The Young Turks brought their critical, progressive take on the state of American politics to Loyola when they broadcasted their live show from here Monday, Oct. 31.
The stop at Loyola was the eighth of a 12-part series at universities across the country, with the normally online-focused political network also airing their tour on FUSION, a television network which, like The Young Turks, targets a millennial audience.
Taking place in front of a capacity crowd in the Audubon Room, hosts Ana Kasparian and John Iadarola and their guests, comedian Chris Cubas and Fusion editor-in-chief Dodai Stewart, spent the show discussing and debating issues traditionally important to progressives, such as climate change, police violence and income inequality. With now less than a week until election day, their discussions led to talk of the
presidential race.
The mood in the room was dissatisfied when discussing the presidential candidates. At one point, the hosts asked audience members to cheer for the candidate for whom they were voting. Republican Donald Trump and Libertarian Gary Johnson garnered no applause, while Green Party nominee Jill Stein received a few claps. The largest applause for any candidate came when hosts asked who was “reluctantly” voting for Hillary Clinton, but even then the response was unenthusiastic.
The Young Turks asked who was a fan of Bernie Sanders, and the crowd gave a booming cheer, demonstrating the large following of Bernie Sanders supporters and their dissatisfaction with their options on the presidential ballot.
Host John Iadarola has similar views, as he wore a Bernie Sanders t-shirt under his Dr. House Halloween costume. In contrast to the crowd, though, he still has hopes of a positive outcome for progressives come election day.
“The ideal election would be that something happens that so clearly throws into chaos the results that they decide to just do the primaries over,” Iadarola said, jokingly.
He then took a more realistic approach.
“My strategies, or my desires, for election day are very close to what Bernie Sanders has, where it’s, ‘We are going to do the best we can with the options that are presented to us,’” Iadarola said. “He believes that Hillary Clinton is the best chance we have for not only progressive laws being passed, but also more progressive Supreme Court justices being placed on the court.”
One of the cornerstone issues of Sanders’ presidential run was income inequality, a topic discussed at length throughout Monday’s show, especially during a segment which featured Cubas’ recent experiment of living in the top 1 percent and having to spend $30,000 per day for a month.
“There’s a privilege that comes with being rich, that you get to enter the world on your own terms,” Cubas said. “You’re separated from the rest of the world, and then you start to lose perspective. I stopped watching the news because I was like, ‘Man, they ain’t getting past my gate. The news ain’t making it to
my pool.’”
The next stop on The Young Turks’ college tour will be the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, on Nov. 7, one day before the election. The Young Turks will broadcast 30 consecutive hours of election coverage following their next stop.
