Up First from NPR - Trump's Campaign Rhetoric, Wisconsin Senate Race, Hezbollah Drone Attack

Episode Date: October 14, 2024

Former President Donald Trump is ratcheting up his political rhetoric to appeal to extreme-right voters. A close Senate race in Wisconsin could determine whether or not Democrats retain control of the Senate. And, the latest from the Middle East after a Hezbollah drone attack strikes an Israeli military base. 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 Krishnadev Calamur, Hannah Bloch, Lisa Thomson and Alice Woelfle. It was produced by Paige Waterhouse, Christopher Thomas and Kaity Kline. We get engineering support from Andie Huether. And our technical director is Carleigh Strange. Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoicesNPR Privacy Policy

Weeks before Election Day, former President Trump talks of opponents not as fellow citizens, but as enemies of the country. We have the outside enemy and then we have the enemy from within. How Trump is appealing to extreme right voters. I'm Steve Inskeep, that's Michelle Martin, and this is Up First from NPR News. A Democratic senator contends that she stands up for the people of Wisconsin. I've taken their fight to Washington and I've produced results. But will those results be enough for the incumbent to win against her Republican opponent?

The answer may decide control of the Senate. Plus, we have the latest from the Middle East where Hezbollah has attacked a military base in Israel and the U.S. is sending a missile defense system to Israel along with the troops needed to run it. Stay with us. We'll give you the news you need to start your day. This message comes from WISE, the app for doing things in other currencies. Send, spend, or receive money internationally, and always get the real-time mid-market exchange rate with no hidden fees. Download the Wyze app today or visit Wyze.com, tease and seize apply.

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We ask questions, we follow up, and we bring you along to hear what we learned. Get closer to the issues, the people, and your vote at the NPR Elections Hub. Visit npr.org slash elections. With a little more than three weeks until election day, the two major party presidential candidates are using very different language to appeal to voters. Vice President Harris has been appealing to Republicans, people who may not agree with the Democrat on some issues, but do agree about Donald Trump.

And as she tries to broaden her support, former President Trump goes narrow. In an interview that aired on Fox News yesterday, Trump cast his ideological opponents as threats to the country. He talked of using the National Guard or the regular military to, as he put it, quote, handle violent threats after the election. Here to talk about this campaign rhetoric is NPR political correspondent Danielle Kurtz-Slayman.

Good morning, Danielle. Hey, Michelle. So let's start with that interview on Fox News business. What did Trump say? Well, Trump spoke with Maria Bartiromo, and it was overall a very friendly interview that she gave him. And at one point, she asked him this question that itself portrayed undocumented immigrants as dangerous, which is not true.

But then she took a turn and she asked Trump if Election Day would be peaceful. And Trump responded by saying this. Donald Trump I think the bigger problem are the people from within. We have some very bad people. We have some sick people, radical left lunatics. And I think they're the big... And it should be very easily handled by, if necessary, by national guard or if really necessary, by the military. And then later he did it again and specifically named California Democratic Senate candidate Adam Schiff, also a member of the House, as one of those enemies from within. And he also called Schiff a sleazebag.

Now, you know, Trump has always been known throughout his political career for demonizing people he doesn't agree with and calling them names. But I take it that this really is kind of next level. Yeah, you're absolutely right. For his entire political career, Trump has used authoritarian language, nativistic language. He praises authoritarian. So, yes, that's the baseline we're working with here. But he has been ratcheting things up in recent weeks continually. At one rally, he said police violence could curb crime. At a rally this weekend, he said that he'd use the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to detain

or deport people. And now he's threatening to use the military on his political or ideological opponents and ratcheting up insults recently as well. He's been calling Kamala Harris mentally disabled and just continually insulting her intelligence. Now, I want to add here, by the way, I asked the campaign for clarification on what he meant about using the National Guard or military against his opponents and have not heard back. Danielle Pletka Let's talk about Vice President Harris then. How does this language compare with what she is saying to voters?

Danielle Pletka The differences simply could not be more stark. They were already stark before any of this. Now, she has said, for example, that she wants a Republican in her cabinet. And when I was out with her in Arizona last week, she spoke to a group of Republicans for Harris there, and she announced that she wants a bipartisan counsel to advise her on policy as president. In fact, she's reached across the aisle so much that some in her base, progressives, are annoyed. Now, Trump on the other hand, he's saying there's an invasion of dangerous immigrants. And not only that, but his political opponents are even more dangerous and may have to be dealt

with by force. And I want to be clear here, I'm not just talking about electoral strategy. Trump is using this rhetoric at a time that we know people are very willing to commit political violence, whether it's January 6th or would-be assassins. Amid all of that, he's turning up the temperature. Danielle Pletka That is NPR's Danielle Kurtzleben on the campaign trail. Danielle, thank you. Danielle Pletka Thank you.

Danielle Pletka Both Vice President Harris and former President Donald Trump are focused on Wisconsin. That's a swing state where Democratic Senator Tammy Baldwin is locked in a tight race for reelection that could determine whether Democrats maintain their majority in the Senate. Baldwin says she has won in the past thanks in part to what she calls Trump-Tammy voters who voted for the Republican presidential candidate but also for her. They see that I've showed up. I've listened that I've taken their fight to Washington and I produced results.

The question is whether she can rely on them in 2024. Joining us now to talk about these dynamics is Wisconsin Public Radio's Anya von Wagtindorf. Anya, thank you so much for joining us. Good morning. So let me set the table here. Baldwin won her last race in 2018 by 11 points and things look very different this time around. Why so different? Yeah, that outcome was really an unheard of landslide by Wisconsin standards.

