Vanderbilt University
Professor of Political Science at Vanderbilt University
PROFILE
Marc Hetherington
Guest
FROM Marc Hetherington
To the Point
Politics and the power of a word There's a new word in this year's political vocabulary: "deplorables" -- first used by Hillary Clinton to describe "half" of Donald Trump's supporters. Trump seized on it as a mistake that betrayed her elitist detachment from the beleaguered working class — and many pundits agreed. But Clinton's not backing away, claiming that elements of Trump's fan base are demonstrating his appeal to racism, sexism and other forms of bigotry. Now the word "deplorables" is fueling both sides of the campaign, appearing on t-shirts, twitter memes and advertisements. Did Clinton commit a gaffe that might cost her dearly or has Trump fallen into a trap that reveals more than he wanted?
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To the Point
Ex-FBI Director Comey tells his side of the story Today, former FBI Director James Comey came close to calling the President who fired him a liar. The White House denied the claim and called it insulting, but Republican Senators did not challenge Comey’s truthfulness. Many questions remain: did the President try to obstruct a federal investigation? Later, we’ll go behind the “velvet rope” for a look at 5-Star health care for the richest Americans.
To the Point
Human Rights in the era of Donald Trump President Trump’s UN Ambassador, Nikki Haley, said today the US might pull out of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council. Serious violators of human rights are members of the Council itself–and a US resignation could make things worse. Later on today’s show, now that he’s into his second term, comedian turned US Senator Al Franken is telling jokes again.
To the Point
Will the Senate write a healthcare bill in secret? While Democrats and Republicans argue White House relations with Russia, another question is being decided behind closed doors: who gets help buying health insurance and who doesn't? We hear how the pros and cons are being shrouded in secrecy.
To the Point
Janesville and the American Dream Janesville, Wisconsin is the hometown of Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan. But he couldn’t prevent the closing of the General Motors factory after 100 years. On this Memorial Day rebroadcast of To the Point, we hear what’s happened to what once was a model of American middle-class unity.