Show Notes
On Tuesday, we learned that the US civil rights leader Jesse Jackson had died at the age of 84. Tributes flooded in from political figures across the aisle for the Baptist minister who twice ran for the Democratic presidential nomination. This week, the Guardian’s Jenna Amatulli speaks to George Chidi about how Jackson transformed the Democratic party and empowered minority communities at the ballot box, and what Jackson might have thought about the party today as it takes on Donald Trump
More from Politics Weekly America
Will Donald Trump accept a ‘blue wave’ if it happens? Have young people turned away from centrist politics for ever? Will the US ever recover its image on the world stage? Jonathan Freedland is joined by the Guardian US columnist Moira Donegan to answer these questions and more
The US vice-president is following the Donald Trump playbook, attacking the Democrats, attempting to make jokes and even swearing more. Jonathan Freedland talks to Arwa Mahdawi about why Vance is making such an effort to court voters
Polling out this week suggests the Democrats could do something no one thought possible even a few months ago: take back the US Senate. Despite this, Donald Trump is telling crowds at rallies across the country that the Republicans will ‘win big’. This week, Jonathan Freedland speaks to David Nir of the Downballot about why Democrats are feeling so hopeful in deep red states
Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico is surprising everyone, as polls have him leading his Republican opponent, Ken Paxton, in the Republican-led state of Texas. Jonathan Freedland speaks to James Henson, founder and executive director of the Texas Politics Project, about why a blue wave in the Lone Star State would be seismic
This week, the US press corps stood up to Donald Trump after he banned three organisations he doesn’t like from the White House. But when it came to the leader of one of America’s oldest adversaries – China – well, Trump literally rolled out a very long red carpet. Jonathan Freedland speaks to the Guardian’s Shrai Popat about why Trump seems weaker these days, and why it might be dangerous to underestimate him