>> MANY PEOPLE LOVE IT.
I KNOW PEOPLE WHO LIKE THE
CONFEDERATE FLAG AND THEYRE NOT
THINKING ABOUT SLAVERY.
>> MICHAEL BESCHLOSS, AS AN
HISTORIAN AND AFTER ALL WEVE
BEEN TALKING ABOUT IN THE WEEKS
AND WEEKS OF PROTESTS ABOUT THE
CONFEDERATE FLAG, WHAT IS HE
DOING THERE?
IS THIS JUST -- ITS MORE THAN A
DOG WHISTLE, ITS A WHISTLE, A
SHOUT, TO A PARTICULAR PART OF
HIS BASE.
>> IT SURE IS.
HES TRYING TO WIN THE ELECTION
BY MOBILIZING A BASE THAT HAS
WHAT ARE NOW FRINGE VIEWS
COMPARED TO THE MAJORITY OF THIS
COUNTRY ABOUT THINGS LIKE THE
CONFEDERATE FLAG.
AND THAT WAS UNDERSCORED BY WHAT
DONALD TRUMP DID YESTERDAY.
YOU KNOW, AS YOUVE MENTIONED,
MOST PRESIDENTS MORE OR LESS
RESPECT THE FACT THAT THE ROSE
GARDEN AT THE WHITE HOUSE,
THATS SACRED SPACE, THATS
SOMETHING THAT BELONGS TO ALL OF
US.
AND MOST PRESIDENTS AVOID
GETTING TOO PARTISAN WHILE USING
THOSE SPACES.
INSTEAD WE SAT THROUGH THIS
50-MINUTE RANT YESTERDAY WHICH
INCLUDED PERSONAL ATTACKS ON JOE
BIDENS FAMILY AND THINGS THAT
ARE MUCH MORE SUITED FOR A
CONVENTIONAL HALL OR A SPORTS
ARENA.
THAT IS SOMETHING DIFFERENT THAN
WHAT WEVE SEEN.
DONALD TRUMP YESTERDAY CROSSED
WHAT I THINK IS A VERY IMPORTANT
LINE.
AND WHAT WILL THE NEXT STEP BE?
OR THE NEXT TIME HE DOES THIS,
ARE WE GOING TO SEE TRUMP
CAMPAIGN BANNERS HANGING FROM
THE WHITE HOUSE BEHIND HIM, OR
MAGA SLOGANS?
WILL WE SEE TRUMP RALLIES ON THE
SOUTH LAWN?
THATS WHAT AUTHORITARIANS DO,
THEY MIX THE SYMBOLS AND
LANGUAGE OF THEIR PARTY AND
THEIR CAMPAIGN WITH THE SYMBOLS
OF THE STATE.
THATS SOMETHING THAT WE CANT
ALLOW TO HAPPEN, ESPECIALLY AT A
TIME LIKE RIGHT NOW WHERE WE SEE
SO MUCH WIDESPREAD PHYSICAL AND
ECONOMIC SUFFERING.
>> AND MICHAEL, WHEN WEVE
TALKED IN THE PAST ABOUT A ROSE
GARDEN STRATEGY FOR AN INCUMBENT
PRESIDENT, ITS USING THE ROSE
GARDEN TO TALK ABOUT POLICIES
AND TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ALL OF
THE PERKS THAT COME WITH BEING
THE INCUMBENT, NOT TO MAKE
CAMPAIGN ATTACKS AGAINST YOUR
RIVAL.
>> YEAH, BUT THE WAY THAT
EVOLVED, AS YOU KNOW, ANDREA, IT
PARTICULARLY GAINED A LOT OF
STEAM IN THE EARLY -- IN 1972
WHEN RICHARD NIXON WAS RUNNING
FOR REELECTION.
THEY SAID HES FOLLOWING A ROSE
GARDEN STRATEGY BY NOT GOING OUT
TO CAMPAIGN ACROSS THE COUNTRY
ALL THAT MUCH, INSTEAD GIVING
SPEECHES THAT WERE LARGELY ABOVE
POLITICS, IN THE ROSE GARDEN,
SHOWING HIMSELF AS A CHIEF OF
STATE WITH THE IDEA THAT THE
PRESTIGE OF THAT WOULD HELP HIM
WIN.
