Trump tests midterm messaging on 'communists'. Is it working?

[0:00] These are not social democrats, these are hardcore godless communists, they're godless communists, [0:06] all communists are godless. They don't believe in God. This is the most serious threat to our [0:12] country since its existence, in my opinion, 250 years ago. This is a major threat to our country. [0:19] It's happening right now in New York and California, but you'll start living in squalor. [0:27] You'll live in squalor. There will be no food, there will be no housing, there will be no military, [0:31] there will be no law and order, there will be no nothing, there will be no nothing. You'll be a [0:36] third world inhabitant in every way and everyone will suffer or die. You'll suffer or die. This is [0:43] what happens. Trump was making that pitch to Christian conservatives at the Faith and Freedom [0:47] Coalition earlier today, just days after New York's primary elections, where we saw three [0:52] self-proclaimed democratic socialists win their races. New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani endorsed [0:58] all three of them. President Trump's going into these midterms with a significant [1:02] advantage because of his performance. We see him do this. He's just going to replace the caravan [1:11] scare that he does at every midterm with the DSA. I don't think it's going to work when you have gas [1:17] prices as high as they are. I don't think it's going to work when you have Mamdani showing people [1:21] that he can fill potholes with that same socialism that Donald Trump is trying to scare people out of [1:26] engaging with. I also think it hasn't really worked that well. I mean, they've been claiming [1:32] that they would run Mamdani is a socialist and Democrats are socialist ads all over the country. [1:38] And I don't know that it's really changed the dynamic and the special elections that we've seen [1:42] thus far and certainly not Trump's relationship with Mamdani. He has embraced him practically at [1:47] the White House. He has and vice versa with Mamdani. I mean, he's been two times, I think. And frankly, [1:53] I've watched the president treat Mamdani better than I've watched him treat members of his own [1:56] party like Marjorie Taylor Greene and Thomas Massey. That is actually true. [2:02] And I think he actually, I think on a personal note there, I think the president likes that Mamdani [2:05] is a New Yorker. And I think in a weird way, he has respect for how hard it is to win the New York [2:10] City mayor's race. And he respects him as a showman and the kind of the way he practices politics. [2:16] Funny enough, the president views AOC in a similar way. He always says she's like Evita. It is true, [2:22] right? She's the young shining face of socialism. Ava Perón, right? I'm one of you. Look at me. [2:28] You can see yourself in me. But the president, I do agree that I think communism is absolutely [2:33] the most pressing threat facing our country. And I'm glad that he sees that because this country [2:36] will die by suicide from electing socialists before Iran ever launches a nuclear weapon at us. So I do [2:42] think we're on the right path with that. But it's going to be an age thing. The word communism, [2:46] communist is a dirty label to people over 60. Americans under 40, not so much. [2:52] I mean, we're just picking a new scare tactic as far as I'm concerned. This is getting insane. [2:57] He's up there saying you're going to live in squalor with no food and no housing and [3:00] no law and order. We have that for many people right now. That's why people are voting for [3:04] democratic socialists because they want government to look out for them again. They want affordable [3:08] housing. They want to have groceries that they can afford. And I keep thinking about like that old [3:12] expression that's like capitalism, only a few can be rich. Communism, nobody can be rich. And [3:18] democratic socialism is anyone can be rich, but no one should be poor. And I think that's what [3:22] they're trying to go for here. And I think that's what we should be looking at because they're really [3:26] modeling themselves after the Nordic countries, Denmark, Sweden, those kinds of places that have [3:31] the highest ranked, happiest country and citizens in the world. And I think there's a lot of young [3:35] Americans particularly that are like, this doesn't work for me at all. I have a worse quality of living [3:40] than my parents had ever did. We are the first generation that are like that. What can we do differently? And [3:44] this is what we could do differently. Let me play what AOC said just tonight about [3:49] this new line from the Republicans. Listen. The one