Noam Chomsky: 'Republican Party has drifted off the spectrum' | UpFront

A year after the insurrection at the Capitol on January 6, 2021, and the success of Republican-led dismantling of voting rights by legislatures across the country, many have accused the Republican Party of imperilling democracy in the United States.

According to a recent Ipsos/NRP poll, 64 percent of Americans believe that democracy in their country is in crisis and at risk of failing. Yet political partisanship continues to rise, dominating discourse about government. While many blame former President Donald Trump for polarising the country, world-renowned scholar, author and political activist Noam Chomsky says responsibility largely lies with the GOP.

“Republicans have just become a denialist party. This precedes Trump. When President Obama was elected, Mitch McConnell, Senate leader for the Republicans and maybe the most influential person in the party, [...] said straight out that the Republicans have one goal, make sure he cannot achieve anything.”

“He's doing exactly the same thing now,” Chomsky says of McConnell and Senate Republicans.

“When Joe Biden was elected, McConnell said very explicitly, our goal is to ensure that he can achieve nothing. We'll harm the country as much as possible, and we will then blame it on the Democrats, and we'll come back to power. That's not a political party. That's a radical insurgency. No interest in democracy.”

This week in an UpFront special, Marc Lamont Hill speaks with Noam Chomsky about the state of democracy in the US.

[pukulu]

Good questions were asked of Chomsky. Al Jazeera is to be commended for asking such questions.

[patrickmcphee]

You did a good job letting him speak. Good questions! Thank you

[spotlight]

Outstanding interviewer, did not constantly interrupt.

[HarharMahadev-bbhi]

“There is always reason to be hopeful”. Thank you Noam. 🙏🏼

[gregorywilson]

Wow! This is the most clear and honest reporting on the state of our democracy that I've seen. This is better than any reporting that you did on CNN. Keep up the good work.

[ahmedzaki]

Love Chomsky please bring him as often as you can. A real hero and a big fan oh Chomsky here.

[stalwart]

Noam at his age is still sharper and more eloquent than ANY US politician I can think of. Not to mention more honest and candid.

[gyrene_asea]

Very good interview. Important to give some thought to Mr. Chomsky's perspective on how we got to this mess and what getting clear of it will look like. Thanks.

[jcimsn]

Thank you Noam Chomsky. You are a national treasure.

[cgreenman]

He always breaks it down perfectly in a great reduction. Great questions to get the most out of that time with a legend.

[sitaroutreachministry]

A truly great American, and human being.

Kind of hard to trust anything that is funded by a state that does not have our interest in our well-being.

[ZBABOUINOS]

Howard Hughes, dementia talking.
I wonder how long his nails must be.
What a tragic end for Chomsky's

[SylvainDuford]

Congrats to Al Jazeera for featuring Noam Chomsky, something none of the American Corporate Media dares to do.

[VS-bcvi]

Great show, I forgot how inspiring Norm Chomsky is. I have to read one of his books now!

[markromine]

Thank you for hosting and letting Mr Chomsky speak.

[davejohnson]

Build back better is huge printing of money, I would think people are being smart by rejecting the build back better because IT PRINTS MORE MONEY more spending Noam isn't printing huge amounts of money bad for everybody ?? inflation inflation inflation

[StratsRUs]

We need younger representation with just as much wisdom

[BertrandLaurenceMusic]

So much perspective, so much said with clear-minded, independent observations by one of the most vital political analyst in the world.

[samstchen]

Noam is definitely a good guy. But a good guy may still comment totally wrong when he is shut out of the door leading him to the very truth.