Coming up, a live discussion about the Trump Presidency with Washington Post columnist, george will. He left the Republican Party in the first year of the trump administration, registering as an independent, instead. This event comes from the group, jews united for democracy and justice. It should be getting underway shortly. Will be in conversation with the awardwinning broadcast journalist, george will. You on behalf of our leadership. The Leadership Team of jews united for democracy and justice and Community Advocates inc. Thank you to our many wonderful sponsors. As it is thanksgiving eve, just a word on that topic. On october 3, 18 63, at the height of a bloody war dividing our country, abraham issued a thanksgiving proclamation that officially established x giving is a national holiday. He proclaimed the nation was at war with itself, there were whichblessings for both sets could experts gratitude. All americans should be concerned about those were suffering as a result of the civil strife. He asked everyone to pray to heal the ones of the nation and indoor the full enjoyment of peace, tranquility, and union. Spokeent elect biden today to the American People, acknowledging the countrys deep divide and also urged unity. Said,entelect biden looking back over our history, you see that its been in the most difficult circumstances that our nation has been forged. I pray that we can pick up our pieces as a nation and begin the process of healing. After all, our american forbearers surely there is hope for us now. We have worked hard together with National Leaders of the muslim, jewish, hispanic, black, and asian committees for a discussion entitled after four years of big of bigotry, division, how do we heal . This is an Impressive Group of National Leaders. The conversation is sure to be farreaching and important. We hope you will register tonight via the email you will get immediately after the program. Because all of the studies prove those who feel gratitude and joy a longer lifespan, i would like to express gratitude to our many incredible speakers and moderators, tour audience members, and especially to david, with whom i work on this series of resembled it. Please welcome david, who will tell you about our Upcoming Program and introduce our speaker. Thank you. It is a pleasure to be here. I appreciate and share your feelings of thanksgiving. On behalf of the committee advocates, im least to will commit to another virtual town hall, this the 32nd in our series. Next week, we will have congressman, adam schiff, discussing plans for the next congress. Then we will have secretary, leon panetta. On the issues surrounding transition and government. On summer 23, Pulitzer Prize winner, bret stephens, will return with Henry Weinstein of uc irvine. Our guest is a man that many of us would like to hear from regarding what events around this mean, george will. He was with us five months ago for a memorable evening, as well. He is a columnist, television personality, and author. Perhaps the most powerful journalists in america, as described by many, and they contributed to nbc news and in and msnbc. This topic tonight is, where do we go from here, the impact of the trump era. He is the host and executive producer of the podcast to the point Climate Change update. He is a recipient [indiscernible] i wish you all a happy thanksgiving and welcome you all to this evenings conversation. Mr. Will thank you very much. Thank you for the moving comment about thanksgiving. It is always great to host these programs. It is a special privilege for me a talk to george will, such wonderful writer, a very creative thinker. Manages to still be a conservative even though he is not a republican anymore and has not been for the past four years. We will hear about that. Your recent column about the census, iabout the will get to that, but first, the transition has begun. And i think the earliest i proposed right there. Give us a couple of minutes on how you think it is going so far. Mr. Will i think it is going well. The institutions work well without much friction. We have heard an awful lot about the threat to our institution and our democracy the last four years. Think people lost out of the fact i think people lost sight of the fact that this is not a fragile country and was not made by fragile people. There was one great constitutional crisis in this country, and that was the civil war. I was beginning as a columnist during that. The during watergate, institutions, congress, the courts, journalists and others got through it. What about the fact that the president has so far refused to votes, has cast doubt on the integrity of the whole elective process . Is it that a threat to the institutions of the u. S. . Mr. Will i dont think so. I dont think the vast majority of americans are not subscribing to this, even his supporters. Where thes a point worst heat the worse he behaves, the better it is. Most alarming thing about the selection is the millions more people that voted for him after years. G him for four understanding what their grievances are, there fears their fears. Theres obligation for us to indulge these kind of fantasies. But the fact that his legal team is playing the game that. Ouldnt shoot straight the better it is for the country overall overtime. And his was brief supporters over the failure of his campaign, but his anger something we will have to deal with . ,snt that a stronger impulse or more troubling, then grief than grief . Mr. Will i dont think the American People as a whole are angry. I think they are exhausted. They want restoration of stability and the like normality. The Cable Television audience on both sides is kind of angry. In the primaries, only one third of the primary voters voted for Bernie Sanders or elizabeth warren, the angry side of the Democratic Party. That means two