Willie Geist says Donald Trump has changed ‘everything we know about politics’

Willie Geist took a somber tone as he reacted to Donald Trump winning the 2016 presidential election in the debut episode of his limited-run Radio Andy show.

“The guy who, when he descended the escalator into the lobby of Trump Tower on June 16th, 2015, to announce his candidacy, probably wasn’t taken seriously,” the TODAY Show weekend anchor said. “It looked like all his other flirtations with the White House, like a publicity stunt maybe to make us watch the next season of The Apprentice. And then over the course of last summer, it started to get real.”

Geist noted that Trump’s candidacy evolved into a serious campaign with devoted followers who packed football stadiums to capacity with up to 30,000 people. Trump mocked and deplored seasoned politicians like Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio at the Republican debates, all the while gaining support and thereby changing the course of American politics.

“He went systematically one by one over the course of a campaign, over the course of the Republican Primary, and eliminated 16 comers,” Geist said. “Jeb Bush, if you were making the smart money a year and a half ago, was probably gonna be the nominee. He was probably gonna be up there against Hillary Clinton if you were betting, before we knew Donald Trump was gonna get in the race. But now Donald Trump has absolutely changed everything we know about politics.”

John Avalon was a guest on Willie Geist Live and discussed how this result will affect the country going forward.

“Even if you’ve chronicled this campaign closely, and this is not only an unexpected but [also] troubling turn of events, our approach is going to be to be members of the loyal opposition,” Avalon said. “We’ve gotta [stop] this denying of the legitimacy of duly elected presidents, but it is all our jobs to hold him to account. This is going to be a very challenging, interesting period for the United States.”

Hear Willie Geist Live every Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. ET on Radio Andy (Ch. 102).

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