Donald Trump said that Nikki Haley's supporters would be "permanently barred" from the MAGA camp...and he's keeping that promise in the general election. Bulwark MAGA-world correspondent Marc Caputo joins Sarah to listen to Nikki Haley's base...those that are abandoning Trump in the general election, and those that are sticking with him.
Watch Sarah and Marc record this episode of The Focus Group ad-free, here.
Again, I had to skip around on the FG comments because the sheer ignorance and lack of analytical skills of the FG participants made me taste more than a little vomit. My overall conclusion: at the end of the day all these Nikki supporters will vote for Trump. If Biden wants to win, don't rely on these people. Instead reach out to young voters who are not part of the "intifada now" crowd sucking up all the air (and there are many young voters that are not), have Kamala Harris work the traditional black Democratic voters by reminding them of how Trump reacted to George Floyd protests in 2020 and hope for the best.
As Tim Miller put it in a recent podcast, this would be about Trump and a "heavenly hamburger".
My spouse and I are adamantly Never Trumpers and we voted for Nikki Haley in the primary. I would be so tempted if Trump picked Nikki Haley as his running mate though my marriage might not survive. Thankfully, Trump is too stupid to pick Haley.
First, I can't square the circle of how someone can be "adamantly Never Trump" yet "so tempted" to vote for a Trump-Haley ticket. Second, your comment is exactly the reason I still think there is a 20% chance Nikki will be Trump's VP pick. Trump's advisors know this will be a razor close election, and picking Nikki provides the permission structure for certain voters to pretend that a vote for a Trump-Nikki ticket is ok because either Nikki will moderate Trump (laughable if not so dangerous) or Trump will die in office or be forced to resign because he will inevitably be impeached for yet another high crime (pure self-serving hopium). Nikki herself left this option open in her speech ending her campaign with: "It is now up to Donald Trump to earn the votes of those in our party and beyond it who did not support him, and I hope he does that. At its best, politics is about bringing people into your cause, not turning them away. And our conservative cause badly needs more people. This is now his time for choosing." In other words, Nikki can now jump in as VP and say "well Trump has now earned the votes of my supporters so I'm proud to be his VP."
Reading this the day after Haley torched the remaining shreds of her dignity in announcing she would vote for Trump. The process has begun. Hopefully Mr. Clare's wife prevails upon his better nature.
Nikki hopium is a helluva drug.
You’d have to pray Trump didn’t survive either!
Now there was a bipartisan immigration bill that was passed by the Senate and in the congress Trump said to Johnson kill the immigration bill so that it hurts Biden. Does anyone remember that? Biden should talk about that and he should by executive action should close the border.
My wife and I have been conservative voters for 40 and 50 years. We will vote against Trump if it means voting for Biden. Trump's disgusting character will never carry independents and no one can win without independents.
I promise if the situation is ever reversed and someone of integrity is the GOP candidate and the Dems field a Trump that I will cross the aisle and vote for the Republican.
As Liz Cheney says, we can fight about policy later.
I'll take you at your word but I suspect you would be very alone crossing the aisle.
The obvious comparison point is John Edwards (serial adulterer who illegally used campaign money to cover up an affair) and I don't here any clamoring to have him on the ticket. Menendez is probably a national security threat like Trump is, he won't bother to run for re-election. There are democrats who have been outed as being as awful as Trump, and it looks their careers end.
Really well said.
It's so interesting that the one guy said things about the current criminal trial like the statute of limitations had run. Yes, that's the talk about charges that weren't brought. If any other irregulaties like that are present the defense should have been filing motions on them to get them removed from the indictment. Whatever charges weren't brought for whatever reason does not make the current trial illegitimate or the result of "persecution." What defendant has not felt persecuted anyway?
The SOL hasn’t run because the statute was tolled during the pandemic. The people repeating that just don’t know what they’re talking about.
What became clearly evident in discussion between Sarah Longwell and Marc Caputo is that Donald Trump can and does have widely diverging positions on any one or more issues, much like his supporting voters who "never" articulate - nor whom are even closely questioned by supposedly astute Media, exactly what were the policies and 'positive' achievement of Donald Trump Presidency for "ALL" Americans, not just his right wing contingent and wealthy associates.
Trump's apparent dysfunctional mindset and utterings are mirror representations of his voters, and no matter how seemingly rational or self-contradictory they are in Longwell's or any other republican" focus groups, the bottom line not accepted by Bulwark journalists is these voters still fully support Trump and MAGA's virulent racial Animus against "one quarter" or more of the whole USA population, were comfortable with Immigration Border policy of separating (non-white) children and keeping them in cages, had no thought or negative position of Trump instructing Betsy DeVos for transferring 500 Billions $dollars out of critical US education programs to soften his tax breaks for almost only the wealthy, failing completely to effectively handle onslaught of Covid-19 pandemic - (dozens of factual references), banning anyone of a mainstream religion - ISLAM from entering USA, and on and on and on.