thing that we know is that the Republican [3:57] Party's brand is fear. And they have to constantly churn what they want people to be afraid of, [4:06] to be afraid of socialists, to be afraid of immigrants, to be afraid of women, to be afraid of, [4:12] they constantly want Americans in fear of somebody. Because if you are not afraid of [4:20] someone who is your neighbor, you're going to realize who's actually pickpocketing you. [4:30] Look, 7% of people who could vote in those congressional races voted. Wrap your brain around that. 93% [4:40] of people who are eligible to vote did not vote. So saying that the message is resonating or it's [4:46] not resonating, what's resonating is people aren't voting. People don't care. There is, [4:52] now you can do early voting, right? I voted early because my son was playing baseball on the baseball [4:57] field on Saturday. And I looked, oh wow, I could just go in here. And I voted. It's so easy. It took [5:02] me seven minutes to go vote. So we have made it very easy for people to go vote, but they've decided [5:07] not to vote. So you can't, this is not a statistical analysis that you can rely upon about what messages [5:14] is resonating and what message is not resonating. When in 93%, I mean, the message is people don't [5:20] care or they don't think their vote counts, but you know, you can't say, whoa, it's a huge thing when [5:24] it's 7%. But this is not. But we're talking about the three congressional races in New York. [5:29] We're talking about mom, Donnie. Yeah, but this is not the first time that [5:30] democratic socialism has been on the scene. I mean, Bernie Sanders ran for president twice [5:35] as a democratic socialist. AOC is a, is an unknown democratic socialist. [5:40] And Bernie Sanders got nowhere, right? I mean, he got nowhere. [5:43] Well, I mean, Joe Biden, Joe Biden, you can either look at it as he got no, [5:48] got nowhere or he ran as a democratic socialist. And he basically was the runner up in the democratic [5:54] primary. He got shown no. So he went pretty far. He didn't go nowhere. [5:58] And democratic socialism hasn't gone anywhere because it comes with the ideas that people want, [6:02] which is things like affordable housing, affordable child care, paid family leave. [6:05] Listen, this is a capitalistic society. [6:07] But it all comes with abolishing... [6:09] That's true. This is a capitalistic society. [6:13] And today, I was just looking at some polling research today, 67% of Americans say that they [6:18] are more afraid of running out of food than death, than death. And that's, and that we've had a 16% [6:24] increase since president Trump has been in office. My point is this, if you don't want people to be [6:30] curious about socialism, capitalism has to work a lot better. It's really, it's, it's... [6:34] I don't think anyone's going to, I don't think president Trump would disagree with what you just [6:37] said. Well, guess what? Today, president Trump was out here talking about America will never [6:41] be a socialist country. America will never be a communist country. When he just asked for 11 [6:46] billion dollars in subsidies for farmers, because capitalism is killing American agriculture, [6:51] his capitalistic war in, uh, in the, in the Mideast is, is not allowing fertilizer to get to the, [6:57] to American agriculture. So it's failing all around. It's killing people, right? And people [7:03] are afraid and ready to use, to do something else. Yeah. Well, go ahead. People don't want [7:09] socialism. Is that what you're saying? They do want capitalism, but capitalism, we're living in [7:13] late stage capitalism, to use a Karl Marx story. We're living in late stage capitalism, where people [7:19] feel like they can't have ownership in their society. Americans want to feel like they can own a [7:24] part of their society. And too many Americans under 40, when the average age of the first-time [7:28] homebuyer is 40 years old, feel that they can't achieve ownership. And if they can't achieve ownership, [7:32] they'll be curious about- So let me just ask you a question. When Mayor [7:33] Mom Donnie says, we're freezing the rents, we're freezing the rents, and if the landlords can't [7:38] carry the buildings because the rents are frozen, he, he said, maybe we'll give the buildings, give [7:45] the buildings to the tenants. You think that's the American way? No, it's the, he diagnoses the [7:52] correct problem with the wrong solution. I mean, that's what he said. He said, he goes, [7:58] we'll give the buildings, give the buildings to the tenants. Not that they've earned them, [8:02] not that they deserve it. I do think though, um, you know, you're, you're making a policy [8:08] dispute with