Joan Esposito (Featured Interviews)

Rick Wilson, co-founder of The Lincoln Project and host of "The Enemies List" and "The Breakdown with Rick Wilson," talks to Joan Esposito.

In the interview Wilson talks about his history in politics, which began in 1988 when he worked for George H.W. Bush and subsequently got involved in a series of high-profile Republican campaigns. In 2015, "when Donald Trump came down that escalator," Wilson said, "whatever part of my soul had been inactive flipped over and I said, 'I can't do this anymore; I cannot be a part of what I can see is going to happen when this guy takes power." Wilson then authored the books "Everything Trump Touches Dies" and "Running Against The Devil," and, in 2019, founded The Lincoln Project.

Wilson also talked about Donald Trump's "mastery" of projection, "assertively anti-intellectual populism," George W. Bush's silence in the 2024 presidential campaign, the value of political endorsements, and Senator J.D. Vance's role as Donald Trump's "meme candidate" running mate. Wilson said he knew Vance when Vance was anti-Trump and believes that the "gods of ambition are [now] so strong in [him] that he can't make himself be a truthful and honorable man."

Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/wcpt820).

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WCPT's Joan Esposito conducts a wide-ranging interview with Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.

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In an August 28th interview with WCPT's Joan Esposito, former Illinois Senator Carol Moseley Braun talked about the energy and excitement surrounding Kamala Harris's presidential run and what Harris needs to do to win in November. "I would just tell her, stick to your guns, be clear with the American people about what it is you'd like to do as president . . . and I think that bringing out the substance will be the strong suit that she can play in what will be, no doubt, a very rigorous campaign," she said.

Moseley Braun, the first Black woman elected to the Senate, also addressed the racist and sexist attacks that have been directed at Harris, including former President Trump's claim, delivered last month at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago, that Harris only recently "became a Black person."

"When you heard that, what went through your mind?" Esposito asked.

"That he'd lost his mind," Moseley Braun answered, adding that "people who like [Harris's] candidacy and want to see her elected president of the United States need to weigh in and start pushing back on this kind of foolishness."

The former senator also spoke about her history with President Joe Biden, recalling a time when Biden came to Chicago in a successful effort to persuade her to join the Senate Judiciary Committee that he then chaired. "I would follow Joe Biden through the gates of hell," Moseley Braun told WCPT, "because he's such an ethical, such a good man."

Moseley Braun said she was surprised that Biden ended his bid for re-election and believes he will "go down in history as one of our best presidents. He slugged it out, he kept his campaign promises, he did what he said he was going to do and now he's stepping aside, and he stepped aside for Kamala and I could not be more pleased," she said.

Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/wcpt820).

Photo: USADF (United States African Development Foundation)

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Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson talks to Joan Esposito at the Democratic National Convention.

Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive)..

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Michigan Rep. and candidate for Senate Elissa Slotkin talks to Joan Esposito at the DNC. Joan is joined by Bill Scher of The Washington Monthly and DePaul journalist in residence Chris Bury.

Catch "Driving It Home with Patti Vasquez" weekdays from 5:00 to 7:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/driving-it-home).

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Politics Girl Leigh McGowan and Laura Rodriguez of the Center for American Progress Action Fund join Joan Esposito and Richard Chew at the Democratic National Convention. 

Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive).

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California Rep. Scott Peters joins Joan Esposito at the Democratic National Convention.

Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive).

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New York Rep. Dan Goldman talks to Joan Esposito and Richard Chew at the Democratic National Convention.

Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive).

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Illinois Congressman Jonathan Jackson talks to Joan Esposito and Richard Chew at the Democratic National Convention.

Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive).

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Former Illinois Congressman (and former Republican) Joe Walsh joins Joan and co-host Matt McNeil at the Democratic National Convention

Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive).. 

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.