Well, He's Our Guy. Lanhee Chen Talks to A&G

Summary

Armstrong & Getty On Demand – “Well, He's Our Guy. Lanhee Chen Talks to A&G”

Date: July 12, 2026
Host: Jack Armstrong
Guest: Lanhee Chen (Hoover Institution, Stanford University)
Podcast: Armstrong & Getty On Demand (iHeartPodcasts)

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on political developments surrounding Maine Senate candidate Graham Platner’s suspension of his campaign amid serious allegations, and the broader implications of character, party loyalty, and shifting litmus tests in American politics. Guest Lanhee Chen, a prominent political analyst, joins Jack Armstrong to unpack the evolving value of character in political candidates, the Democratic Party's challenges with its progressive wing, the consequences of Senate control in a Trump second term, and what makes America exceptional in the face of its critics.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

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1. Graham Platner’s Exit and the Character Question

(00:46 – 05:59)

• Platner's Suspension: Platner's campaign is suspended after allegations, prompting a discussion about the "shirts and skins" mentality in modern American politics—where party loyalty overrides character concerns.
• Electorate’s Priorities: Voters in Maine supported Platner despite prior allegations, raising questions about the weight of personal character versus political alignment.
• Shift in Political Culture: Compared to decades prior, character flaws are more easily dismissed if the candidate represents "your team."
• Mutual Scandal Tolerance: Both parties are seen as increasingly forgiving of their own candidates' scandals, provided the opposition is perceived as equally flawed.

Notable Quotes:

• “The argument … was, well, you know, he’s our guy, and it doesn’t really matter because, look, you know, the other side has a bunch of scoundrels, too. So we’re going to run a scoundrel, and it’s not going to matter.” — Lanhee Chen [03:27]
• “In today’s politics, it’s really come down to what I call the shirts and skins era. Basically, it just depends on if someone’s on your side or not. If someone’s on your side, then what they’ve done is forgivable. And, you know, I think both sides have been guilty of this.” — Lanhee Chen [03:51]

Memorable Moment

• Comparison to Europe:
  • Jack observes European voters’ indifference to politicians' private sex lives, contrasting U.S. traditions but noting the shift away from such scrutiny here. [04:09]

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2. The Importance of Senate Control in a Trump Second Term

(05:59 – 07:31)

• Senate’s Role: Senate control crucially affects presidential nominations and appointments. If Democrats hold the Senate, they could block Trump’s nominees for courts and executive roles.
• Limited Legislation: With Congress’s limited legislative output, unified control is increasingly necessary. If Democrats win the House, it further constrains Trump even with a GOP Senate majority.

Notable Quote:

• “If Democrats were to control the Senate, that would make it much harder for President Trump to fill his administration. I presume the Democrats would blockade pretty much all of his nominees...” — Lanhee Chen [06:28]

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3. The Progressive Litmus Test: Israel and Antisemitism in Democratic Politics

(07:31 – 11:42)

• Shift in Progressive Priorities:

  • Armstrong raises the topic of Scott Weiner being heckled by progressives for being “too friendly to Israel,” noting a shift from LGBTQ+ issues to Israel support as the new progressive litmus test.
  • Lanhee Chen argues that associations with pro-Israel entities like AIPAC have become a liability within certain Democratic factions, marking a dramatic reversal from the 1990s and 2000s.
  • Worry about rising antisemitism and its increasing acceptability in the progressive wing of the party.

• Wider Electoral Impact:

  • This realignment could see Jewish-American voters reconsidering their traditional Democratic loyalties.

Notable Quotes:

• “This has become the new litmus test in progressive politics… have you taken [AIPAC] money? And the funny part of this, Jack, is if you look back in Democratic Party politics… that was worn as a badge of honor… and that has completely flipped on its head.” — Lanhee Chen [08:36]
• “Some of this anti-Semitism has been not just tolerated, but encouraged by elements of the progressive left. And I think that’s gonna be a big challenge for them... it could signal a realignment... of a lot of Jewish voters in the US away from the Democratic Party.” — Lanhee Chen [09:27]
• “It’s just not something I thought I would see in my lifetime... that America and the Jewish state of Israel are allies and friends and we’re going to do everything we can to support the success of the Jewish state. That doesn’t seem to be the case anymore for some of the progressive left.” — Lanhee Chen [11:14]

Memorable Moment

• Shocking speed of the shift: Both Armstrong and Chen express disbelief at how candidates now openly run on “the Jewish state should not exist” platforms and are competitive in Democratic primaries. [10:54 – 11:42]

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4. American Exceptionalism

(11:42 – 14:39)

• Personal Perspective:
  • Lanhee Chen describes his recent trip to Europe and concludes there is “nowhere else around the world like” America.
  • Highlights U.S. innovation, opportunity, and the “American story” where immigrants can achieve rapid upward mobility.
  • Urges pride in American identity and suggests those who constantly deride the U.S. should try living elsewhere.

