Former NSC official Fiona Hill warns ‘democracy’s done’ if Trump returns to the White House

This week’s guest is Russia expert Dr. Fiona Hill, a former official in Trump’s National Security Council, a 2019 impeachment witness, and a current Brookings Institution senior fellow.

Hill joins Margaret Hoover to discuss her new memoir, “There’s Nothing For You Here,” in which she details how her upbringing in the northeast of England and rise from “the coal house to the White House" has informed her perspective on populism and authoritarianism.

At the White House, Hill describes the “shock” of learning that some members of the administration including her boss, President Trump, were not concerned with the national security implications of Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Drawing on her expertise, she explains the problem of Putin’s nearly indefinite leadership. “Some of his advisers say there is no Russia without Vladimir Putin.”

Hill also warns about threats to democracy in the U.S. posed by Trump and the prospect of a Trump return to office in 2024.

"I don't think he actually knows what American democracy is," she says of Trump.

“He was a danger. He is a danger, and he will continue to be a danger.”

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