Trump risks losing Senate as 'Colbert Dem' surges

[0:00] the strain that Trump is putting on his own party with what Republican senators call [0:04] selfishness. The sound you hear is, of course, Election Day in America. We'll keep following [0:10] these primaries and voters in Texas are coming out in the Republican primary. And they are [0:16] looking down the barrel of what some view as a magical civil war, where Donald Trump has picked [0:20] the anti-Republican re-election side. That's what Senate Republicans even are saying. So [0:25] kind of an unusual headline if you think about it that way. This is the runoff you might have [0:29] heard about. If you follow the news, you have an embattled incumbent Republican John Cornyn [0:35] and the very controversial, once impeached, scandal-plagued Ken Paxton, who netted a Trump [0:42] endorsement. And that's got Republican senators and strategists mad. They say it makes it less [0:47] likely that they'll hold the Senate. Some have called this a brutal primary that leads Republicans [0:51] in tatters. Of course, it all depends on whether the eventual nominee can win. But it paves the way [0:57] for a rising star in the Democratic Party to have what, again, even Republicans say is potentially [1:03] a better shot at turning this seat blue. Now, if you're watching the news going, I feel like I've [1:09] heard about this before. It is true. We have heard many times about efforts to turn Texas blue that [1:15] have not actually won, or as the kids would say, manifest. But why is this time different? Well, [1:22] Paxton has more than your usual amount of MAGA baggage. He had to settle a federal corruption [1:27] indictment. He was impeached for alleged fraud and obstruction of justice. His wife [1:31] filed for divorce amid these allegations. And those are allegations. Of course, a divorce proceeding [1:37] can go on in court. But it is a matter of public record for voters to be aware of that there are [1:43] allegations of multiple affairs. I will note that he was acquitted in his impeachment, and he has [1:49] asserted that he is innocent of all corruption charges. But this is politics, not a court of law. [1:54] The Republican senators were basically unanimous at wanting the non-impeached, non-scandal plagued, [2:02] incumbent Republican to be their choice. The candidacy has divided many, including even some [2:09] couples in Texas. It's not a great choice, either one, really. But I think I lean towards [2:17] Paxton, for sure. He's local. Cornyn hasn't always been with the Republicans the way I would like. [2:24] But it was a tough choice. But I did vote for Paxton on the runoff. [2:32] What are your thoughts about Paxton? [2:33] A crook. Yeah, that's it, period. He's just a crook. [2:38] That's an independent talking. [2:40] When the economy is taken into account in the summer, people plan their trips. They think about [2:46] gas prices. They think about what they can afford. And it's less under Trump. Here was a White House [2:51] official, though, today. The thing that I've seen when I look at credit card data and other things [2:57] that I can get for the private sector is that while people have been spending more money at gas [3:02] stations, they've been spending more money on everything else, which means that they're still [3:06] very, very optimistic about the state of the economy. You can ask yourself whether transferring [3:14] your planning and your budgeting to your credit card reflects, quote, optimism or just the crunch of [3:21] the fact that things are more expensive and people go into credit spending to say, all right, well, [3:25] we'll do the July 4th trip on the card and we'll figure the rest out later. It's more of reality [3:30] than optimism. And it's a rising price problem that Trump promised and has now failed to fix. [3:34] Fifty nine percent, meanwhile, say Trump lacks mental sharpness. Many people skeptical of his health [3:39] problems. He says he got a clean bill of health after a third in-person doctor visit in just over the [3:44] years. Skeptics, though, have been raising questions about everything from the appearance of his hands [3:48] to recent events where he has his eyes closed in meetings, whether you call that a nap or something [3:54] else is the eye or the closed eye of the beholder. I want to bring in from The New York Times, Molly [3:59] John Fass and Michelle Goldberg from The New York Times, also both analysts for us at MSNOW. Michelle, [4:06] we start with Texas, where I want to be objective. If Paxton gets the nomination with Trump's help and [4:13] ultimately holds the seat, then it may have cost them a little more, but it will feel like noise. [4:18] If they blow a seat, though, in a red state because Trump just didn't care about holding [4:23] the Senate, that would really be something. Yeah, I mean, it would be astonishing. This [4:26] has been the white whale for Democrats for as long as I've been covering politics, the idea [4:31] of a Democratic senator from Texas. And I think most people who follow Texas think that [4:36] that Tallarico has a better chance against Paxton because he is so plagued by, you know, scandal, [4:43] both in terms of kind of bribery and corruption, but also just in terms of this very ugly and messy [4:48] divorce. At the same time, the amount of Republican, the way that these Republican senators are showing [4:55] so much kind of angst and sense of betrayal over Donald Trump stabbing John Cornyn in the back, [5:01] it's like, this is the line for you. I mean, to me, that's what's astonishing is that you see them [5:05] all say, well, now we're going to stand against the ballroom, right? Now we're going to stand against [5:09] the slush fund. Now we're going to vote for a war powers resolution because how dare you take [5:14] out our friend John, or potentially help