This is the Daily Blast from the New Republic, produced and presented by the ...
I'm your host, Greg Sargent.
“Donald Trump has been spinning wildly about his success in ousting disloyal Republicans and primaries.”
And he has been succeeding at that, but underneath this story is a much bigger truth. Trump is losing control of the GOP on many fronts, and his political project is failing more broadly. Trump's corruption is forcing Republicans to abandon him, and he's trying really hard to turn that around as a crazed, tirade on truth social reveals. There are other signs of failure, too, for instance, that Kilmar Abrago Garcia's criminal case was just as missed as a vindictive prosecution.
We're trying to make sense of all this with new Republic deputy editor Jason Lincoln's who's been arguing well that Trump's corruption and criminality are actually political liabilities for him.
Jason, thanks for coming on. It's great to be here. Thanks for having me. So here's where we are. Trump succeeds in ousting a bunch of disloyal Republicans, but that's now backfiring. Republicans are so pissed that they're granting him less leeway on his corruption. They're turning against the funding for the ballroom.
Republican senators just unloaded on acting attorney general Todd Blanch over the slush fund.
House Republicans shelved a vote on a measure ending the war because they didn't have the votes to defeat it.
“Jason, how do you explain this sudden GOP move against him?”
Right now, I think that we're seeing both the strengths and limitations of Trump's Thrall is hold on the party and his base. We've seen in a couple of elections now that his base when they're riled up are still capable of dealing a primary defeat to Republican that steps out of line Trump. But the cartoon villainy has gotten to a point that outside of a rump that I think you've argued in the past.
And I believe you're going to be correct. You're starting to shrink. He doesn't really have the same kind of power and influence.
“Now on a few votes and specifically some related to what I would draft corruption,”
but the this ballroom he wants to to build. And this insane slush fund that he wanted to sort of assemble for himself to do that to his political allies. You're seeing prominent elite. Do you have elected's bulk at this? Trump just let out an angry self-pity and rant on truth social over the slush fund.
He said this quote, "I gave up a lot of money and allowing the just announced anti-weaponization fund to go forward. I could have settled my case including the illegal release of my tax returns and the equally illegal break-in of Marolago for an absolute fortune. Instead, I am helping others who are so badly abused by an evil corrupt and weaponized Biden administration received justice." Jason, that's funny because the original lawsuit that he filed against the IRS that he gave up was a total scam.
That aside, the idea that Trump is setting up a slush fund to reward allies in an act of great selflessness and public service is just a farce. You're thoughts on that? Well, one thing that stands out to me is the fake magnanimity that he's trying to project in that statement. He had the good fortune of negotiating both sides of the settlement. There was no real conflict.
The conflict was to get this matter out from under the auspices of a judge who was prepared to call this whole lawsuit bogus. And he had a good fortune of having a justice department that essentially treats him as a client. There used to be consequences for stuff like T-pot dough. And you know, or watergate. But this Republican party so clapped out and appeased that there's no accountability possible until such with the day comes. We perhaps Democrats have power again.
I've not seen a Republican uprising like this in a long time against Donald Trump.
Doesn't happen that often.
The ballroom is already a problem for them. You've had Republicans telling the press that they don't want to defend the ballroom precisely because it's impossible to do when there's so much economic pain out there.
“Now, Donald Trump is asking them to defend this ridiculous slush fund and not only is it absurd and difficult for them to do because of the economy.”
The money would go to the January 6th insurrectionists and they won't rule out giving the money to people who beat cops.
This is not something that Republicans want to defend. There is you know, some widespread contentiousness within the Republican caucus elite figures like Mitch McConnell are angry about this. The potency of a president who spends most of his time now when he talks to reporters talking about the stupid architecture projects working on renovating the White House building an arch. Spending money on himself, spending money on January 6th, when there is a there is a there is a massive economic crisis happening.
And it is all down to the fact that Donald Trump again and again, like push the fuck up the economy button. Instead of doing it almost anything else to solve a problem.
It really is unsustainable. You can't we're putting pressure on the average American in all directions all at once economically.
While this guy like staples gold leaf to the White House problem. It's it's unsustainable and Republicans quite rightly understand that they are going to potentially face a blood bath in the midterm elections up against a democratic party that hasn't really sorted out their problems. You know, the democratic party doesn't have like a gigantic doesn't have a gigantic approval rating advantage.
