Panicked by bad news, Trump makes elections power grab and leaves staff sputtering with excuses
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How is Donald Trump's desperation affecting U.S. elections?
The U.S. military deployed on the streets of America. Whole communities targeted for removal. There was tremendous anxiety as they saw neighbors and friends being taken. And when accountability finally came knocking, the burn order to cover it all up. I never believed that America would be doing this. A stain on this country, one that we said we would never repeat. Rachel Maddow presents Burn Order.
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So for a guy who cares about holding onto power pretty much more than anything else, Donald Trump cannot possibly be feeling good right now. I mean, this was the scene just two nights ago at a town hall for one of the most vulnerable House Republicans, Congressman Mike Lawler.
For instance, the five-year-old boy that was detained, that father left his child. He ran away from his child. And the ICE agents, the ICE agents were actually protecting the child.
What actions is Trump taking to control voting outcomes?
Hey, bro, you can leave now. Goodbye. Goodbye.
We won't proceed until you're gone. Goodbye.
So that went well for Mike Lawler. I mean, also obviously yelling, bro, you can leave, is something you should do when you're trying to build support in your community and you're literally in a town hall in the district you're trying to win. But he's not asking me for advice. Anyway, that is a seat Republicans desperately need to hold onto this November if they want to keep control of the House. It's a super tiny margin. And Mike Lawler is a guy who won back in 2022 in large part because he scared the hell out of the people in his district with ads from his campaign and from outside groups with basically this message that he was going to be tough on the border and on immigration. Doesn't seem kind of like that's really working for him anymore.
So there's that. Now, that raucous town hall came on the heels of even more bad news for the president and his party. Because on Saturday in the state of Texas, a Democrat, local union leader, and first-time political candidate, Taylor Remmitt, won a special election for Texas state legislature, defeating his Republican opponent by 14 points.
What did Marc Elias say about the threat to fair elections?
In a district, Trump won by 17 points just over a year ago. That is... A 31-point swing toward Democrats in just 14 months. And then there's even more numbers. There's, of course, the polling. It's really hard, really, really hard, I can promise you, to win in a swing district when the leader of your party has an approval rating in the 30s. It just is. And look at that. That's a couple of polls there on your screen. That's his approval rating. And all of that, all of that and more was probably on Trump's mind yesterday. When he decided to catch up with a disgruntled former employee, the podcaster, turned deputy FBI director, turned podcaster again, Dan Bongino. And Trump sat down for an interview with Bongino, or the podfather, as Bongino calls himself.
And in the middle of a discussion about crime and immigration, Trump suddenly said this.
The Republicans should say, we want to take over.
How are Senate Democrats responding to ICE's actions?
We should take over the voting in at least many, 15 places. The Republicans ought to nationalize the voting.
Okay, so you could probably hear that pretty well. We put it on the screen just in case. But that is Donald Trump saying he wants Republicans to take over and nationalize voting in at least 15 places. And it certainly would not be just 15 places if he were to do this. Now, while the federal government is allowed to make general laws about voting, the Constitution specifically gives the states control over elections. So having the federal government, and I would note the Trump-controlled federal government, take control of elections would be a wild anti-democratic power grab. It's not like it was a slip of the tongue where he just said it once off the cuff. I mean, he kept talking about it. What exactly did you mean when you said that you should nationalize elections?
And which 15 states are you talking about?
I want to see elections be honest. And if a state can't run an election, I think the people behind me should do something about it. Because, you know, if you think about it, a state is an agent for the federal government in elections.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
How is Donald Trump's desperation affecting U.S. elections?
0:00–1:19
2
What actions is Trump taking to control voting outcomes?
1:19–2:46
3
What did Marc Elias say about the threat to fair elections?
2:46–3:44
4
How are Senate Democrats responding to ICE's actions?
3:44–4:53
5
What insights does Rep. Dan Goldman provide about the Epstein files?
4:53–5:33
6
What implications does Trump's call for a federal takeover of elections have?
5:33–6:47
7
How are Trump's allies influencing election integrity discussions?
6:47–8:10
8
What are the consequences of ICE's actions on communities?
8:10–44:19
Speakers
7 identifiedMore from The Briefing with Jen Psaki
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