"Even Trump voters are disillusioned with what they're seeing"

Summary

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Deadline: White House – "Even Trump voters are disillusioned with what they're seeing"

Date: August 7, 2026
Host: Nicolle Wallace
Guests: John Heilemann, Tim Miller, Rev. Al Sharpton, Jessica Taylor (Cook Political Report)
Main Theme:
This episode examines growing public and even Republican voter disenchantment with Donald Trump amid worsening economic conditions, his administration’s out-of-touch messaging, and the implications for the upcoming midterm elections. The conversation explores how and why Republican officials continue backing Trump despite his record-low approval ratings, highlights the rise of crossover Democratic candidates, and examines the impact of the Iran war on politics and daily life.

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Episode Overview

Nicolle Wallace, drawing on her background as a former communications chief for President George W. Bush, leads a candid roundtable focused on political and economic discontent in America. The panel dissects Trump’s declining approval, unprecedented voter frustration—including from Trump’s own base—the GOP’s loyalty crisis, and the emergence of Democratic Senate candidates with broad appeal. Analysis is supported by polling, on-the-ground anecdotes, and inside reporting. In the backdrop: inflation, war, and a Trump administration increasingly seen as aloof from ordinary Americans’ struggles.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Economic Woes and Voter Disillusionment

(Starts ~01:59)

• Jobs Report & Living Costs: The latest jobs report revealed a loss of 23,000 jobs—second worst this year—which Wallace describes as “unexpected [and] very disappointing,” highlighting that “Americans are struggling to make ends meet with the high price of gas and groceries" (Nicole Wallace, 01:59).
• Voter Voices: Panelists and actual voters describe grim realities.
  • “Groceries, it is not. I’m on a fixed income … food is getting outrageous.” (John Heilemann, 02:21)
  • “With rent going up, gas going up, groceries going up, … two people struggling to live in a house and we’re barely scraping by.” (Tim Miller, 02:35)

2. Trump’s Denial and the GOP’s Dilemma

(02:44–07:23)

• Trump Shifts Blame: In a Punchbowl News interview, Trump claims, “They’re not angry at me, but they are angry at Republicans.” (Trump, quoted by Wallace, 03:52)
• Panel Analysis:
  • Wallace points out this is “nonsensical," especially as Republicans are “literally crying as they fall in line behind Trump” (Nicole Wallace, 04:44).
  • Miller: “It’s a classic Trump only megalomania story. Honestly, he doesn’t care about these people. He doesn’t really care about the midterms.” (Tim Miller, 06:17)
  • “He’s moved—like he doesn’t care about them, and it’s an easy story to tell himself, comforting that people still like him" (Miller, 06:17).

3. GOP Paralysis and Lack of Self-Respect

(07:23–14:21)

• Unpopularity and Vanity: Wallace references Axios reporting on Trump’s “vanity projects”—White House renovations and a helipad—saying Trump “showcases his new Air Force One, touts plans for Dulles, and obsesses about the helipad.” (Nicole Wallace, 07:23)
• Panelists Reflect:
  • Heilemann quips, “Trump just wants to leave as many imprints as possible … in the hope that … maybe there’ll be a small plaque at Dulles that will still have his name on it.” (Heilemann, 08:50)
  • On GOP lawmakers’ loyalty: “At this moment, a little bit of spite, you’d think it would be the least that someone like Bill Cassidy or John Cornyn could muster … Instead, even when they have nothing to gain, they bow down in front of Donald Trump.” (Heilemann, 13:10)

4. Weakness, Cowardice, and Corruption in the Republican Ranks

(14:21–18:41)

• Sharpton’s Take:
  • “The fact that they were weak in the first place is how Trump steamrolled them and became the candidate twice and the president twice." (Rev. Al Sharpton, 15:05)
  • “So you’re dealing with a man who's 80 years old and in denial and you're dealing with some syncopence that we thought we elected to the Senate.” (Sharpton, 17:05)
• Wallace:
  • Now, supporting Trump is an outright political loser: “They are also paying a political price for looking weak. So it’s a political loser. Why do they fall in line?” (Wallace, 14:21)

5. MAGA’s Tarnished Brand & Republican “Vice”

(18:41–22:04)