thirds didnt. The people who voted for mr. Biden voted for his demeanor, just as mr. Trumps demeanor was a selling point, so, too, was mr. Bidens demeanor. With that Jack Nicholson smile of his and his persona is very telling. President elect has introduced the six potential cabinet members, all involved in National Security in one way or another. Thought President Trump was interest of the country, do you feel different already . Mr. Will i dont think government is a foreign country or the adversary. People. Experienced mr. Trump selected some good people early, but he ran through the my mile a minute through them a mile a minute. I think what mr. Biden is trying produce communicate and discontinuity, stability, calm adult supervision has come back to washington. At to you feel about john kerry being introduced as the climate long boy . Notpresident you are a climate denier, but you are skeptical about the whole idea, on the change. The havoc that it might wreak. And what your take on the importance of climate to john kerrys appointment and this cabinet. Mr. Will the Democratic Party is deeply concerned about this and the president is responding to that. Im not a Climate Change denier. The one thing we can all agree tapehis is where the begins, not ends, it never is not changing. It is a very complicated, dynamic system. Activities can make a difference. It is controversial. The question then becomes, what do we know for sure . How much should we wager on these predictions in terms of our freedom, trillions of dollars spent . And does it make more sense in toms of economic efficiency change the dynamic of climate it,ge, or accommodate with measures of adaptation to say, rising sea levels . Of thing i sort think we can all cope with. Everyone take a deep breath and cope. We really have to cope when we are thinking when we are thinking. Know youre concerned about the deficit. You said medicare and Social Security are not sustainable partly because when they become unsustainable, the people in charge will not be around anymore. Is that same thing true with regard to Climate Change . Is it important to deal with it now so that it does not ruin the lives of our children and grandchildren . Mr. Will it is indeed important to do that, but again, we have to understand, we are talking about the rise of sea levels, you are talking about an increase of 12 degrees celsius 100 years from now. From 100 yearss out are going to be wrong, or certainly inaccurate. Measures are in order at this no more shouldn, be invested in science than the science itself has. Scientists are among the first to say, particularly , there areentists very complicated variables. You wrote in june not only should trump be removed, but that voters must dispatch his congressional enablers, especially the senators who still gambol around his ankles with a canine hunger [laughter] i love that phrase. But it didnt happen. The enablers are still there. How concerned are you about that . Mr. Will i think they feel chastened. You need a spine of steel in dealing with the president. [indiscernible] in the these People Senate are not that, im afraid. But understand this, there is zero, and i mean zero affection in the senate for the president. He has no friends, no admirers. When he is gone, as soon he shall be, many are going to snap back into a position of recognizable dignity. Some of them deserve to lose, they did not lose, but the theican people most like voting paradigm, because they produce it often. My guess is joe biden will probably be just as happy to have a republican senate, because then he can turn to some of his critics on the left and you cant do that with the senate. He said biden would benefit from republican control of the senate and that Mitch Mcconnell strifeodulate senatorial and go down as a consequential conservative. How likely is that to happen . Mr. Will i think it is more likely than you might think. To me, the biggest problem in our country institutionally is that our president has become untethered from constitutional restraint. The imperial presidency in the last 80 years has formally disrupted the equilibrium of the three branches of government. So, it is very important that congress reestablish itself enormous discretion, do its job, and again establish, as it is, article one of the constitution, in our democracy. Joe biden important, and Mitch Mcconnell are institutionalists from the senate. Joe biden has 36 years of senate experience. These men respect the senate. Everyone wants to have a more dignified, consequential, deliberative congress. I think for example, you will see a much less promiscuous use of the filibuster is a now have. Filibusters they now have. By the way, mr. Schumer has done sort ofrump nominees similar [indiscernible] why though should Mitch Mcconnell tried to modulate senatorial strife when hes got all these senators who are running for president in 2024 . And all of them are going to want to appeal to those 72 billion people, or however many there were that voted for donald trump . Theyre going to want to maintain or reach out to those voters. The same kindoing of things they have done during the presidency of donald trump . Mr. Will theres no question ted cruz, josh hawley, lindsey graham, marco rubio, and all the , every time a senator looks in the mirror, they see a president. Mitch mcconnell is not sympathetic to these people. Mitch mcconnell has never entertained president ial aspirations. One of the reasons is, mitch has the tightlipped irish demeanor of george will. Unfair. Arsh, but not [laughter] congratulations for getting rid of that image. At least for this program. Senators who want to run for president , decide the party is a cult and has become a cult. That is what you said when you resigned from it when the nomination for trump occurred. Is it still a cult, or do you