, you'll recall that Epstein was a sexual predator who died in jail in 2019. But the far right continues to circulate conspiracy theories about the circumstances of his death. And Anthony appears to nod to elements of the baseless QAnon conspiracy theory that claims that powerful elites are sex trafficking children in some of his other online content. So it's really remarkable to hear these ideas in a song that's topping the charts. And it's concerning to people who study the spread of conspiracy theories and extremist ideologies. So tell us more about that. I mean, this is a song. Lots of people may simply like it for its musical qualities. How can it play a role in spreading extremism?

I spoke to Jared Holt about this. He's with the Institute for Strategic Dialogue, and he says political movements always look for cultural artifacts like music or movies that can help popularize their ideas. But the problem here is that the song has been seized on by some far-right influencers, some of whom peddle anti-Semitism and transphobia. And if these far-right figures are successful in associating themselves directly with this song, it could potentially open up a wider audience that they might normally not have access to all the time. Okay, so concern around opportunists latching

on to the song to boost their own profiles. But is there a concern that the song itself could actually turn listeners into conspiracy theorists? The concern is that mainstreaming this stuff helps to normalize it. Michael Crenshaw saw this when he was a Black anti-racist skinhead in Chicago 40 years ago. He said that racist music from the UK played a role in shifting the attitudes of people around him. One day they would have a Confederate flag patch or button, or they would have a screwdriver shirt on. And sometimes they would still be nice to me. And so then I would have to sit there and figure out like, this dude listens to music that talks about killing my people, but he's still acting like everything's okay. So it's not like we're

going to see anything change overnight, but if we continue to see these messages mainstreamed over time, it could shift people's beliefs. And I'll note, Layla, NPR did reach out asking to speak with Oliver Anthony, but received no response. NPR's Odette Youssef, thank you. Thank you. U.S. military officials think they know what happened to a Russian mercenary leader. General Pat Ryder is at the Pentagon where intelligence analysts have observed the plane crash that involved Yevgeny Progozhin. Our initial assessment is that it's likely Progozhin was killed. Progozhin left behind some unfinished business. Days before his death, he released a video that talked about recruiting strongmen for operations in Africa. So what is his Wagner group doing there? NPR's Africa correspondent, Emmanuel Akinwoto, joins us from Lagos. Good morning, Emmanuel.

Good morning. So how extensive is Wagner's presence in Africa right now? Well, Wagner is significant in a handful of African countries, and they've become key there providing support for some fragile states. But since the failed mutiny a few months ago, there's been various interviews, various clips of precaian. Many of them are hard to verify, but they show us what Wagner was trying to project about Africa and this continent being increasingly important to them going forward. This video was released by Telegram channels linked to Wagner in the last week, and in it, Prekosian implied he was in Africa, that Wagner was making Russia great around the world and making Africa more free in his words.

But of course, that was before this incident this week. Yeah. So at this point, what is the likely future of Wagner in Africa, if we know it all, and the potential impact on countries where these private soldiers operate? Well, it may have some impact, it's likely to, but it's not clear yet. What we know is that in the last few years, this group has become more powerful in the Central African Republic, in Mali, and then to a lesser extent, maybe Libya and Sudan. You know, in the Central African Republic, they've helped secure the government there, fighting rebel groups. And in exchange, they've taken control of key mineral resources. And rights groups have documented, you know, systematic rights abuses and killings by Ragnar there. And a government official from CAR recently, he lamented Prigogine's death,

but said their partnership was primarily with Russia. So you can infer that Russia's going to determine if and how things change there. Okay, so how important then is the presence of the Wagner Group in Africa to Russia? Well, you see this particularly in the case of Mali, for example. You know, Mali kicked out French troops that had been there since 2013 to fight Islamist insurgency. But they were deeply unpopular, you know, accused of killings too at a wedding by the UN, which France denied. But when France became isolated from the West, and it relied on Russia, and by extension, Wagner to fill that gap. So Wagner mercenaries help it to exploit the withdrawal of French troops that has happened in Mali, in Burkina Faso, and now likely in Niger. And this, by definition, helps Russia expand,

try to expand its influence in this part of Africa. NPR's Emmanuel Akinwotu, thank you so much. Thank you. And that's Up First for Friday, August 25th. I'm Leila Faldin. And I'm Steve Inskeep. Up First is produced by Mansi Karana and Claire Murashima. Our editors are Megan Pratt, Tara Neal, Michael Sullivan, Andrew Sussman, Jan Johnson, and Alice Wolfley.

Our director is Lily Quiroz. And our technical director is Zach Coleman with engineering support from Carly Strange. Our executive producer is Erica Aguilar. And don't forget, Up First airs on Saturday, too. Aisha Roscoe and Scott Simon have the news for you. It'll be here in this feed or wherever you get your podcasts. Thank you.