Turblent US elections laid bare by BBC reporter Sopel
BUDLEIGH SALTERTON Literary Festival is hosting a one-off online event with BBC North America Editor Jon Sopel during one of the most turbulent periods of the United States’ political history.
Following scenes of Trump supporters storming the US Capitol building days ahead of the inauguration of Joe Biden, Mr Sopel will present a diary of the US election.
Held online on Monday, January 18, Sopel will be talking to the Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland about the topics in his latest book UnPresidented: Politics, pandemics and the race that Trumped all others.
Mr Sopel, who also co-presents the Americast podcast, will be sharing his year as a reporter on the campaign trail, as the election heated up and a global pandemic slowly swept in. As American lives were lost at a devastating rate, the presidential race became a battle for the very soul of the nation, challenging not just the Trump presidency, but the very institutions of American democracy itself.
Festival organisers say that, in a highly personal account of reporting on America in 2020, Sopel will take viewers behind the scenes of a White House in crisis and an election in turmoil, laying bare the real story of the presidential campaign in an account of an election and a year like no other.
The event will be online from 6pm on January 18 until 11pm on January 22, and is a fund-raising event for Budleigh Salterton Literary Festival’s work in the community. Tickets are available at https://budlitfest.org.uk/