there will be an effort to persuade those 72 Million People that have Something Better to do than the kinds of things that they wanted trump to do . Mr. Will it is too soon to say. The truth of the matter is, there are [indiscernible] two stents in the u. S. Military, a very intelligent man. You would call it the thinking persons trumpism. I think there will be others in the republican primaries in 2024 we want to go back to what we had come all ronald reagan, who said i dont want to go back to the past, i want to go back to the past way of facing the future. A serious argument about free trade. When this Republican Party began to delve with protectionism, what is protectionism . Government telling people what they can buy. It is managed trade. If that is not the essence of large government, industrial policy, what is . So the Republican Party has a bit of free thinking to do. If they say we are simply going to be trump without the messenger, they are going to find out that trump was mostly the messenger, mostly the manner, mostly the demeanor, mostly the tenacity. 68, you and i are old enough the president is, 146 electoral votes. One of his mantras as he campaigned was, theres too much dignity and government. The people liked that. Lack ofmr. Trumps dignity was part of his appeal. Is it a party of governance or is it a party of theatrics . Is that a party of inflammatory gestures . Too soon to say. We are going to find out fairly quickly. Let me ask you this. You are an advocate of libertarianism and individualism. American individualism. What about that concept, when it is used as an argument, for not wearing a mask in the interest of Public Health . No government can tell me what to put on my face. We see that again and again. Usinge putting on weapons when they are marching thate streets advocating theyre simply not going to tolerate that kind of thing. When they do that, of course, we are all subject to the spread of disease. What do you say to people who have that position . Mr. Will i say the following, i am, as you say, libertarianish. Incommunicable disease is a really good reason. I went to oxford to study. I got a phd at princeton. I taught physical philosophy. Jon stewart says there is a distinction between suffer guardian next, ask that dont affect other people, and other guardian next. Obviously and others regarding act. This is such an easy measure to take. I call a Country Music manliness on the part of people that will not wear a mask. You know the Country Music lyrics. Driverast, fishing truck. This is a minor decision that will save the lives of your friends. Doesnt seem to happen persuasive to a lot of americans and not a lot of members of congress, including members of the senate, who have apparently spread the disease in the chambers of the senate. So again, how can you expect members of that party to lead in such a way that millions of people will be willing to deal with the disease the way we ought to deal with it . Mr. Will i understand the problem. I think the most instructive teaching that is being done is by the numbers we see every morning on television as we passed 250,000 deaths. There some people you just cant rich. You just cant reach. We will find out who is fit to survive and wasnt. There is a case coming up before the Supreme Court on monday that has to do with a challenge to the senses, which under trump did not include unauthorized immigrants. He calls them illegal aliens. You have said that violates to provisions of the constitution, with both philosophic and philosophical consequences. Talk to us about that. The constitution quite tells you something about the enlightening nature of the american founders. They thought that information could be the basis of rational improvement. They had to have a census, because they needed to know how to apportion seats in the house of representatives. The question is, what did the founders say . They want to construe the terms of the hesitation in terms of the original meaning. Enumerationid the in the count all persons, 14th amendment and elsewhere in the constitution, do they mean more than just citizens . Yes. In the same constitution, they refer to citizens when they met citizens as persons. It is very clear, and this is how i think it would turn out, people, all all residents, all inhabitants of the country, for the purpose of to beentation, is going yet another defeat for the president of the Supreme Court. They also said all persons except untaxed indians, it was specific. Mr. Will youre quite right, other than indians untaxed in , anothering era sovereign, that is loyalty to their tribes, not members of the american community. Many and tribes in this country are members of the american community. Give you a number that is kind of interesting. Of the 10. 5 Million Immigrants have beenuntry, 60 here 10 years or more. 20 have been here 20 years or more. 3 are homeowners. 15 have bachelors degrees are more. Is, 4. 1 million children in this country were born here, therefore under birthright citizenship, they are american citizens, and are living with parents that are unauthorized immigrants. It are woven into the fabric of our life. Anyone who says these people ought to go home should face the simple fact that they are home. It is not astand matter of welcoming them, they are our neighbors. It worked for us, they work with us, they sit next to us at churches and synagogues and elsewhere. This is a nonstarter issue. In 2016, immigration was a burning issue for mr. Trump, from the tram he came down that escalated until the election. And joe biden has said in the last day or so he is for paving these to citizenship for 25 Million People. Something a majority of republicans favor. It is interesting you should said that, because trump was so opposed to immigration in general. The do you think about apple nt is tha