Notable Quotes:

• “America is exceptional. There’s just no question about it… What makes America different is just this idea that you can have people from all over the world coming… and they can make a life here.... It is just the most exceptional place on earth, Jack.” — Lanhee Chen [12:07]
• “I cringe when I hear people who make it their job to look down on America … it’s like, if that’s really the case, if you’re not proud to be in this country … there are lots of other places around the world you can go look down on America.” — Lanhee Chen [13:15]
• “It’s just such an awesome place, Jack. I mean, it really is... we’ve got some disagreements, but fundamentally what a great place to live. Really. Nowhere else better in the world.” — Lanhee Chen [14:27]

Memorable Moment

• Jensen Huang’s Story: Lanhee references the Nvidia founder as an emblem of the American Dream—“his story would just not have been possible anywhere else in the world.” [13:54]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Platner campaign fallout & character in politics: [00:46 – 05:59]
• Implications of Senate control for a Trump admin: [05:59 – 07:31]
• Progressive litmus tests and antisemitism in Dem politics: [07:31 – 11:42]
• American exceptionalism – Chen’s perspective: [11:42 – 14:39]

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Tone & Style Notes

• Conversational and incisive: The discussion is frank, occasionally incredulous, and unafraid to address sensitive political topics, typical of A&G’s style.
• Balanced reflection and critique: Both host and guest challenge political tribalism, lament character decline, and praise American ideals without rose-colored glasses.
• Direct quotes reinforce points and capture the episode’s spirit and depth.

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This summary captures the nuance, major themes, memorable moments, and insightful analysis from “Well, He’s Our Guy. Lanhee Chen Talks to A&G,” offering a clear and engaging overview for those who have not listened to the episode.

Transcript

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[Graham Platner (quoted)]

We are suspending campaign operations. This is incredibly difficult because I know that some will think it's an admission of guilt, and it most certainly is not. We're not doing it because of the allegations. Were doing it because of the structures that are being taken away from us by those in power.

[Jack Armstrong]

Those in power like Bernie Sanders and Zoran Mumdani. I mean, when. When Bernie and the socialist communist mayor of New York have turned on you, then you really got no friends. So that's that Graham Platner dude. And he got out and everybody knew he was going to get out. And I think everybody knew that's where this story was headed a long time ago, really. But there's a lot of interesting stuff around that. And we welcome to the show. Our one of our favorite political analysts that exists anywhere on the planet. Lan He Chen, David and Diane Steffey, Fellow in American Public Policy Studies at the Hoover Institution and the Director of Domestic Policy Studies at Stanford University. Welcome to the show.

[Lanhee Chen]

Hey, Jack, Good to be with you.

[Jack Armstrong]

Pretty good. Where to start? Maybe here. One guest I had on earlier. I hadn't seen the latest polling. Was Platner way down in the polls against Collins?

[Lanhee Chen]

No, I think the polling was actually pretty competitive. And that's why Democrats were so keen to figure out what to do about the situation, because they see the main Senate race as being a critical part of their pathway to try to take the majority of the Senate. It's going to be a tough pathway for Democrats just because of the states that are in play this cycle. But I think they really felt that Platner had an opportunity to beat Susan Collins. And so this whole thing has been very, very disruptive to their Democrat plans.

[Jack Armstrong]

Here's one of my thoughts on this, an interesting angle. I was reading Mark Halperin's newsletter earlier today, and he was making the point that these voters in Maine chose this guy, knowing most of it. You know, the most recent pretty solid rape allegation is new, but a lot of it was known and they still chose them which makes me wonder where we are on the character issue with candidates across this country. As long as somebody's on our team, do we care anything about their personal lives?

[Lanhee Chen]

Yeah, it's a. It's a great question. I mean, we. We heard this over and over again. You know, you looked at the different politicians who stood behind Graham Platner even as allegations came out.

[Jack Armstrong]

Not.

[Lanhee Chen]

Not this one. I mean, this one, obviously, was a more extreme version, but there were lots of similar allegations. And not just those allegations, but also severe lapses in judgment and character. You know, the idea that he'd have an offensive tattoo, that. That was something. You know, there were a bunch of stories about this guy that suggested he was not exactly the most savory character. And the argument that basically supporters of his used was, well, you know, he's our guy, and it doesn't really matter because, look, you know, the other side has a bunch of scoundrels, too. So we're going to run a scoundrel, and it's not going to matter. So I do think, Jack, we're in a different era in American politics. You know, if you think back to the 80s and 90s and even 2000s, that the character question did reflect in a much more different way than it does today. In today's politics, it's really come down to what I call the shirts and skins era. Basically, it just depends on if someone's on your side or not. If someone's on your side, then what they've done is forgivable. And, you know, I think both sides have been guilty of this.