Mom Donnie, which I think is totally fair. But when you look at the fact that all of [8:13] that being said, and, and trust me, everything was thrown at him, but the kitchen sink, he's still the [8:19] most popular politician in New York right now. Listen, he's still in his honeymoon period. It's [8:23] been, and, and you're going to think I'm being facetious, but I'm not. The New York Knicks winning [8:28] too, and, and this winning streak, and that he's a Knicks fan, has helped him tremendously. [8:32] Here in New York, this is a national show, but in New York, he's been on the cover of every newspaper [8:37] with the Knicks, and that has been wonderful for any mayor, whether it was Giuliani with the Yankees, [8:41] or him with the, or him with the Knicks, and he's still in a honeymoon period. Let's see what happens. [8:46] What's helping him is that he's delivering on his promises. [8:50] He's coming in, he's saying he can do this, and he doesn't. [8:53] And you know who gets hurt when he frees the rents? To some degree. To some degree, the tenants. [8:57] You know why? Because you think the landlord's going to put in a new counter? You think the [9:01] landlord's going to put in a new refrigerator? Well, he's arguing that they're not going to do that. [9:05] He's arguing they're not doing that anyway. But they, but there's a percentage that is, [9:08] and there's a percentage that's not. No, he came in, and he stopped slumlords from not [9:11] doing things to buildings that they have avoided for years. He came in, and he balanced the budget. [9:15] He didn't balance the budget. Hold on. Kathy Hochul balanced the budget. [9:18] He went to the governor. He worked together with her, and that's what politics is, is it not? [9:24] Eric Adams did that, as did Bill de Blasio, as did Bloomberg, as did Giuliani. [9:28] So you think it's not worthwhile? [9:30] I just want to play one more thing. This is from Trump. This is, remember today, [9:35] he was speaking at this conservative Christian conference, and he frames this whole debate as [9:40] not just a threat against capitalism, but a threat against Christianity. Listen. [9:45] These ruthless communists will attack all religions, but in particular, Christianity. [9:53] They always do. They're after Christianity more than any other religion. They want to end religion. [10:00] They have to end religion because their ideology doesn't work. If you have strong religion, people [10:06] like you that are so incredible and love our country so much and love God, they will close [10:13] your churches in this country. I guess it is a question also, when the rhetoric gets so wound up, [10:24] do people just start to tune this out? I don't think so. I think that President Trump is actually [10:29] touching on something that is very real there. There's been a relationship between capitalism and [10:33] American Christianity for the longest time, right? And honestly, depending on how you're looking at it, [10:40] both of those things have been decently dangerous to black Americans. Black Americans were the capital [10:46] that allowed capitalism to exist, right? And also suffered the forced adoption of Christianity as [10:53] well. So those two things actually do have a through line. And I think President Trump signals to [10:58] his, he throws red meat to his base, who sees those two things together, right? Their versions of [11:04] Christianity don't want to give money to the poor. Their versions of Christianity don't want to take [11:09] health care away from people. And that is what capitalism has been doing in America for the [11:14] longest time as well. So I think he's hitting on something real. And the idea of a Jewish state, [11:18] Israel is a Jewish state that's in the charter. That's the way it is now. Do you support that? [11:24] I've said time and again that I support the state of Israel as a state with equal rights. I believe [11:28] that any state that preferences- But as a Jewish state is the question. [11:31] I think any state that privileges one religion over the other is one that I can't tell you I support, [11:35] whether it be Israel or Saudi Arabia or anywhere else. And a lot of that comes back to a fundamental [11:40] belief that we should all be considered equal no matter what our faith is. [11:44] So Mark was asking in the break, is it just the economics or is it also stuff like that, [11:51] Ashley, that has caused the rise of these Mamdani-esque candidates? [11:56] Well, I think putting it all under the banner of socialism actually is a misnomer. I think the [12:00] socialism policies actually are the economic policies. I also think that there are people that have [12:05] great issues with our alliance to Israel. Am I one of those