• Tim Miller: “They're kind of in a vice ... if they tried to get away from him too much, then they’ll doom themselves. If they stick with him too much, they’ll doom themselves.” (Miller, 18:41)
• On Bill Cassidy: “Looked like a man that had lost all self-respect, a completely broken shell of a man.” (Miller, 20:38)
• GOP’s Failure to Adjust: Wallace: “MAGAMedia is now a toxic political brand … The only people who haven’t responded though to the change … are Republican officials” (Wallace, 17:18)

6. The Out-of-Touch RFK Jr. “Food Show” Gaffe

(25:00–30:28)

• A viral YouTube cooking segment features Health and Human Services Secretary RFK Jr. promoting a “$5 wild salmon” meal. The Washington Post factchecks this, noting the real cost is over $18/person.
• Sharpton: “It is always a lie, and it is always an insult to the intelligence of the American people.” (Sharpton, 26:09)
• Heilemann: “You can’t find a pound of wild Alaska salmon anywhere in America for less than $15 a pound … it’s not just a lie, it’s a ludicrous lie.” (Heilemann, 28:07)
• Broader Point: Both highlight how this typifies the Trump administration’s disconnect and lack of credibility, especially as “RFK Jr doesn’t give a crap about science either.” (Heilemann, 29:48)

7. Democratic Crossover Success and Competitive Senate Races

(32:32–44:17)

• Crossover Endorsements for Democrats:
  • Two Republican mayors openly endorse Sen. Jon Ossoff in Georgia, signaling the GOP nominee’s weakness (Wallace, 32:32).
  • Jessica Taylor: “Ossoff has really run a pitch-perfect race … praised for his constituent services.” (Jessica Taylor, 33:59)
  • Texas: Democrat James Talarico holds a narrow polling lead over unpopular Republican AG Ken Paxton.
    • “If Texas is going to turn blue, this is absolutely the year … because you have a candidate like James Talarico that has crossover appeal and … money to run a statewide race.” (Jessica Taylor, 35:00)
• Heilemann on Texas: “Ken Paxton’s probably sitting … about a dozen net negative [favorability] … unusually bad candidate.” (Heilemann, 43:13)
• Shifting Landscape: Nationally, several GOP-leaning Senate races (IA, NC, ME, OH, AK, KS) are “shifting toward Democrats” due to the war, economic pain, and Trump’s toxicity.
  • “It does feel a lot like 2006 to me: an unpopular war in the Middle East and [an] unpopular president.” (Jessica Taylor, 44:17)
• Memorable Guest Quote:
  • “I’m awfully tired...tired of divisive politics, tired of hateful rhetoric, tired of corruption. I’m tired of criminals running for office. I’M so tired that I’m willing to fight for what’s right, and Talarico is what’s right for this state.” (Jim Ross, Arlington Mayor, 39:56)

8. “Crisis at Home”: The Navy and the Personal Toll of War

(46:08–46:55, briefly)

• Conditions on the USS Abraham Lincoln:
  • Families of sailors report low supplies, food shortages, water contamination, and high stress amid the war.
  • “My daughter feels that she is never going to come home and believes she is going to die on the ship.” (Parent testimony, 46:55)
  • Navy leadership expresses sympathy but offers no timeline for relief.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Trump’s Denial:

  • “I don’t know. Why would they be angry at Republicans? … They’re not mad at me.” (Donald Trump, 03:52)
  • “Honestly, he doesn’t care about these people. He doesn’t really care about the midterms.” (Tim Miller, 06:17)

• On GOP Cowardice:

  • “Even when they have nothing to gain from it, they bow down in front of Donald Trump.” (John Heilemann, 13:10)
  • “So you’re dealing with a man who’s 80 years old and in denial and you’re dealing with some syncopence we thought we elected to the Senate.” (Rev. Al Sharpton, 17:05)
  • “Cassidy today, to me looked like a man that had lost all self-respect, a completely broken shell of a man.” (Tim Miller, 20:38)

• On Out-Of-Touch Officials:

  • “It is always a lie and it is always an insult to the intelligence of the American people.” (Sharpton on the RFK Jr. food show, 26:09)
  • “You can’t find a pound of wild Alaska salmon anywhere in America for less than $15 a pound.” (Heilemann, 28:07)