take out our friend John Cornyn. And I think it just goes to [5:21] show how utterly insular they are, right? That this is the line that Trump can cross that will [5:30] finally make them say, you know, this man is out of control. Yeah. I mean, your criticism makes a deep [5:35] point. If you remember in the dark night where the Joker says, and this is his cynical view, he says, [5:40] people are only as good as they're allowed to be. And whatever the cowardice or narrowness, [5:46] or you called it insularity of these Republican senators, apparently they are only as independent [5:53] as they think they're allowed to be. And having watched a move that in the narrow math of the [5:58] Senate, they perceive, let's put aside whether it happens. As I said, we don't know. They perceive it [6:03] as materially making it more likely they lose the Senate. And that, as you say, unloads them to say, [6:10] well, maybe we will stand up against your ballroom. Yeah, exactly. I mean, and what's so bizarre, [6:15] too, is that it's actually only by kind of standing up against Trump in these very small ways that they [6:21] might have a chance, I think, or have a better chance of holding the Senate. [6:25] About this and doing some research, a nurse in Queens who makes $75,000 a year pays 12, more than [6:35] $12,000 a year in taxes. Does that really make sense? If people want me to pay more billions, [6:43] then let's have that debate. But don't pretend, you know, that that's going to solve the problem. [6:49] You could double the taxes I pay, and it's not going to help that teacher in Queens. I promise you. [6:55] Putting aside his defense of his tax record, which is sort of what he's answering the question on, [7:03] he advocates eliminating the entire federal tax burden of those lower-income people. And so my [7:09] question to you on the politics is, why do you think he views that as popular right now? I mean, [7:13] that would have been lefty radical 10 years ago. Right. Well, I'm not sure if he does really [7:17] advocate for it. I mean, he throws it out in an interview as a way to deflect from the question [7:22] of whether his own taxes should be raised, right? But if you support the Republican Party, as Jeff [7:27] Bezos does, you are kind of de facto not supporting lowering taxes. Agreed. That's what I'm saying. [7:33] I mean, he's with the president, so we know where he is on policy, but there's something that he [7:38] thinks is popular there. Well, I think that a lot of these, especially in the technology industry, [7:42] right, they know that artificial intelligence, or at least they suspect that artificial intelligence [7:47] is going to be terrible for a lot of people's jobs. And they know that there's going to be, [7:52] you know, sort of metaphorical pitchfork-wielding mobs coming for them, right? They're already [7:57] fantastically unpopular. And so you see them kind of paying lip service to things like, [8:03] I guess, eliminating their tax burden, a universal basic income. They throw all these ideas around, [8:08] but they never actually then kind of support redistribution when it actually counts. [8:16] On night one of the Colbert Report, back in the day, I said, anyone can read the news to you. [8:20] I promise to feel the news at you. And I don't know about you, but I sure have felt it. [8:27] Steven, I'm here on behalf of Paramount. They wanted me to read this statement. [8:30] Paramount strongly believes in covering both sides of any black hole that is swallowing [8:34] everything we know and love. That's what we thought America was just the land of the free, [8:39] the greatest democracy. That's what it was. Yep. Yep. That was it. Yeah. Yeah. Still is, [8:49] hopefully. Thoughts? I mean, that's what it was. I think that, I mean, look, there's no question that [9:08] this show was taken off the air for political reasons. And I think even in Trump one, it would [9:15] have been unthinkable that these kind of TV networks and that these media oligarchs would be, [9:22] you know, kind of listening to Donald Trump about programming decisions, both because I think maybe [9:27] they thought that Donald Trump was a transient phenomenon and they would be ashamed to have done [9:32] that. And now we've seen this mass capitulation, not by the American people, but by these, you know, [9:39] kind of ostensible elites. It is so shameful and it's so short sighted unless they really think that [9:48] they are just going to, you know, that there's going to be some sort of authoritarian consolidation [9:52] and they're never going to have to answer to an opposition party. If there ever are Democrats back [9:58] in power, I hope that there will be a lot of hearings about the sort of decisions that these various [10:04] owners have made to kind of curry favor with this administration. And Molly? Sherry Redstone. [10:12] You say goodbye. And I say Sherry Redstone agreed to cancel Colbert so that she could get regulatory [10:19] approval. It was pretty craven. And, you know, she set a date so she could sell Paramount to the [10:27] Ellison's and was able to do it. It was pretty transparent, very craven. And also it's worth [10:35] realizing that people who watch these shows don't like it. Right. We've seen the CBS takeover. [10:41] Barry Weiss has gone to CBS. She has made some decisions, editorial decisions, and their numbers [10:50] just, you know, their evening news numbers just keep going down. So there is we really do see that [10:56] viewers don't like these kind of ideological decisions being made at news channels that never [11:04] used to be like that. And you think people, they see Colbert end and then where do they go? [11:10] I mean, I think they follow Colbert. We'll see what Colbert does next. But like, you know, [11:15] what's replacing Colbert is not something similar. It's a comedy hour.