Watch our video or listen to the podcast. Be sure to download and subscribe to "Red, Blue, and Brady" in your favorite podcast streaming app.Our hosts Kelly and JJ join Brady President Kris Brown to welcome Rep. Raskin to the podcast for a discussion on the root causes of January 6, the national sickness it continues to feed, the test our democracy sweated through — and how one father's love for his son stood quietly at the center of it all.
The first month and a half of 2021 was heartbreaking for Jamie Raskin, U.S. Representative for Maryland's 8th congressional district. On December 31st, 2020, his son Tommy Raskin tragically died by suicide after a long battle with depression. Only seven days later, Tommy's father arrived at the Capitol to play his part in certifying the results of the recent presidential election; with him came his daughter, Tabitha, and her husband, Hank. Instead of witnessing a testament to democratic ideals, however, the Representative and his family watched in horror as insurrectionists raged up Pennsylvania Avenue, angry and wild and hell-bent on attempting the unthinkable: a coup in the halls of Congress.Later, with the wreckage cleared away and the doors back on their hinges, Rep. Raskin set aside his grief and returned to the Capitol to lead the impeachment of President Donald Trump — an undertaking the Rep. recounts in Unthinkable: Trauma, Truth, and the Trials of American Democracy, his new book on the public madness of January 6 as it collided with the private sorrow of a grieving family.
Mentioned in this podcast:Origin of an Insurrection (Brady)The Attack at the Capitol Did Not Come Out of the Blue (Brady)Jamie Raskin’s Year of Tragedy and Trump (New York Times) Rep. Jamie Raskin searches for answers in 'Unthinkable' journey of trauma and grief (NPR)
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