people? I do think Israel is our ally. [12:10] Do I like the current government of Israel? No. Do I like the current government of the United [12:14] States? No. I'm still allowed to do that because we live in a democracy and we're able to have [12:17] freedom of speech. Does that mean I should be persecuted for that? No. Could I be persecuted for [12:23] that? Potentially. And is that how some people are seeing what is happening to Palestinians? So I think [12:28] Mandami's answer, in my opinion, is where I'm aligned. I think that people should be able to express their [12:33] religion, express their sexuality, express their race, and express their ideologies and free, [12:40] whether it's a religion in Israel, not other countries. Not Palestinians. [12:44] Not Palestinians. Not Palestinians are Supreme Court judges in Israel. [12:47] Palestinians have rights to vote in the election. Not at the West Bank. Not in the occupation. [12:50] Well, the West Bank doesn't want to be part of Israel. Now they're just Gaza. So if they're part of Israel, [12:53] then they can have the same lines of Israel. So here's what I want to ask you, Charles. I mean, [12:58] are Republicans making a mistake to assume that that sentiment that we just heard from [13:05] Mandani is something that is only reserved for far-left liberals? Because when I look at the [13:10] polling and I see young, you know, conservatives, their views on Israel have shifted sharply negative [13:16] over the last couple of years. And I think I'm looking at the same polls that you're looking at, [13:20] which is why I'm always confused when people pick out, uh, people on the left who are running for [13:28] office and say that they have said something that was offensive. And they say that they, you know, [13:33] they, as you have said before, that you, uh, you know, that they are horrible people and you condemn [13:39] them. Right? So, but when Randy Fine in Florida was running for office, who Donald Trump actually endorsed, [13:47] and he said that Palestinian is just another word for demon, which is still up on his Twitter page [13:55] right now. I looked to see if either of you had ever condemned him for that. I might have missed it. [14:01] My fault. I will give you the opportunity right now to condemn that the same way that you are [14:06] condemning the other people. There you go. Condemned. I think we can agree. I think we could agree. [14:10] I think we could agree two things are wrong. I really appreciate that. I mean, [14:13] I think it's the bare minimum to be like, hey, Palestinians are human too. But I don't appreciate [14:18] when my mayor is like, oh, I don't dislike Jews. I only dislike Zionists. Okay. Well, [14:22] what if I told you majority of Jews were Zionists? Like you, we were speaking during the break how [14:27] you don't want to be subject to racism. And that's totally valid. And I don't think you'd like living [14:31] under a mayor that's like, well, I don't dislike all black people. I only dislike some. [14:35] That's not the same thing. That is not the same thing. That is not the same thing. I don't know if [14:41] that's what I don't want to. Don't drag us into that, by the way. Don't drag us into your discussion [14:47] about that it's the same thing as black people. Don't drag us into that. Ashley, this is the last [14:51] word here. Don't drag us into that. I think that people, I think what I hear when I actually hear [14:56] Mondami speak is that he says that he does not like the ideology of having a religious state, [15:03] whether it is, he said Saudi Arabia, which is a predominantly Muslim state, [15:07] or Israel, which is a predominantly Jewish state. No, I hear you, but he never talks about the [15:10] other states. And I think we could, he literally, he literally, outside of this interview, has he [15:14] ever made it his point to constantly talk about it? I really, I really want to just let Ashley finish [15:19] this point. But I think that's the problem, right, is that folks are so dug in on this. And I understand it [15:27] as someone who is not a part of either one of those communities, because I was sitting at a table on [15:32] October 7th with a Palestinian and with somebody who has lived in Israel. And I saw the tension and [15:38] I thought it was not my place to get in. So I understand the personal pain that both of those [15:42] folks are feeling. But I think words actually do matter. And what he said in that interview is [15:46] what you're saying he didn't say. Yeah, but his wife was liking videos of women getting raped on [15:50] October 7th. So I don't know if I care about Mondani's words, to be honest with you. [15:54] Well, then can I say, I don't know if I care about Donald Trump's