Illuminate and educate. i know it s tough, and i m not being sew lit tuesday, the industry is changing immensely. there s pressure on you all to deliver heat instead of shed light as technology changes so much, the system is changing, but it matters. no kidding, it matters. the truth matters. american democracy is not a reality show. it is not a reality show. american democracy is not a reality show, but is the media guilty of making it seem that way? the night s tenor trevor noah had comments about that too. but first let s not analyze biden and the event but welcome in the correspondent from the grio, monthly ball, national correspondent for time magazine, and author of the early 202 newsletter who just joined the post from nbc and
Russia, where there really isn t any right now. and leigh ann, you happened to be at table that was kigt. there was a callout for journalists who went missing in syria about a decade ago. his family was in the room and there was a moment about austin tights. tell us about that and where you were sitting. so debra tice, his mother, was a guest of the washington post and she was at my table. and she said that this week of meetings is the most meetings she s been able to have about her son in washington in a very long time. wow. she said in part because of trevor noah and drawing attention to him. so she has him to thank and she said she wanted to get in touch with his people to be able to thank him and she said it has been a very long pause, really hard to get people to listen to her. and i believe biden said on the stage, i want to meet with you, so that seems significant as well. we re going to talk to the head
Know. and it was interesting thinking about it s almost the same challenge that biden faces with his entire presidency. trying to signal the return to normal normalcy at the same time as you acknowledge this is a once in a lifetime moment, this is a different moment coming out of covid, the symbolism of that, trying to send the in essage to america how to be safe and how to go on with life, trying to return to normalcy by also acknowledging the unprecedented challenges. coming out of the trump years, being the first president to turn the dinner to the status quo ante, how do you make that seem normal and recognize it? and biden saying you re not the enemy of the people, but guardians of truth. i don t think he will persuade any of that but it s important presidents say it, right? yes, and absolutely one of the most important things the president said that seemed to be not part of the prompter, but before he took it to trevor
Both biden and noah about the state of democracy. to me, it felt different than in past years pre-covid, pre-trump even. to me it felt like president biden wanting to talk about democracy versus autocracy, which is which is one of thinks favorite themes. it is. from the time he announced his candidacy, he announced that and it was a key insight and people kind of ignored it. now we see what s going on. i think he really did, the key phrase was that you just had up there, democracy is not a reality show. that s what is wrong with the culture. but don t we treat it like that? aren t we part of the problem? i try not to, and i think you try not to on this show. a lot of us do but a lot of people don t. that s the problem. that s the other problem with it. trevor noah i thought had a fantastic media critique that he left hanging in the air at the end of his address. let s go ahead and show that as well. if russian journalists who are losing their livelihoods as