Why America's leaders keep getting worse

Why America's leaders keep getting worse

From The State of It: USA by The Times

June 3, 2026 · 32 min

About this episode

The episode discusses the decline of character in political leadership in America, focusing on recent events involving Donald Trump and Jill Biden's memoir.

California is "a beautiful state, and they keep electing these terrible people to run it". Any chance of a change now? We discuss how polarisation drives the decline of character in political leadership. Donald Trump has suffered some political setbacks. His anti-weaponisation fund has been scrapped and his preferred candidate lost out in Iowa. Blips or signs of something more serious for the White House? And..."I don't know how more dishonest you can possibly be" — Gerry's excoriating review of Jill Biden's memoir. Katy Balls, Washington editor and columnist at The Times and The Sunday Times Gerard Baker, columnist at The Times and editor at large at The Wall Street Journal Producers: Euan Dawtrey, Harry Kitson Executive producer: Molly Guinness Image: @spencerpratt on X Clips: Reuters, Gettym CNN, @spencerpratt on X, @grahamformaine on X This podcast was brought to you thanks to the support of readers of The Times and The Sunday Times. Subscribe today Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

People in this episode

Guests: Katy Balls, Gerard Baker

Topics covered

  • political leadership
  • polarisation
  • character decline
  • Donald Trump
  • Jill Biden
  • California politics

Keywords

  • politics
  • leadership
  • polarisation
  • Donald Trump
  • Jill Biden
  • California
  • Iowa

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Times, The Sunday Times, Wall Street Journal

Places: California, Iowa

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