• On Crossover Politics & Democratic Optimism:

  • “I will take heat for this endorsement and it does not matter … that man has been absolutely incredible.” (Mayor Scott James Matheson on endorsing Ossoff, 32:32)
  • “Talarico has the opportunity to win over John Cornyn supporters, sort of those old Bush Republicans to his side.” (Jessica Taylor, 35:00)

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Important Segments & Timestamps

• [01:59] - Wallace opens with the disappointing jobs numbers and transition to economic pain across America.
• [03:34] - Wallace quotes Trump shifting blame to GOP, not himself.
• [05:59–10:06] - Panel lampoons Trump’s blamelessness, vanity, and Republicans’ “creeping self-abasement.”
• [14:21] - Sharpton delivers a blunt assessment on GOP weakness and moral cowardice.
• [17:18] - Wallace and Miller dissect MAGA’s now-toxic political brand and the party's “vice grip.”
• [25:00] - RFK Jr.’s “Real Food Show” segment discussed and debunked.
• [32:32–36:08] - Crossover endorsements for Ossoff and Talarico; Jessica Taylor breaks down battleground state dynamics.
• [39:56] - Arlington’s independent mayor endorses Talarico, signaling realignment.
• [46:08] - Reporting on harsh conditions aboard USS Abraham Lincoln and impact on military families.

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Conclusion

The episode delivers an unvarnished look at deepening dissatisfaction even among former reliable Trump voters, intensifying GOP fractures, and the dismal economic/political environment facing Republican incumbents and candidates. Wallace and her guests chronicle growing cracks in Trump’s support, the cowardice and self-interest gripping GOP officials, and the surprising strength of Democrats in Senate battlegrounds as the midterms approach—with national crises and “out-of-touch” administration messaging accelerating these trends. Real-life fallout—from the grocery aisle to Navy warships—grounds their sharp analysis in 2026’s unsettled reality.

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Transcript

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[Rachel Maddow]

Hey, everybody, it's Rachel Maddow here. Forgive me popping into your feed like this, but I wanted to tell you that more than a dozen of us from Ms. Now are gonna be in Texas on Saturday, September 26th. I'm gonna be there. Lawrence O' Donnell will be there. So will Jen Psaki and Stephanie Ruhl and Allie Velshi and Chris Hayes and Jacob Soboroff and Simone Sanders Townsend. And. And. And a whole bunch of us are all gonna be there in Texas. Tickets start at just over 30 bucks each. It's in Arlington, just outside Dallas. There's a ton to do there. If you come meet all of us, you'll also get to meet everybody else there. All these other great people from our great msnow community. We'd love to see you. And if you buy a ticket to the Texas event, you will get access to our new MSNow membership free for a year. We're really excited about it. It launches later this summer. You'll be able to talk with me, talk with some of the other hosts. But tickets for Texas are on sale now. You can learn more @ms. Now together. Hope to see you in Texas.

[Robert F. Kennedy Jr.]

Foreign.

[John Heilman]

Here we go, Joe. July employment figures populating. Buckle up on this one. Minus minus 23,000 on non farm payrolls. I can hear the bond yields falling right now. Minus 23,000. That would be the second worst number of the year outside of the only other negative number, minus 156 in February.

[Nicole Wallace]

Hi again, everyone. It's five o' clock in the East. An unexpected, very disappointing jobs report out this morning showing a slump in the job market. Meanwhile, Americans are struggling to make ends meet with the high price of gas and groceries. Even Trump voters are now publicly disillusioned with what they're seeing.

[Tim Miller]

Do you feel like life is affordable

[Nicole Wallace]

in general right now?

[John Heilman]

Groceries it is not. I'm on a fixed income. If we have doctor's appointments, maybe we'll have to do with something else. Food is getting outrageous.

[Tim Miller]

With rent going up, gas going up, groceries going up, Two people struggling to live in a house and we're barely scraping by.

