Saagar Enjeti (23:41)
Right. But that's not it. So it's not the liberal framing of the critique. It's actually why I think it's so effective is it's explicitly about the campaign promises and the spirit of why Trump got elected in the first place and saying, hey, that was a betrayal. Now, the reason I think it may resonate with you or other like commentators is that one of the ways that a lot of the Democrats have recognized to try and gain background is they're like, well, one way that we have to win is in a bigger tent is to convince people to vote for us. And one of the ways to do that is to say the other person that you voted for didn't deliver what you promised. Now, but that's an important distinction in terms of what makes somebody a quote, turncoat and somebody who is actually authentically within, in that ideological sphere and then speaking out against that. The Republican critique of her right now, like the pro Trump critique, is that she's undermining the administration, not that she is somebody who has turned on everything that she used to believe in the past. I don't think that that's the case now. In terms of her stylistic apology, I read that very much in the way of actually coming to terms with a couple of things. First and foremost was the Israel criticism, because I think it was a huge eye opener for her in particular to take in a lot of the information about Israel to conclude ultimately that we should not militarily support this nation. She even went so far as to call it a genocide. And I think what she understood is that in the past, you know, for a lot of politicians, they just bought the Israel propaganda kind of hook, line and sinker. And what they watch is that nasty rhetoric be employed against them for simply acknowledging basic truths like, hey, you're slaughtering a lot of women and children. And I do think that that in particular a lot of the nastiness and the rhetoric, when they see how that is weaponized against them for merely just speaking their own mind and for trying to uphold those very principles that makes them reassess how they themselves have acted in the past and also how you want to try and build some consensus in the future. And so this is one of those where what they're all everybody is trying to sketch out bets right now. We were just looking at the morning this morning, Ted Cruz attacking Tucker Carlson. Part of it is because he wants to make a 2028 run. Part of here with MT explicitly picking and saying, hey, I feel like a lot of the promises are being betrayed. But you know, also with mtg, you know, to give her at least some credit, you know, if she is cynical, she often talks about her children and she talks often about the ability to purchase a home. Her Home state of Georgia, by the way. I was just, we were just looking at some economic stuff this morning. Georgia is not doing very well in terms of their economy. They just had those Democratic swings against them. Like if you want to preserve ability to win or winning this of the recent Republican coalition, you have to kind of return to a lot those roots. She also, she passes a vibe check in terms of her ability to go and to do a lot of what Trump did in the original 2024 campaign. She was just on the Tim Dillon podcast. I thought she handled it incredibly well. She can go on the View. She handled herself, I thought there quite competently. She could pretty much go anywhere and handle anything. And that is something again, which I don't think that Donald Trump would actually do very well on a podcast right now if he's actually even remotely challenged, let's say on Epstein or any of the promises that he originally made in 2024, because the power is now real for her. She can actually critique. And that's a very, very powerful. I've talked previously about kind of the rise of Nick Fuentes and others, and one of the things that Emily has said, I'm borrowing this, it's not my take, but I think it's so deeply true, is there is not a lot of space in the MAGA machine and in particular in Republican media for people who are not liberals to critique the Trump administration. That doesn't exist. There's no permission structure. It's a lot like Joe Biden saying he's senile back in, what, 2023. That was like, we could not say those things in Democratic aligned spaces, even though a huge portion of the Democratic base was like, he's too old, he's too old, he's too old, he's too old. Well, there is a lot of American dissatisfaction, including people who voted for Donald Trump, who again, are not liberals. These are not bleeding heart liberals, but they are upset. And so to see them validated in this politician, it seems courageous. It's a big bet again. Will it work out? I mean, who knows, right? It's only November. There's three years to go still. Two years basically till the actual primary really gets started in. Is it Iowa still for the Republicans? I forget. I think it's still Iowa and New Hampshire. Like, yeah, look, nobody's gonna make any declarations and she could absolutely crash and burn that midterm elections will be an interesting test. She's unendorsing. He said in a follow on truth, he wants somebody to run against her. Let's see, let's see how it works out. But he's also going against Thomas Massie, and it doesn't look like that's really working out that well. For example, his most recent critiques I think are probably only gonna strengthen Thomas Massie. Let's put that on the screen. For example, what we have here, Trump says, did Thomas Massie, sometimes referred to as Rand Paul Jr because of the fact that he always votes against the Republican Party, get married already. Question, question, question. Boy, that was quick. No wonder the polls have him at less than 8% chance of winning the election. Not true. Anyway, have a great life, Thomas. And question mark. His wife will soon find out that she's stuck with a loser. So I mean, I think that that was a really, I don't know, I mean, it's one of those where a lot of people just looked at that are viscerally disgusted. Thomas Massie's wife tragically died, you know, of a hell of. His previous wife tragically died, you know, of a health incident. And he was obviously heartbroken recently. Just got remarried and he seemed pretty happy. I think that's great. I think most normal people are like, wow, that's fantastic. Congratulations, Thomas. Even in his announcement, he kind of made an ode to his dead wife and how he misses her all the time. And I think the visceral nature in which Trump attacked Massie is Massie. You can say whatever you want about him. I've criticized him here. I don't agree with everything that the guy says, but it's like mtg in. I believe that what he says is what he thinks. And that's the most right now. The biggest differentiation in all of politics is for Trump to attack him like that. That pushed a lot of people the wrong way. Cause it's like, really, you're gonna attack Thomas Massie not only politically, but on his personal life. And then you're gonna embrace Lindsey Graham and all of these other people who are explicitly against your so called campaign promises. And you know, we could talk personal life there too. All day long if we want to. It's like, who is your venom reserved for? And I think that really pushed a lot of people the wrong way.