[Jack Armstrong]

You know, in terms of the sexual stuff, rape's a different case, but obviously. But the cheating on your wife and. And that sort of lifestyle, from what I understand, our European friends have always marveled that we care about that because they just don't care about your private sex life. You know, obviously we're talking about legal stuff between consenting adults, but in Europe, they don't care about your private sex life, whereas in the United States, we always have. So maybe we're just moving into that

[Lanhee Chen]

sort of thinking, I suppose. I mean, I. Again, I don't want to dismiss it, because I do think that there are elements of character that are reflections on how people will govern.

[Jack Armstrong]

I mean, sorry to interrupt you, but the fact that this guy was on various hookup sites trying to get laid weeks after he was married, what the heck is that? I mean, that's. That's. That's a different thing than some of the affairs we've heard about in the past with different.

[Lanhee Chen]

I mean, just like Eric Swalwell, that was different, too, right? And look at how long Swalwell really hung in there until, by the way, if you look at Swalwell's exit video, not all that dissimilar from the Platner one, right? Sort of disheveled, saying, look, that this doesn't mean I'm guilty, yada yada. I mean, the whole thing is just remarkable if you look at the severe defects in character that both of these candidates exhibited and how well known a lot of this was. Right? And I think that's part of the challenge, is that you had so many people, whether it was Swalwell or certainly Platner, who, because he wore the right jersey, were willing to say, you know what? It doesn't matter. And, you know, the argument that they would repeatedly use was the other side does it, too. And that's when you know that our politics have entered a new era. And frankly, I think a more troubling time.

[Jack Armstrong]

You're the perfect guy to ask about this. So I assume the Democrats are going to take the House for all kinds of different reasons historically, blah, blah, blah. But why the Senate is so close to 50, 50, and each seat matters so much. Why is. Would it be such a big deal? What would be the difference between the Republicans controlling the Senate or the Democrats controlling the Senate in the last two years of Trump's last term?

[Lanhee Chen]

Well, I think the crucial difference is really two. Two things. One is appointments and nominations. You know, the President makes a whole bunch of nominations, and the Senate's the only chamber that really advises and consents on those. And so if Democrats were to control the Senate, that would make it much harder for President Trump to fill his administration. I presume the Democrats would blockade pretty much all of his nominees, whether for courts or for executive positions. So that's number one. And then number two is the legislative question. Right? There's not a whole lot of legislating happening right now. Congress is. Doesn't do a lot of that anymore, which is kind of funny, because anybody who studied the US Constitution will know it's Congress's job to, I don't know, make laws. But they don't really do that anymore. Right. But to the degree that they do, it tends to require unified control of both the House and the Senate, because if one. One sort of party controls both houses, then that. That creates an issue. Now, in this case, it's interesting because if the Democrats do take the House, then that piece is less relevant for the Senate because You've already got a roadblock there. The only way for Trump to continue to legislate would be if Republicans were able to pull off a miracle and hold onto the House and hold on to the Senate.

[Jack Armstrong]

So I want to ask you about this, about the Democratic Party and specifically their progressive or socialist wing of the Democratic Party. I don't know if you saw that video that surfaced a few days back. Scott Weiner, San Francisco political legend who's trying to get Nancy Pelosi's seat. He's always been a big, active part of anything LGBTQ+, trans, this sort of stuff, and he's a hero to. To. To that crowd. He was at a big Pride event, and he got attacked by a bunch of other progressives because he's been too friendly to Israel over the years. And then I read some analysis that said the. The, to my mind, crazies in the Democratic Party, the center of gravity is moved from the whole sexuality thing to the Jewish Israel support thing. Do you think that's accurate? And how big a deal is that?

[Lanhee Chen]

I do, Jack. This has become the new litmus test in progressive politics. And it has moved from. I mean, we've seen the progression of this over the years, right, from issues of gender identity to race and ethnicity questions. And now I do think it's a question that a lot of Democratic progressive activists are asking, which is, has a candidate received money from aipac, which is the political action committee that supports causes aligned with Israeli Jewish issues? And I think that has become the litmus test now for a lot of Democrats out there. And the question is, have you taken that money? And the funny part of this, Jack, is if you look back in Democratic Party politics, was a time back in the 1990s and 2000s, not to date myself, but there was a time when that was worn as a badge of honor that a lot of Democrats wanted to be perceived as being pro Israel, certainly pro Jewish issues in the US and that was something that they wore proudly, and that has completely flipped on its head. And I think it's a really disgusting part of progressive politics. In my view, the degree to which some of this anti Semitism is, has been not just tolerated, but encouraged by elements of the progressive left. And I think that's gonna be a big challenge for them going forward and could signal, the last thing I'll say about this is it could signal a realignment, I think, of a lot of Jewish voters in the US Away from the Democratic Party.

