[MUSIC PLAYING]
ZAINAB SALBI:
You're speaking up.
I mean, you're writing
up ads criticizing--
PATTI DAVIS: I am.
ZAINAB SALBI: --the president.
You quoted the
Romanian dictator--
PATTI DAVIS: Mhm.
ZAINAB SALBI: --and
him saying, you
can do whatever you
want if you keep
that people frightened enough.
PATTI DAVIS: Yeah.
ZAINAB SALBI: Are you
suggesting this is
what President Trump is doing?
PATTI DAVIS: I think it's very
obvious that's what he's doing.
If you stir up fear in
people, you weaken them.
If you divide people,
you weaken them.
Everything he says is divisive.
Look at his rallies.
We don't have time right
now, or the room, for people
to sit on the sidelines.
I think the biggest
danger is people saying,
oh, you know the
news is so upsetting.
I just can't handle--
I'm just too sensitive.
You know, your sensitivity
is the problem right now.
Because if people don't
speak up and stand up,
we are going to
lose this country.
I mean, that's what we're
faced with right now.
There are a couple of really
great books out right now.
One is called "How
Democracies Die",
and it talks about that
democracies, at least
in our lifetimes, have not been
destroyed from military coups
and violent uprisings.
They've been destroyed by
a process of chipping away.
ZAINAB SALBI: That's true.
PATTI DAVIS: And
people get tired.
They get tired of this
onslaught of news.
They get tired of the drama.
And that's when
the danger happens.
ZAINAB SALBI: And are you
suggesting President Trump
is endangering our democracy?
PATTI DAVIS: Of course I am.
I mean, he is.
ZAINAB SALBI: It may be
an unfair question for you
because your dad has passed
away a long time ago.
But what do you think he
would think about this moment?
PATTI DAVIS: I think
he would be horrified.
He would also be 108
years old, so maybe
he wouldn't have a lot to say.
But let's assume he would.
I think he would be horrified.
I think he would be heartbroken.
Because he loved this
country a lot, and he
believed in this country.
I mean, that was in
all of his speeches.
And he believed in the
goodness of people.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
