New York Post columnist Michael Goodwin joined Radio Sputnik's Fault Lines Tuesday to discuss, with hosts Garand Nixon and Lee Stranahan, the need to lower the heat of political rhetoric after the midterm elections.
"How do you think the Republicans and Democrats are going to act if they have a bad day today?" Nixon asked Goodwin.
"Probably in similar fashion. I think the loser will be very unhappy. And I believe that what we've been witnessing, it's gotten incredibly intense in the last couple of weeks. If we go back to the period three months ago, what we saw then is what we will see again starting tomorrow: the unrest, the rage, outbreaks of sporadic violence, the sense that the other side is wrong for America," Goodwin told Radio Sputnik.
"I don't think it's going to be a pretty situation no matter the outcome tomorrow," he added, noting that both the media and US President Donald Trump have a responsibility to scale down the tone of their rhetoric, referring to an article he published at the New York Post on November 3.
"What is the premise of your article?" Nixon asked.
"The premise is that it's all gone too far. It's too hot, and we cannot assume that it will not lead to violence. I get a fair amount of people who say, ‘Bring it on, we want the next war.' These people don't understand what they are saying, but that is, nonetheless, how a lot of wars start: with a lot of bellicose rhetoric from people who have no idea of the consequences of real war or violence," Goodwin noted.
"I think there are a lot of people who are dramatic in this way. You can sleepwalk into a war. And that's what I fear is happening. I think the first step has to come from the New York Times and the left media. And I say that because it is the Times that broke the back of standards in American journalism by going after Trump in 2016. They basically announced that he's too dangerous to be president, and that became their coverage. That has to be rolled back. What I call on is the New York Times to temper its jihad against the president by just treating him the same way it treats all other presidents," Goodwin continued.
In his article, Goodwin argues that if the Times, which he refers to as the "leader of the media resistance," returns to its "traditional standards of fairness," the "political temperature would cool," as the president would then be treated with the "same respect and fairness accorded to his predecessor." That would then "put the onus on Trump to use more care and precision instead of just calling ‘fake news the enemy of the people,'" Goodwin alleged.
If Trump has any kind of victory, it will be "vindication," Goodwin told Sputnik.
"Even if the Republicans hold the Senate, you would have to say that was pretty impressive, given the resistance movement [and] how the whole world was hating Donald Trump. Anything tomorrow that looks like victory will be a form of vindication. If they would hold the House, that would be an incredible sign of vindication for the president."
In addition, Goodwin claims that the bitter debate after three women, including psychology professor Christine Blasey Ford, came forward with accusations that US Supreme Court's newest justice, Brett Kavanaugh, had sexually assaulted them in the past, may have hurt the prospect of a "blue wave."
Kavanaugh has repeatedly denied the allegations, while Trump has repeatedly accused Democratic protesters of trying to "make Senators look bad."
This weekend, Judy Munro-Leighton — who admitted to writing a letter under the alias Jane Doe — told federal investigators that she had falsely accused Kavanaugh of sexual assault because she was "angry" and wanted public attention.
"Under questioning by Committee investigators, Ms. Munro-Leighton admitted, contrary to her prior claims, that she had not been sexually assaulted by Judge Kavanaugh," Senator Chuck Grassley wrote in a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions and FBI Director Christopher Wray, describing her as a left-wing activist who was "decades older than Judge Kavanaugh."
"The Committee is grateful to citizens who come forward with relevant information in good faith, even if they are not one hundred percent sure about what they know," Grassley wrote in his letter to the FBI and DOJ.
"But when individuals intentionally mislead the Committee, they divert Committee resources during time-sensitive investigations and materially impede our work. Such acts are not only unfair; they are potentially illegal," the letter states.
"I think, what has happened since 2016, showed us that they [Democrats] didn't learn anything. The reason that Donald Trump won is [that he flipped] six blue states red. The reason he did that was largely [based on his policies regarding] the trade agreement, immigration, tax cuts. The Democrats do not only stand in opposition to all of those, they have denounced them. The Democrats didn't learn the lesson of 2016, which to me [is that] the middle class felt like it had been abandoned by both parties. And Donald Trump reawakened those voters," Goodwin added.