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I want to play a couple of things that Donald Trump said at a rally. Listen to this.
“We had the greatest most successful economy in history and by the way we're blowing it away in this term. So today, today we just an amazing thing happened.”
They said it couldn't happen for four years.
An amazing thing. The Dow Jones hit 50,700 and 2.
And the S&P is way over 7,000. Okay, and now listen to this. They would constantly come out with the word affordability. I said that it was a close to problem. I'm in the office two days.
I mean, they had the greatest bowshare on this shredding. I'm in the office two days. And the costs have gone through the roof under four years of sleepy Joe or crooked Joe or both by. Right? And I hear these Democrats from all over the place going affordability.
They don't want the costs that I didn't cost it. Well, that's just unbelievably out of touch with what's actually going on. Jason the new Fox News poll has Trump's approval on the economy at 29% to 71% to approval. On inflation, it's 24% to 76% fewer than 1 in 4 American voters approve of Trump's handling of inflation. And he's out there extoling the stock market and mocking the idea of affordability.
Could that be more disconnected from reality? I mean, those polls indicate that the bad economy is penetrating very deeply into the American psyche. These are numbers that are below 30%.
Maybe if we somehow crab walk our way out of this conflict in Iran.
There could be some moving back toward the sort of equilibrium.
“But that doesn't change the fact that this public party has more or less a band in the idea of crafting policy.”
They are now basically a sort of like full-time media operation,
trolling and creating content. And the president is checked out. He is building a ballroom, building a triumphal arch. And post an untruthed social long incident tonight. This isn't a party that's going to solve a problem or turn anything around.
There is no future turnaround coming as long as Trump and the GOP are in power. They cannot fix this because they're cogently physiologically incapable of doing it. They really are just to close this out. You had this great piece recently arguing that corruption is a much more pressing political issue in the minds of voters than our media elites allow for.
We saw this in the Hungary election. And I think we're now seeing it in the Republican panic about Donald Trump's corruption as well. They're figuring out that this corruption is a serious problem for them. But critically, it's all being exacerbated by a couple things. One is the disastrous economy.
The way people are experiencing it. And number two, it's the way Trump talks about the economy.
The inter-corruption message, first of all, it reaches your turnout first.
“The people you need to be coming to the polls to add to the base.”
The ones that you want to be like extra coming to the polls. It's also a great message for independent voters, the kind of people that you want to bring. The might shift in direction either way. But corruption really sits poorly with independence. I think even you made this point in a recent piece.
So it is a very, very potent message. And I think that what's interesting about this message is that it is a hub for all kinds of other different political messages. Because when you talk about corruption, you can also talk about the erosion or democracy. When you talk about corruption, you can also talk about the decimation of our civil service. When you talk about corruption, you can talk about the self-dealing and self enrichment.
The decimation has basically built a white house to do just this, just this, make themselves rich.
While everyone else goes without back in 2012, that one ad of Mitt Romney talking to the elite donors. As of our T.D. glasses clanked in the background, such a potent moment, such a potent moment. People understand what's going on. And they see these images with a hear these words. And it turns them off.
We corruption, you get to link it to Silicon Valley robber barons. And the outrage of our data centers being built in small towns, killing jobs, raising energy prices. It is, you know, maybe the alpha in Omega of the alpha, so the alpha, I'll say it is. The alpha is using this message to defeat Republicans in forthcoming elections, but the Omega. This is where Democrats, when and if they're successful, have got to redouble their courage.
The Omega is then putting forth a real effort to hold these corrupt actors accountable, put them in jail, make sure they are consequences, hold them accountable, because we cannot afford another era of looking forward to avoid looking backward. This is a criminal enterprise being run out of the White House. It cannot be allowed to stand. It cannot be allowed to fade in the memory without punishment being dulled out.
I think that's really well said.
“And I think you captured something really essential in pointing out that the Democratic Party number one,”
knows how to run against corruption, and number two, finally seems to get the assignment this time. Jason Lincoln's really awesome to talk to you, man. Thanks so much for coming on. Thanks for having me. [MUSIC PLAYING]