[Nicole Wallace]

It seems to me like it's the big hotshots, the big corporations, the biggest, the billionaires are all getting the money and we're just being stuck under 100 days out from the midterm elections in November. And Donald Trump is struggling mightily on his central promise to the country and especially his voters that he would deliver better than any Democrat on affordability and creating a strong economy. When asked about his party's prospects in November, Trump surprisingly acknowledged voters growing anger. But as to who voters should direct that anger at, it couldn't be him. It's not his fault. Here's a little bit of his sit down interview with Punchbowl News.

[Donald Trump (quoted)]

If I don't run, will those people go out and vote? And that's the one thing I can't say I'm going to ask them to. A lot of them are very angry and Republicans, to be honest with you, why isn't, I don't know. I mean, they're angry at Republicans but

[Nicole Wallace]

they're not angry at me.

[Robert F. Kennedy Jr.]

Why?

[Donald Trump (quoted)]

They're not angry at me, but they are angry at Republicans.

[Nicole Wallace]

I don't know. Why would they be angry at Republicans? I mean, they're not mad at me. Just the Republicans over there who are so independent from me. It's nonsensical. And the polls tell a very different story. Donald Trump is currently seeing his approval rating hit all time, historic lows for him and for any president. The latest Quinnipiac poll finds only 32% of all Americans approve of the job Donald Trump is doing as president. A majority of voters don't believe that Trump is focused on the problems facing Americans. New reporting in Politico finds that Trump is essentially hanging Republicans out to dry politically when it comes to his deeply unpopular policies, especially the war with Iran. Quote, the regular messaging guidance the White House and other parts of the administration provided to Republicans at the start of the war has dwindled to almost no communication at all in recent weeks on how to talk to voters about Iran. That's according to six people with direct knowledge of the matter who spoke anonymously. Briefings on campaign trail guidance are scarce and tone deaf, according to multiple House Republicans. A tone deaf response from the Trump administration to American struggles and concerns is where we begin the hour with some of our favorite experts and friends. Huck News senior political columnist and national affairs analyst John Heilman's back. Also joining us, political analyst and host of the Bulwark podcast, Tim Miller is back and the host of Politics Nation. The president of the National Action Network, The Reverend Al Sharpton is here. Tim, I kind of love, I don't even know if it's cognitive dissonance. That might seem like too big of a assumption to make about his cognitive capacity, but I love the, I don't know why they're mad at Republicans. They're off here doing whatever they do when they're literally crying as they fall in line behind Donald Trump on the Senate floor today.

[Tim Miller]

Yeah, it is. Who are the people that he's talking to? Also on the Mar A Lago pool deck, they're mad at Republicans and not him.

[Nicole Wallace]

On the golf course, the omelet bar. Yeah. The people that he sees like while he's putting. Yeah.

[Tim Miller]

You see in focus groups from the Texas. This is like just a classic Trump only megalomania story. Honestly, he doesn't care about these people. He doesn't really care about the midterms. In a different interview yesterday, I believe it was Fox yesterday, they were kind of asking him a similar line of questioning about whether he's going to be out there during the midterms. He's like, I'm out here now in Nevada, right. I don't have to be. Seems like a waste of my time. You know, he was very dismissive about this campaign event, which was a disaster in its own right in Nevada yesterday. And he just, he's moved like he doesn't care about them and, and it's an easy story to tell himself, comforting story to tell himself. The people still like him. They're mad at these other amorphous Republicans. He can't answer Jake's follow up question because, like, what would even the substantive answer be? I guess maybe that they're not giving him what they want on the SAVE Act. I'm just like trying to put myself in his warped brain, which is very challenging. But the Republicans are doing everything that he wants besides the SAVE Act, I guess.

[Nicole Wallace]

Halman, let me read you this. Axios reporting. The headline is great behind the curtain, Trump's quicksand. But what they describe is like, I don't want to insult Vanna White, but it makes him sound like someone just sort of pointing to the letters. Top Congressional Republicans tell us Trump's unpopularity points toward the likely loss of the House and perhaps the senate. But an 80 year old man who made the greatest comeback in American political history appears too proud, too stubborn and undisciplined to change, Republicans privately admit. So rather than face the issues, Trump often pivots to showing visitors renderings of the new White House Ballroom or a model of the planned Triumphal arch. He showcases his new Air Force One, touts his plans for Dulles, and obsesses about the helipad being built on the South Lawn. I missed that. He was. He was tearing apart Dulles Airport. Is that part of his vanity tour? Has he ever even landed there? I miss that. I miss that.

