YouSaid · the spoken record

David Pressman

lines on the record: 63
first: 2023-11-16
most recent: 2023-11-16
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“Distinction and compliance with international humanitarian law are really important. And that's why the President and Secretary of State have emphasized them and the importance of them in Israel. But I think it would be both inappropriate for me from Embassy Budapest to comment further on that. I can tell you that these are issues that have affected obviously the United States government, the State Department to its core and that our leadership and the government is very focused on addressing them and engaging with Israel in a way that will help Israel defend itself and comply with international humanitarian law.”
2023-11-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 557 — Amb. David Pressman · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Questions that are being asked are serious questions. They're not questions that I have responsibility for as the U.S. Ambassador to Hungary, but they're obviously as the U.S. citizen questions that I'm asking and looking at as we see the news. What I can tell you, David, is that in my work and most specifically in my work in New York, when I was U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Security Council, I saw pretty close on a daily basis a very robust effort to delegitimize Israel. And part of our policy as the U.S. government and part of the work that President Obama, Secretary Kerry, and Ambassador Power focused on was trying to combat that delegitimization campaign. And so all of the questions you're raising about, and these are the proportionality and the”
2023-11-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 557 — Amb. David Pressman · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Happening and the importance of Israel's ability to defend itself while at the same time respecting international humanitarian law, these are hard choices. This is a hard moment. And luckily, the United States recently confirmed its ambassador to Israel, a very competent Jack Glue.”
2023-11-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 557 — Amb. David Pressman · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I mean, this is, I relate to the questions you're asking and the experience you had on October 7th. And I thank David, so many of us can in what was this horrific carnage and massacre that was shocking. Even if it's not unexpected in some respects, it's shocking. And one thing I've taken great comfort in and been inspired by candidly, David, is, and I know speaking with the representatives of Israel here and elsewhere, that Israelis have similarly been inspired by is the strength of the president's response and leadership. And even the Secretary of State's own remarks on this topic have been, you know, I know the Secretary, I've known the Secretary for a long time. And when you listen to him speak about what's happening.”
2023-11-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 557 — Amb. David Pressman · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Right as Russia had invaded Ukraine for the first time. And the exchanges were pitched and intense every day between the US representative, my boss, Amsterdam Power and Ambassador Churkin. And the first time I sat in that chair, you know, I remember the night before my mom calling me and telling me, and she believed it, that Vitaly Chirkin was very nervous about who is David Preston that's going to be in the chair for the United States. I can assure you that he wasn't, but it goes to it's a testament to my parents' unwavering belief in me, which I obviously am grateful for.”
2023-11-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 557 — Amb. David Pressman · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Our extraordinary people, and they, despite their hesitations at various points and various strange places that I've gone off to in my career, they're big believers in me. I mean, I won't forget David. The first day I sat down behind the placard that said United States at the United Nations Security Council, and this was at a time that Russia was represented by Vitaly Churkin, who has since passed away. And it was”
2023-11-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 557 — Amb. David Pressman · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think that's true. The casework that a lawyer does. I mean, often when I think about human rights work generally, I think about the objective is really to create sort of the positive exception. It's not different than handling a case for an individual or private litigant. You're trying to find the one example, the one case where you can shift the trajectory of that person's life or the set of circumstances that has brought that person to seek accountability or seek justice in a way that will set an example for others. And so, you know, so much of the work that, I mean, the work that my family did was, and it continues to be very different than the work that I do. But the commitment to trying to do right of pursuing justice, of having an impact and not just talking the talk, I think is, you know, my parents are.”
2023-11-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 557 — Amb. David Pressman · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Young Jews in the United States, but around the world is hearing from the generations before us about World War II and the Holocaust. And certainly the lessons of the Holocaust and the ethos and commitment of never again was something continues to be something that animates my professional work, in some cases directly on issues involving war crimes and mass atrocities, work that I did at the White House and as our ambassador in New York and the Security Council. And sometimes indirectly in the work that I tried to do in our day-to-day work, both in our bilateral relationship with Hungary, but also in my work more generally in trying to ensure that U.S. policy is standing up for and advocating for the rights of the most vulnerable.”
2023-11-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 557 — Amb. David Pressman · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Wasn't grown up in a particular, we didn't do philosophy and theory in the Pressman House. It was very much about results and what mattered and what had impact. And did things make sense or did they not make sense? And I think that ethos very much informed the work that I took on and continued to take on in government, which is trying to find paths and opportunities not necessarily, I mean, you know, you've served in government, David, not necessarily to, you know, be in prominent roles in government, not necessarily to get into the right meetings or to send up the right memos, but to actually have an opportunity to implement and affect policy that means something to people, that has an impact on the ground. And I think, you know, one of the things that I think is true for”
2023-11-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 557 — Amb. David Pressman · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“He is, and he was, and he is. My father, both of my parents, my mom and my dad were lawyers, but neither of them were particularly political. I mean, my mom was actually a registered Republican. My father was working as a lawyer in private practice. He actually started in San Francisco and tried to open a restaurant at one point. Was not very successful. That turns out that's harder than practicing law. But both of my parents were and continue to be very engaged and supportive of my work. I can't say that they always understand the choices that I make. I think when David, I decided to go off to Darfur, Sudan in the middle of a war. They sort of wonder to themselves, is this the right place for a Jewish boy from California to be? But they've been steadfast in support of me as I've tried to chart out work that I thought was important to do.”
2023-11-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 557 — Amb. David Pressman · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“That American stories are truly American and so uniquely American. They work their way up. And ultimately, I think from both Chicago and Brooklyn realize that life was better in California, as many of us come to realize, maybe David, you will one day too. And they settled down there. And that's where I was born and raised.”
2023-11-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 557 — Amb. David Pressman · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, my grandparents on both sides emigrated to the United States from Eastern Europe, from Russia and Poland. They arrived in one set in Brooklyn and one set in Chicago, actually. They came with, as so many of their generation, with virtually nothing except ambitions and a belief in a better life in the United States of America. And their story is really an inspiring one and a moving one to me. I mean, they worked hard in my grandmother on my mother's side tells stories about singing in the streets of Chicago to try to make money, literally as a busker. My father, my grandfather on my father's side was a factory worker. And in the way”
2023-11-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 557 — Amb. David Pressman · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“History teaches us when government starts discriminating against one group, whether for who they love or what they believe, their politics, their race, the color of their skin, others are usually not far behind. It begins with innocent-sounding laws to protect the children. But then we are asked to report on our neighbors, our friends, and our families. Ghettos of the mind, ghettos in our politics, and ultimately ghettos in our communities are built brick by brick. The silence of many is the mortar ceiling our fates. Good people who believe in their bones never again must never forget how it begins. The path to the unthinkable isn't built overnight. It is taken step by step and it is paved with hate, opportunism, and complicity.”
2023-11-16 · The Axe Files with David Axelrod · Ep. 557 — Amb. David Pressman · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source