Nate Cohn
👤 SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
And that gets taken away from him here. And I think that there will be practical consequence to that, especially given the breadth of his ambitions.
And that gets taken away from him here. And I think that there will be practical consequence to that, especially given the breadth of his ambitions.
Yeah, and as I alluded to, the Republicans have a very narrow majority in the House, and that creates two major risks to them. One is that they could lose control of the chamber in an election. The poll, by the way, found Democrats with a lead on what we call the generic ballot, which is the question asking whether you want Democrats or Republicans to control Congress.
Yeah, and as I alluded to, the Republicans have a very narrow majority in the House, and that creates two major risks to them. One is that they could lose control of the chamber in an election. The poll, by the way, found Democrats with a lead on what we call the generic ballot, which is the question asking whether you want Democrats or Republicans to control Congress.
And they want Democrats to control Congress. So that's one risk. The second risk is that even if the Republicans have controlled Congress until November 2028, He may not have a governing majority in the House if he can't keep nearly every member of the chamber in line.
And they want Democrats to control Congress. So that's one risk. The second risk is that even if the Republicans have controlled Congress until November 2028, He may not have a governing majority in the House if he can't keep nearly every member of the chamber in line.
And as the president's approval rating sinks, there are greater incentives for moderate Republicans from districts that voted for Kamala Harris or only but narrowly voted for Donald Trump to defy the president in their pursuit of reelection.
And as the president's approval rating sinks, there are greater incentives for moderate Republicans from districts that voted for Kamala Harris or only but narrowly voted for Donald Trump to defy the president in their pursuit of reelection.
And there may just be genuinely skeptical members of Congress who feel emboldened to oppose his agenda on the merits because they know that the president is weak. That would threaten his ability to extend his tax cuts, to slash entitlement programs, or anything else he may want from the Congress.
And there may just be genuinely skeptical members of Congress who feel emboldened to oppose his agenda on the merits because they know that the president is weak. That would threaten his ability to extend his tax cuts, to slash entitlement programs, or anything else he may want from the Congress.
And then the president could find himself almost as like a lame duck sooner than later if the trends in the poll were to continue.
And then the president could find himself almost as like a lame duck sooner than later if the trends in the poll were to continue.
Exactly. And there are other organizations and people and institutions who might be likelier to resist President Trump than they would if he had a 55 percent approval rating, a law firm under attack, a university. The judiciary, all of these groups are ever so subtly affected by whether they feel like they have the wind of public opinion at their back.
Exactly. And there are other organizations and people and institutions who might be likelier to resist President Trump than they would if he had a 55 percent approval rating, a law firm under attack, a university. The judiciary, all of these groups are ever so subtly affected by whether they feel like they have the wind of public opinion at their back.
And as the president's ratings sink, I think they become likelier, maybe even only slightly likelier, but likelier nonetheless. to oppose the president.
And as the president's ratings sink, I think they become likelier, maybe even only slightly likelier, but likelier nonetheless. to oppose the president.
I thought that both in generalities and in specifics, the poll provided a lot of evidence that there was very little public support for Trump to claim an even more assertive and powerful version of the presidency than he already has.
I thought that both in generalities and in specifics, the poll provided a lot of evidence that there was very little public support for Trump to claim an even more assertive and powerful version of the presidency than he already has.
Some of this is already beginning to hurt him politically, as we talked about in the context of the Garcia case, and as we talked about with this whole idea that the president is going too far. I mean, almost every excess we're talking about are cases where the president is stretching his authority too beyond what we would have agreed in the past the president could undertake on his own.
Some of this is already beginning to hurt him politically, as we talked about in the context of the Garcia case, and as we talked about with this whole idea that the president is going too far. I mean, almost every excess we're talking about are cases where the president is stretching his authority too beyond what we would have agreed in the past the president could undertake on his own.