[John Heilman]

Yeah, yeah. He's doing. They're doing this big Renault at Dulles now, Nicole. I think it's fair to say that's one of the few things that. That anybody who's ever flown through Dulles, you know, it's one of the few things Donald Trump has proposed that I can get behind. I'm not sure it's going to be done well or it's going to be worth the money that they're going to spend on it. But, you know, those, Those. Those moving buses that take you from the interim to the outer terminal, those are horrible. And it was one of the things that Trump focused on. I just wanted to say Trump rode

[Nicole Wallace]

the bus and, like, wants to fix it.

[John Heilman]

Trump.

Trump just, you know, Trump just wants to leave as many possible imprints as possible on Washington, D.C. and the surrounding environment in the hope that when the Democrats get back into power next and they do the systematic cleanup where they metaphorically and literally rip Trump's name off of everything that it's been attached to and tear down every ridiculous thing that he's. Every monument he's erected to himself, he's trying to figure out some way, maybe there'll be a small plaque at Dulles that will still have his name on it. And he's thinking, you know, I gotta just. I gotta lay my bets everywhere. Right. Because I understand what's coming. I did want to say, it's been a little while since I've been on television with Tim Miller. I thought for a moment I wanted to endorse him as I was endorsed, my friend Michael Watley for being for Congress or governor or whatever it is that Tim's running for. But I don't remember.

[Nicole Wallace]

Then you remember where you were.

[John Heilman]

Would you like to discuss. That's right. But I'm going to make the same mistake four or five times over the course of the show where I'm going to refer to Tim as Michael Whatley because, you know, my cognitive level has declined rather rapidly, and I'm about to take another one of those cameraman television tests. What did you want to talk about, Nicole? Certainly not Dulles Airport.

[Nicole Wallace]

Well, no, I mean, I miss Dulles Airport in his, you know, Renault obsession I mean, I guess what's challenging at this point is that the news is so deadly serious. Bill Cassidy looked tormented. It looked like you could see him ripping his own soul out of his chest as he stood there and said, bill Barr told me that, I don't know, I don't even know what he was saying. Bill Barr said that this was the best we could do, I guess, and that this is the time of Trump and Trump is focused on such inane, idiotic, superficial and stupid stuff. And it's just a surreal, it's a surreal attempt to cover the real time destruction of the rule of law, which Republicans are not just looking the other way on and allowing to happen, but helping happen. I had two federal judges on yesterday talking about the death threats against their kids and spouses. One was Esther Salas, who I think we all know at this point. The other was Judge Jack McConnell. And then there's this, I guess, interest in covering the stupid crap Trump says in interviews and the total detachment from the country that he runs. So you can go any which way you want with it. HALLMAN

[John Heilman]