As I has written in comments on Bulwark recently, all these weak reasons put forth by most opposing Biden and Democrats, regardless of global acceptance of great benefits he gained to quality and value of American life, or any other minutia of complaints, there were several credible surveys and studies of USA in recent years which pointed to overriding, and so far factually undisputed reasoning for Trump support and Biden's derision.
The data points to long standing, quite strong discomfort and agitation of the majority of white Americans to this country not being a 'Majority/Minority' nation in 2050, where whites have always had full control over every aspect of life to their advantage and privilege.
Ignoring such harsh reality is a destructive stance for a society.
TFG will have a DeSantis as his VP, Casey. What better way to emasculate Ron than this?
It's interesting to hear how 'defensive' to my ears at least, these double haters are for voting for Trump, saying that Trump was the right person at the right time in 2016 or that they liked his policies, without any specifics whatsoever in favor of their votes for Trump, but they can specify why they're NOT going to vote for Trump, again.
So, so, so hard to admit having been wrong.
I am not a “soft” Republican voter. I am rock solid Republican. What I am not is a voter who supports a QAnon believing, dictator courting, coup causing, carnival barking, grifting criminal. Trump isn’t a Republican. He’s a threat to everything Republicans, not to mention Americans, believe in.
Unfortunately the majority of all of 'republican' voters, now called MAGA contingent do not agree with the very limited view that you express, which is reason the few traditional Republicans, often called "Normies", even in Bulwark, are fast becoming extinct.
I'm a registered Dem. I have voted for Republicans before, but in 2024, I am voting a straight Dem ticket. IMO, there's really no other option for the foreseeable future.
Why do you keep saying “a pox on both their housers”? It’s “houses.”
It’s a modifier. What drives me nuts is that it’s “plague,” not “pox.”
The "-ers" at the end is not part of the expression, it's the modifier to make it a label for the group of people. Like "Never Trumpers."
Loved hearing from Marc Caputo!
so trumps looking for a attractive woman , who he can trust, with enough personality to be seen but knows to keep a low profile to not eclipse his own glory[winks]...she has to be loyal, and tailored to things he wants......i think that fits ivanka? .besides if trump goes to prison who would trump trust to be temporary president to pardon him? would he trust a political operator to do that? or a member of his family? the one question i would ask , would she accept it?
Ivanka has a robotic voice, like a 'bot', which would make her ideal I guess. lol
This is very interesting and provides great insight into what people who have previously supported Trump. Sarah please let me know how to contribute to your efforts to sway the swayable R’s. This is important work. I’m so discouraged when I read the polls!
Sarah founded the Republican Voters Against Trump (RVAT). They run anti-Trump ads. You can participate or donate by going to rvat.org.
Thanks
You're welcome.
OK. I had do ask about signing in on substack. This is worse. I am a member, you charged $10 to my account. I can't get into Tim's stuff and there is NO WAY to contact you except through comments. This has to be fixed if I am going to remain a subscriber. That other creator thing is of ZERO interest to me. I don't have the kind of cell phone you can use to get your stuff.
I don't want to cancel, I DO NOT want to cancel, but I may have to. I'm 77 and don't have the band with to deal with this kind of stuff.
Try emailing them at members@thebulwark.com
I now live in Iowa and was surprised and disappointed at the comments I heard about North and South Dakota, neither of which I live in, nor have any special brief for.. I listen to the bulwark to hear what supposedly intelligent and well-informed former or would-be Republicans feel about the seismic shift in their party's approach. I do not listen to hear what a good friend has to say in generalities about a neighboring state. Silly comments about an entire state are just gossip, not political analysis, and not what I paid for. North Dakota does have public banking, which is a progressive idea. It does not have Kristi Noem as governor. Now we are two strikes in its favor. It did not send National Guard troops to Texas as South Dakota did. A little more thought when discussing the heartland states and its inhabitants would be greatly appreciated, please. Repeating the inter-state rivalries that have little basis in fact is a waste of everyone's time. Please edit the podcasts in the future. Your ideas about toughness and Republican females were worth hearing, by the way Sarah. And think about how Joni Ernst used castration in ads for her first senate run. I do think the way Republican women display (cosplay?) toughness is complex, and that they are given greater leeway than Democratic women are in that regard. Kristi Gnome went too far.
On another note to a reader below. The original creature that Dr. Frankenstein created was highly intelligent and eager to learn and kindly. He received terrible treatment and eventually became angry and lashed out.