Part of the change since then just has to do with sort of nitty gritty politics. So previous Republican challengers had nasty primary fights. This time around her opponent, Eric Hovde, avoided that. And so he started with a pretty clean slate. But then part of it is also just the realities of partisan politics. Those have gotten more entrenched everywhere in the country and so in Wisconsin, which is about as 50-50 as it gets, you're seeing people just go into their camps. Baldwin has always run as a different kind of Democrat, really a workhorse who just knows Wisconsin and she's done

really well with independents and even in counties that also support Trump as a result but this time around, HVD is closely aligned with Trump and that plus that ever growing polarization means Baldwin is expecting many fewer Trump-Tammy voters. Can you just tell us a bit more about those Trump-Baldwin counties? What are you seeing there? Yeah, I spent a day out on the trail with Baldwin, including a stop in Richland County, which is an example of this. It's a rural county that went for Trump in his past two elections and for Baldwin in her last two elections. Other Democrats, including Kamala Harris, are focused just on losing those kinds of rural areas by less, but Baldwin has this

record she can point to that's really focused on things like manufacturing and the dairy industry, and that makes her stand out out there. I think we're seeing some of that shared strategy across the Blue Wall states of Wisconsin and Pennsylvania and Michigan, not writing off those areas. And when I was out there, so was Pennsylvania governor, Josh Shapiro. I asked him what he made of all the pro-Trump yard signs nearby. Senator Baldwin and I show up in communities like this, and we treat voters with respect, no matter what signs might be on a neighbor's lawn or what past election results have shown.

Okay. Finally, Amu, tell us the kinds of messages you're seeing in the final few weeks of this campaign. Yeah. The Baldwin campaign has really sought to paint Hubdy as a wealthy outsider. He's from Wisconsin, but he also has a home in California, and he manages a bank that's based in Utah. So they're really focused on drawing that contrast.

And then Hufde is trying to tie Baldwin to the Biden White House and its economic policies. Recently, too, we've been seeing a lot more ads that are kind of based in the culture wars, so attacking her approach to transgender issues, for example. And both parties are also just focused on the national stakes of this election and of course control of Congress.

That is Wisconsin Public Radio's Anya VanWagtendonk. Anya, thank you. Thank you. A drone attack launched by Hezbollah on an Israeli army training base killed four Israeli soldiers and injured several more. It's one of the more serious acts of retaliation after Israel's attacks on the armed group which is based in Lebanon. The Pentagon says it's sending an advanced anti-missile system to Israel along with about 100 U.S. troops to operate it all to help bolster the country's defenses against Iran.

And PR International Affairs correspondent Jackie Northam has been following these developments and she's with us now from Tel Aviv. Good morning, Jackie. Good morning, Michelle. First of all, just tell us what we know about this drone attack. Well, as you said, it was against an army base in a place called Binyamina in central Israel, about 40 miles from the Lebanon border. And it's one of the deadliest Hezbollah attacks

in this past year. Israel's military said the drone hit the roof of a dining hall full of soldiers and that in fact there were two drones launched. One was shot down, but this one hit the base. And the military is looking into why the drone wasn't intercepted and why no warning sirens were activated, as is usually the case.

Hezbollah said the attack was in response to Israeli strikes in Beirut last week, which killed more than 20 people. And Israel has been pushing deeper into southern Lebanon and Beirut, killing militants and destroying their arsenal. But as this attack shows, Iranian-backed Hezbollah still has firepower to reach Israel. And Michelle, of course, the war in Gaza continues. And just this morning, an Israeli strike targeted a large hospital there, killing four people, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.

And then there was another deadly Israeli strike that hit a Gaza school. Danielle Pletka So the Pentagon announced Sunday that it is sending a missile defense system to Israel to help with its defense. What can you tell us about this? It's an advanced mobile defense system called Terminal High Altitude Area Defense Battery. It's usually referred to simply as THAAD, and it's designed to shoot down ballistic missiles. As you mentioned earlier, it'll be operated by U.S. troops.

And this is the first time since the war in Gaza started just over a year ago that the U.S. has sent a significant number of troops to Israel, which means greater involvement by the US in defending Israel, but also means there are concerns about the conflict broadening throughout this region and the decision to deploy said comes as Israel is planning a strike against Iran and that's in retaliation for Iran's ballistic missile attack in early October they launched 200 missiles towards Israel. Most were intercepted but there's concern if Iran launches another attack it could be far more deadly for Israel. And as this fighting between Israel and Hezbollah intensifies there

are also UN peacekeepers getting caught up in the conflict. At least four soldiers have been wounded in the past few days in Lebanon. Has the UN said anything about that? Yeah, there's this growing rift between Israel and the UN peacekeeping force in Lebanon. It's known as UNIFIL, and it's an international force that's been there since 1978 and it helps secure the Lebanon-Israel border. But yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made a direct appeal to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres to evacuate UNIFIL troops from

southern Lebanon, claiming that Hezbollah is using peacekeepers as human shields. Guterres doesn't have the authority to do that, by the way, but later in the day UNIFIL said two Israeli tanks forcibly entered one of its posts and some shells were exploded and released smoke that sickened some peacekeepers. Israeli military disputes that version of events, saying Hezbollah fired anti-tank missiles, and the Israeli tanks were just trying to get their troops out of the area.

It's hard to say how this situation is going to, between Unifil and Israel, is going to play out as Israel continues its increasingly aggressive campaign into Lebanon to root out Hezbollah militants. That is NPR's Jackie Northam. Jackie, thank you. Thanks very much. And that's up first for Monday, October 14th. I'm Michelle Martin. And I'm Steve Inskey. For your next Listen, Consider, consider this from NPR News. One fifth of the salmon Americans eat comes from Norway,

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