words when he says. [15:58] But follow his actions. Exactly. Don't listen to Trump's words. [16:02] He tweeted apes. He tweeted apes. [16:04] I want Mondani's actions to be as generous as his words. [16:06] But Emily, Emily, Emily, I am actually following Trump's words and actions. He tweeted apes. He had [16:11] somebody on his backyard that called the first black lady, the first black first lady a man. He [16:17] discriminated in the 70s against black people in housing. He actually called for the execution [16:22] of the exonerated five. I am not only watching his words. I am watching the most powerful man's [16:29] actions. And I'm also being told to ignore that. All right, we're going to leave it there. [16:32] Not acceptable to me. I feel like it's deja vu all over again. There was so much [16:39] fear around that when I was elected and none of it wore out to be true. Voters vote for what is [16:46] happening in their community and what's on their ballot. And I think that any candidate of any [16:54] party that's running their own race has the responsibility to run their race, say what they [16:59] believe and be as attuned to their community and their voters as possible. While there may be [17:05] personalities, I think what they want to see is policy. You know, are we fighting to guarantee [17:10] health care for every American? Are we trying to raise wages? Are we tackling on these huge [17:16] corporations? She would know. She unseated an incumbent, a long-time Democrat, and she ran as [17:24] a Democratic Socialist as well. So she knows. And do you think that she's right that this is basically [17:29] deja vu? It's her race but times three. Well, it's not that she's right. She's right that this is [17:34] similar to her race. But I can't remember her ever saying, you know, horrible, disparaging things [17:39] about the American flag, you know, being part or founding an organization that wants to undermine [17:43] the republic. This is what some of the candidates that won recently are doing. So they are much more [17:48] further towards the radical left than AOC ever was. So like, at some point, she's going to have [17:53] to contend with what a lot of establishment Democrats have to come to face after 10, 20 years. [17:59] They eventually become the establishment and they get eaten by this new cadre. Look, [18:04] what happened with the Democratic Party was this. For 10 years, for eight years, whatever you want to say, [18:08] the party had no message other than orange man bad. And Zoran Mamdani, his allies, his compatriots, [18:14] they filled that void with a very cogent series of ideas. It's called socialism, right? And they [18:20] filled that void. And this is the only alternative message to Trump, right, out there in the ether. [18:26] And people did pick up what they're putting down. Mamdani is a vote getter, no question about that. [18:30] But this is essentially good for the Republican Party because you have a lot of Democrats, even [18:35] Letitia James, the attorney general here in New York, pushing back on the socialists. They're afraid [18:40] of the socialists because they see the electoral possibility what the Republicans could do. [18:44] But isn't he right in the respect that Democrats have been coasting on Trump, [18:50] bad, Trump, bad for years and years and years. And now there is an alternative message. They don't [18:55] like it. Some of the establishment doesn't like it, but it is a real message. [18:59] I agree full stop. Like if the establishment Democratic Party wants to beat out the socialists [19:04] to the far left, like put forward a message. Tell us what you want to do. Tell us how you're [19:07] going to make housing cheaper, childcare more affordable, solve the affordability crisis. [19:12] Like, where's the vision? If the establishment and the old guard wanted to win, they should [19:16] have been organizing. They should have been communicating. They should have been doing stuff. [19:20] I think like the frustration that voters have right now that I think is so visceral and so deep [19:25] is the sense that our leadership is not well suited for the moment. They have neither the stomach [19:28] nor the skills to fight in the way that we need. And they have failed to deliver on the promise [19:34] that like, oh, no, just elect us and we'll get it done. Or no, we know who can win. [19:38] They have lost all sense of credibility with the Democratic base. [19:41] They no longer reflect the party as it stands with voters. [19:44] What I don't understand is why the Democrats go down or going down this socialism [19:49] route, because that's not going to work in the rest of the country. It might work in New York [19:52] City for a while. It doesn't need