Trump is campaigning to the MAGA base, a collection of people who are already sold on him. The people who attend his rallies and listen to his whining and complaining are diehard MAGA and people mocking them.
The NYT has an article today describing the audience at a Trump rally in New Hampshire earlier this year. There were more “regular” people and fewer MAGA types. I’m not curious enough to go to a rally to confirm this,, but food for thought about who his people are now.
I am not surprised. New Hampshire voters can think. For example, Sununu is a mostly moderate GOP.
I plan to buy THE Time Magazine today, but the description of Trump and his behavior is ongoing - a continuation of uninterrupted holy terror. Mary Shelley, who is "best known for writing the Gothic novel called Frankenstein" had the foresight to envision Donald Trump. I look at the cover of Time and see an ugly, vulgar, and ignorant monster. Many Republicans look at Trump and describe him as attractive and smart. This immense difference of opinion best describes the boundless contemptuousness today between many Democrats and Republicans.
This difference of opinion has cast a whirlwind of dissension across our nation and impacted many lives. I no longer wish to live in the beautiful mountainous region of Arizona where the climate is better than Phoenix, but the population leans steeply toward Trumpers. I no longer wish to go buy groceries and am faced with an endless lineup of pickup trucks flying Trump flags or worse with Swazastika stickers on bumpers. Just like tattoos became normalized so has a level of savagery in our country. At least one day a week, I face one or two empty beer cans in my yard. and yesterday I received a male cell phone message that said " Hi Elizabeth, Go outside. Thank you." I have come to think of this as a threatening warning that can no longer be ignored.
While the American media spotlight, ever enthralled by the sensationalism of the moment and entire days of media coverage based of the level of Trump's eyelids and his legal woes, a crucial and overlooked alarming danger continues to unfold in the United States. The shadow cast by Vladimir Putin over the landscape of American democracy, and his influence and control over Trump grows larger and more treacherous by the moment. Because most of my career was spent in Russian-speaking countries, I have perspicuously visualized the progress of Putin's assault on the United States. Putin has even told the whole world of his intentions in a book (The Foundation of Geopolitics) published in Russia in 1997 where he lists his Presidential ambitions. This checklist includes the destruction of the U.S. from within by placing a man in power who is loyal to Russia - a government- operational model that mimics the USSR pattern - the era when Putin grew-up and was trained as a KGB spy. Americans do not understand Putin's intentions or his methodologies - they only see Trump as the Republican leader. This lack of education, international experience, and isolationism is crippling our nation and is what we are seeing happening now.
Our democracy hangs on the edge of a cliff and may be tipped in either direction this year. The resistance of Judge Merchan to jail Trump AND the SCOTUS delay in the "immunity" case are signs that WE - all of us - may be living in a dictatorship soon. I have lived in autocratic governments for many years, and do not wish to return. No one is safe. Putin's carefully planned strategies and his attempt to reshape the course of American politics and American lives is nearly accomplished.
Elizabeth Graham http://www.democrazy2020.org
Your thoughts and writing are beautiful.
Thank you
Nice hoodie, Sarah. I have same one. Looks good with white pants.
I wish people would just start repeating “those who don’t vote are responsible for EVERY candidate who gets into office.” When they say “no I didn’t vote for them” I say nope and you didn’t vote against them either which helped put them in office. I think those who don’t vote like to sit back and feel vindicated they didn’t participate. By holding them accountable they may think differently.
Nope. Onus is on you to convince us to vote for your candidate. We don't have to justify our vote to you.
That’s fair. But that also means you’re responsible for who is in office? You get that right?
There’s a study out of AZ that shows the collapsing of the MAGA base between 2020 and 2022. If your results indicate upwards of a 30% “disaffection” rate among Republican voters, over 80% will vote non-MAGA. The study is based on actual voting patterns (I.e., not polls and not statistical analysis).
See: Things Fall Apart: Hard Evidence of a Collapsing MAGA Movement. www.Real-Audits.org
I hope this is true. Thanks for sharing. I live in AZ and what I witnessed from the Republican Party has horrified me. I haven’t changed parties yet so I can vote in the primaries against the crazy. I feel it’s my only power against it right now.
Wrong Caputo. You're thinking of Michael Caputo. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Caputo
Marc Caputo has always been a journalist.
http://www.marccaputo.com/
Thank you. I read five articles to make sure I had the right guy and still blew it. I’m amazed nobody called me out sooner.
I think I can delete it.
No worries. We all make mistakes.
I appreciate the correction. I feel like I should apologize to him.
Yeah, sort of has the ring of Glenn Beck, doesn't he? How'd that conversion turn out? Not exactly Paul on the road to Damascus.