Happy Wednesday and welcome to another episode of the Wake Up To Politics Book Club.
This morning, we’re talking to Jonathan Allen, a longtime Friend of the Newsletter and senior national politics reporter at NBC News.
Jon and his co-author Amie Parnes of The Hill have spent the last decade writing a series of revelatory books on Donald Trump and the Democrats he’s left in his wake: Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, and now Kamala Harris. Their first book on Hillary and her orbit is one of my favorites; it’s a fascinating look into how political machines operate in the modern era.
Their latest book, “FIGHT: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House,” goes deep in the Trump, Biden, and Harris inner circles to give a behind-the-scenes view of the 2024 campaign. I highly recommend it.
In our interview above, Jon and I discuss:
Jon’s take on whether Biden dropping out sooner would have helped the Democrats
Why Obama and top Democrats didn’t want Kamala Harris as their nominee — and the ticket Obama really wanted
What it was like reporting on the Biden White House
How Trump has moved away from his campaign-trail rhetoric
How long Susie Wiles will last as White House chief of staff
My concerns about the campaign book genre
I hope you enjoy!