well, I'd like to focus on two things, one of which was in that Axios report where they said that congressional Republicans had decided that Trump was, was too stubborn, too proud and too indisciplined to help them in the midterm elections. Basically, that was those are the three words that were used. That that is the the problem with that is it leaves out the most important thing and the thing that apparently still virtually no Capitol Hill Republicans understand, which is that those three things are all true about Donald Trump. But the more important thing is that he does not care about them. He does not give a crap about his own party or about trying to help anybody on Capitol Hill. He is already, it's evident from the comments he's making, internalized the notion that Republicans are going to lose the House and Senate. He's trying to already ship blame. And that is the key element of this thing he's grasped. Someone on Fox News said something that is actually also true, which is that in years when Trump's name is not on the ballot, Republicans in 2018, in 2022 and now presumably in 2026, Republicans are not going to turn out in the kind of numbers that they did when his name has been on the ballot. He's now planting that as an excuse for, for why Republicans are going to lose in the fall. He's going to say, they didn't do what I told them to do. They didn't pass The SAVE act, they didn't get rid of the filibuster. And the only thing that Republicans care about in the country is me. And so, hey, it's not my fault. These Republicans have lost control of the House and Senate and he's just walked away from them in the same way he's walked away from the American people. And the last thing I'll say, Nicole, is the Bill Cassidy thing you just said a second ago. Again, similar to the comments in play area, the an Axios about Trump. You said thinking something about Bill Cassidy's soul, struggling with his soul in his body. I'm not convinced that at this point that Bill Cassidy has a soul. Maybe he has a soul. But you and I and Tim and Rev all remember a Washington D.C. where Bill Cassidy having been screwed not just out of a job but out of his dignity by Donald Trump over the last six years, last 10 years, would have said in this, in this last moment, said F you, Donald Trump, you want Todd Blanche as my last act of consequence in the Senate, I'm going to stop him just out of pure spite and pride. I can't believe I'm hearkening back to the days when that was the way that a lot of people in the Republican Party acted in Washington. I would then have bemoaned the spite. But at this moment, a little bit of spite, you'd think it would be the least that someone like Bill Cassidy or John Cornyn could muster. Instead, even when they have nothing to gain from it, they bow down in front of Donald Trump. This is a point I kind of feel like I've been making out for the last 18 months, which is give me an example of when they've stood up to, stood up to him and I'll start to believe that there's some possibility they'll stand up to him in the future. And part of the reason why I'll never believe it is because of people like Bill Cassidy and their lack of balls.

[Nicole Wallace]

Yeah, I mean, I guess I'm going to be grateful you edited out the F bomb. But Rev, I'll ask you to elevate us again. And what's interesting to me about Halman's last point is that it used to be that they didn't stick up for their own principles or ideals because Donald Trump was more popular. That's not the case. He's at 32%. That is a line below which sort of friends and family and the billionaire class is the only sort of group of people still cheering your presidency. They are also paying A political price for looking weak. So it's a political loser. Why do they fall in line behind him?

[Rev. Al Sharpton]

You said the key word weak. The fact that they were weak. They were weak in the first place is how Donald Trump steamrolled them and became the candidate twice and the president twice. You have to have some serious questions about your own self image and your own self being. That you would sit around and do something that you know is unethical, that you know borders on really throwing justice to the wind in this country and vote for a man because you were too cowardly to stand up to a president or who has literally done in your career. I mean, here's a guy who didn't suddenly take a swipe at you. This wasn't him twittering, tweeting something. He ruined Cornyn and the other senators career today. And today he comes and votes for him to put in his personal attorney as the Attorney General of the United States. You know, I think, as a matter of fact, I think everybody has a soul, John, but I know they don't have any guts and any self respect if you can do that. We're not asking for hard one here. The American public knows that this is corruption in terms of having this person there as Attorney General. So it doesn't take courage, it just takes having the backbone that you supposed to have as a member of the Senate. That's one part of it. But the second part is, is for Donald Trump on a day that we are told that 23,000 jobs were lost after the predictions were that we were going to do better with unemployment, we're doing worse. Groceries is going up and he's sitting there telling a reporter, well, they're not mad at me, they're mad at the Republicans. Well, based on what data? You're the one that's 32% in the polls. Over two thirds of the country don't think you're doing a good job, but they're not mad at you. So you're dealing with a man who's 80 years old and in denial and you're dealing with some syncopence that we thought we elected to the Senate.

[Nicole Wallace]

Yeah, I mean, Tim, what's interesting to me is how slow Republicans are to respond to the thing that they've been held hostage by for a decade, which is politics. And the politics of the MAGA movement have reshaped how we cover politics, they've reshaped how we cover elections, they've reshaped how we cover primaries, they've reshaped. I mean, they've reshaped how MAGA media programs their programs. They've reshaped how other media outlets staff up their contributors. The only people who haven't responded though to the change, which is that MAGA media is now a toxic political brand. On the generic congressional ballot, Democrats are at 51%, Republicans are at 45%. That is a loser. So the MAGA brand is now losing to the generic Democratic brand. How would the country be if Democrats take control of Congress again? A plurality say better off. If Democrats win 38 to 33, how voters are doing financially versus a year ago. This was Donald Trump's one time sort of ace in the whole political issue. And 49% of Americans say they're worse off. Just 34% say they're better off. Again, that 34 down near his rock bottom poll numbers of 32 to 34%. And Quinnipiac and AP this week, what is your sense of the inability to respond to the thing that has shaped the Republican Party more than anything else and that is the politics of maga, which right now suck.