to work in the rest of the country. [19:54] Well, if you want to win the presidency, I believe it's going to have to work. So progressivism, [19:59] when I hear progressivism, I think something a lot different than when I hear socialism. [20:03] So when I hear Democrats saying, I'm a democratic socialist, I'm thinking, [20:06] why are you saying that? The Republicans do a hell of a job of identifying we're going to call [20:11] them socialists. Socialists hate America. Can I ask you something? Please. [20:16] No disrespect. You don't have to answer this question. But how old are you? [20:19] I'll be 60 in a couple of weeks. Great. All right. You look wonderful. Thank you. [20:23] But I think the truth is that for a lot of younger people, they don't care about those labels. [20:27] They don't know the difference. I mean, they know the difference, [20:29] but it doesn't really matter to them as much. And part of the reason why, look at what's happening [20:33] here in New York City. Just today, Zoran Mamdani just had a rent freeze that the rent control board [20:39] established, which he promised he was going to deliver. He got universal child care through [20:44] in the past six months. He's been in office. He's got crime down. [20:47] Let me finish. Let me finish. Let me finish. He's got crime down. He's got the Knicks winning [20:53] the championships. He's got the Knicks winning historic [20:56] championships. And he balanced the budget on top of that. If that's socialism, then sign me up. [21:01] Because those are things that people want. He's delivering results for the people of the city. [21:05] So can I just do a protest at City Halter is a protest by progressive Democrats [21:10] against Mamdani's treatment of the NYPD. Hold on. Sure. [21:14] They're eating themselves. But just to be clear, I mean, [21:16] what's fascinating is that look at this polling about, let's start with Mamdani. 48% of New [21:22] Yorkers approve of him. Just 30% disapprove. 23% are unsure. So he has a net positive approval rating [21:30] in this city right now. Look at the national picture. Bernie Sanders is the most popular newsmaker, [21:38] plus 11% favorability, followed only by AOC, who has a negative four approval rating. And then all [21:47] these other look at Donald Trump. He's at literally the bottom. I don't know what Marco Rubio did to [21:51] the public, but he is at the bottom of the list. But look, my point is, is that I don't know about the [21:57] labels. I think that maybe people are too obsessed with that idea because it seems like voters are not [22:05] taking that seriously. They're also not taking the real controversies. Like, honestly, some of [22:10] these candidates have said some things. They've deleted tweets. They've said some things that they [22:14] don't even want to defend. But voters are just ignoring all of those things. And I feel like that [22:19] is, if nothing else, that is actually a Donald Trump legacy. That is, that Donald Trump set the [22:24] table for that kind of thing in our politics. Well, I think Donald Trump inherited, and I always said [22:29] Donald Trump's election in a happy country does not elect Donald Trump. An angry country elects Donald [22:35] Trump. And Aristotle said that you have to have a thriving middle class in a democracy because it [22:40] moderates the politics. And when that middle class shrinks and when it disappears, you're going to get [22:45] political extremes. And this country has produced Donald Trump to the presidency, and now it's produced [22:50] Mom Donnie in New York City and AOC. We have a country where one in three Americans under 35 live with [22:57] their parents. The average age of the first time home buyer is 40 years old. The main middle class [23:04] pathway to upward mobility and a better life, college, has all but collapsed. Most people do not [23:10] believe that going to college is the way to have a better life anymore. That has been our main economic [23:17] highway for decades. All of that has collapsed. A civilized global superpower would look at all of those [23:23] statistics and treat it like the national emergency that it is. Because what's going to happen is the [23:30] United States is going to get revolution one way or another. We don't want to see it go down the path [23:34] that Russia, France, Iran went down, where the young disenfranchised just revolted. People want, [23:40] you're not going to beat left-wing populism with anything other than right-wing populism. America [23:45] already said that's what they want. But the Trump administration has to double and triple down [23:49] on its right-wing populist policies to blunt the riots. Otherwise, people are going to look for left-wing [23:54] solutions.