[Jack Armstrong]

Well, to the point. To the point of not just, you know, we don't like what Israel is doing in Gaza or whatever. That debate they had in Michigan the other night, that guy doesn't think Israel should exist, running against a mainstream Democrat.

[Lanhee Chen]

I mean, that's the problem is that, you know, it starts with critiques of the Israeli government which, I mean, look, people can have differing opinions of how successful or unsuccessful the current Israeli government has been. That's a legitimate question. But what is illegitimate, of course, is then using that as a platform to basically say there should not be a Jewish state. That, to me is disgusting. And I mean, it's disgusting. But it's also become frankly, much more common on the progressive left to the point that it is becoming a test of whether someone has taken that position. And that is the litmus test that some of these particularly democratic socialist organizations are using to endorse or not endorse candidates. So it's really staggering how quickly this is.

[Jack Armstrong]

I know. That's what I was about to say. I can't believe that it's moved this far, this fast in my life where you'd stand up running for office and say, I don't think the Jewish state should even exist and you might be the nominee.

[Lanhee Chen]

Yeah. In fact, you might have a very good chance of being the nominee. Right. I mean, you look at Zoran Mamdani, you look at some of the positions that this person is running against. Karen Bass in la, Nitya Rahman, her. Some of her positions. It's remarkable to see and it's just not something I thought I would see in my lifetime. You know, I thought there was a basic consensus amongst both political parties that America and the Jewish state of Israel are allies and friends and we're going to do everything we can to support the success of the Jewish state. That doesn't seem to be the case anymore for some of the progressive left.

[Jack Armstrong]

So, Lonnie, Jen, you are a smart, well spoken guy and I wanted to give you a couple of minutes to. And even though we're now five days out from the 250th anniversary of this country, give me a couple of minutes on why you think America is exceptional. Maybe I'm putting words in your mouth whether or not you think America is exceptional and why pushing back against some of those detractors in the socialist wing of the Democratic Party.

[Lanhee Chen]

Well, America is exceptional. There's just no question about it. I mean, I. My family and I just got back from a vacation. We went to Europe for a couple weeks and you know, there's a lot of things that are historical and beautiful about Europe, but the whole time you're there, you're realizing, you know, that it's not America. The amount of innovation, ingenuity and creativity and drive of people is just different. But I think what makes America different is just this idea that you can have people from all over the world coming to a country who may not speak the language, may not know much about what America is, and they can make a life here. And then they can have kids and grandkids that have success far beyond the success that they had. That kind of achievement and accomplishment. It's becoming less common, I will say. But it is still something that distinguishes America in my mind from other countries around the world is just the ability for people to come here, to make a life, to be successful, and to become part of this American story. And it is just the most exceptional place on earth. Jack. I really, I cringe when I hear people who make it their job to look down on America who basically say, you know, I'm not proud to be an American because of X, Y and Z. It's like, if that's really the case, if you're not proud to be in this country, to be part of this country, there are lots of other places around the world you can go look down on America.

[Graham Platner (quoted)]

I agree.

[Jack Armstrong]

I've been talking about a GoFundMe. I'll buy you a ticket, we'll send you exactly.

[Lanhee Chen]

I mean, we'll use your frequent flyer miles and give you a one way ticket to places around the world where there is no respect for the same kind of values that we have in America. And I just think that this is such a special place and it is incumbent upon all of us to protect this place as this incredible experiment that's been so successful. There really is nowhere else around the world like it. I heard a great interview with Jensen Huang, who's the founder of this company, Nvidia, which if anybody has stock, congratulations. But he basically talks about how his story would just not have been possible anywhere else in the world. And this is something that I've heard over and over again. And I believe it because it's my story. Well, you know, things would not have been possible for me in any other country but America. And that's why I believe in this country so much. And that's why I do think our better days are ahead of us. Because it's just such an awesome place, Jack. I mean, it really is. And you know, we've got our share problems, of course, you know, we've got some disagreements, but fundamentally What a great place to live. Really. Nowhere else better in the world.

[Jack Armstrong]

Lonnie Chen I knew you'd be great on that. Thank you for your time today. I really appreciate it.

[Lanhee Chen]

Hey, thanks Jack. Have a good one.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah. Speaking of the guy who runs Nvidia, just the fact that what seven of the top eight biggest companies in the world, most valuable companies in the world are all started by foreigners who came to this land.

[Lanhee Chen]

Armstrong and Getty.

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