[Tim Miller]

They're kind of in a vice, I think these Republican candidates. Right. And Trump has left them there.

[Robert F. Kennedy Jr.]

Right.

[Tim Miller]

Because we're in this situation where it's, it's really bad and those poll numbers are really bad, as my colleague Sarah calls it, where we're down at the Bush line. That hurts my feelings a little bit on two levels. But anyway, were there and but it's got to get lower. Like one thing that is different from Bush is that when Bush's numbers went down after Katrina, as the war started to turn, as the economy started to get bad in the second term, they went down kind of with everybody. Like Democrats went from 12% support to 2 and independents from 50 to 20 and Republicans from 90 to 70. It went down across the board. That's still not really happening. And with the core MAGA base, that is the remaining 32. And so you have these candidates who I do think are scared of if they tried to get away from him too much, then they'll do themselves. If they stick with him too much, they'll doom themselves. Right. And so sticking with them is the easier path. Right. Like that's the path of least resistance. I think that's what you're seeing in these Senate races. Like Adam Hamilton on this Week is great guy Pastor running in Kansas. I think it's a big sleeper race. He's running against Roger Marshall. The economy is terrible everywhere. Rev mentioned it. We lost jobs last month. It's really bad in Kansas, it's really bad in the plains, in the foreign country. And Roger Marshall's out there talking about in Trump We Trust, he's been the best. And I'm like, why? You know, Roger Marshall was never a big kind of neocon war person. He's out there defending the Iran war. Why? I think it's because it's like, well, if I distance from him, it still might not be enough and it might backfire because the MAGA base will get mad at me and I'm not going to be welcome at the Capitol Hill Club. People are going to get mad at me. Right? So why not just ride the course and see if it works out? And I think that's what a lot of them are doing. It doesn't really explain the Bill Cassidy of it. And Rev left that word with self respect, which I think is pretty important. Cassidy today, to me looked like a man that had lost all self respect, a completely broken shell of a man. Because the quote that really stuck with me from the speech was like, before he even explained why he's going to confirm Blanche, he was like, people are going to criticize me for this. They always do. And he's like, he's doing this woe is me thing on the Senate floor, like, oh, these guys always, no matter what I do, I'm going to get criticized. I'm going to get yell that. So why do the right thing? Why not just do the easy thing? This way when I go back to Baton Rouge Country Club, nobody's going to be mad at me. And if I want to lobby for the pharmaceutical companies next year, nobody's going to be mad at me. And I do think that there's this kind of sense of giving up among a lot of the Republicans where Trump is unpopular. Maybe they could benefit from distancing. But is the Jews forced to squeeze? Maybe not. Or do they have the respect or the backbone to do it? The intestinal fortitude to do it? Not really. And I think that, so I think that kind of, in my opinion, explains why the kind of lack of adjustment.

[Nicole Wallace]

I mean, I think the juice is always worth the squeeze. I just think it's your point about. And in terms of being accepted in polite company, like, he obviously didn't think it was the right thing, knew it wasn't the right thing. If he thought it was the right thing, he would have done it before today on the Senate floor.

[Jessica Taylor]

Right.

[Nicole Wallace]

He wouldn't have made a big press announcement about announcing. He was going to announce where he came down. So he contributed to the portrait of himself as someone without any self respect. No one goes anywhere. Another reason for Donald Trump's historic unpopularity is the deep disconnect with the American people from members of his out of touch, super rich administration. The latest is another example of the uber rich lecturing Americans who are feeling the pinch at the grocery store and the gas station every single day. And we'll show it to you. Also ahead, it's not just Trump's plunging poll numbers. It's young, popular Democratic candidates who are flexing their crossover appeal. How Jon Ossoff in Georgia and James Talarico in Texas are winning over the hearts and minds and votes of people who aren't in their political party. That's later in the hour. Deadline White House continues after a quick break. Don't go anywhere.

[Julian Barnes]

Normally in these ads you expect somebody to ask you to buy something, but this is something different. I'm Julian Barnes and I'm a reporter for the New York Times. I'm a national security reporter and that means I'm reporting on military operations. These are fast paced, quickly moving situations. What exactly is happening on the ground is often shrouded in mystery. But we turn to trusted sources, satellite imagery and expertise built up over years in order to ferret out the facts that wouldn't otherwise come to light. I'm here to ask you to seek out a news source that does firsthand fact based reporting. If it's your local paper, great. If it's the Times, thank you. Because where you go for your information matters.

[Nicole Wallace]

There's a lot of news to cover.

[Podcast Host (Nicole Wallace's show)]

Money.

[Nicole Wallace]

The economic fallout from the war, Is it temporary?

[Rev. Al Sharpton]

Power?

[Nicole Wallace]

Is this White House for sale?

[Podcast Host (Nicole Wallace's show)]

Politics.

[Nicole Wallace]

What is your message to the country right now?

[Podcast Host (Nicole Wallace's show)]

Money. Power. Politics. With Stephanie Rule, weekdays at 9am Eastern on

[Rev. Al Sharpton]

hi.

[Robert F. Kennedy Jr.]

I'm Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. Your HHS secretary. And we're here for the first episode of the Real Food Show. And I'm here today with chef Andrew Gruel at his home in Huntington beach, this beautiful kitchen. And he's going to show us how to cook wild Alaskan salmon at an affordable price. So the servings of each of these, we asked to keep it under $5. And one of the things that we're going to do is talk about the dietary guidelines during the course of this show and how you can eat the highest quality food in this country at a very, very affordable price.

[Nicole Wallace]

Okay. This is the latest example of a lot of things. One, an out of touch administration. And so I was showing you that. It's a YouTube series. It stars Health and Human Services Secretary, RFK Jr. It's called the Real Food Show. The premise sounds nice enough, right? How to cook good, healthy food at affordable prices. But the reality, of course, does not match up. A columnist at the Washington Post did a little bit of digging into the show and writes this quote. The second time I watched the episode, I concurrently opened the online shopping option for my nearest chain grocery store. Every time Real Food brought in a new ingredient, I added it to my virtual cart. $2.99 for a packet of fresh thyme, a dollar for a lemon. My final total to provide groceries for this One meal was $73.46, which works out to a little more than $18 per person, which is higher than $4.91 a person. We're back with John Tim and the Rev. Al Rev. It's always a lie, right? Like, even, even when they're trying, I'll assume they're trying to do something nice here. It's a lie that it costs $4.91.

[Rev. Al Sharpton]

It is always a lie and it is always an insult to the intelligence of the American people because the assumption is that I can throw anything out there and it will stick because the American public is so uninformed or so stupid that they will not check anything I say, even something as serious about as serious in life as groceries. We're talking about people feeding their families and they're up with no sensitivity at all to the fact that they've caused a lot of this inflation that we're dealing with. And they're not only going to make us have a situation that is unpalatable for most Americans, they're going to insult us. They're going to in many ways dig deeper in knifing us in the back. It is the epitome of just mocking the American public to have this show with this kind of misinformation. As we see the unemployment numbers today, as we see inflation going up, as we see there's no way out of this war, so we don't know how the economy is going to turn around. And he puts on an apron and lies straight into the camera.

[Nicole Wallace]

Hamid I was glad he had a shirt on because the last time I saw him on YouTube, he was doing like naked push ups with some deadbeat rocker, I forget his name, but the idea that they have any credibility selling like Maha was a pretty important political piece of the MAGA coalition. And there's, I believe, more pesticide in the soil. There is more disease from measles. There is more, I mean, he's done nothing that he's allegedly there to sort of represent in the Trump cabinet. And Trump's mad at him for not putting out more lies about vaccines. I mean, what is going on?

[John Heilman]

Well, first of all, I appreciate the Washington Post columnist or reporter going and totaling up the how much it would cost to make that meal. I didn't, I mean, I would never have been quite that rigorous. But I can tell you this, that he was talking about making a meal with wild Alaskan salmon that was going to cost less than five bucks. I mean, I don't know where he gets wild Alaskan salmon, but you can't find a pound of wild Alaska salmon anywhere in America for less than $15 a pound. And they can often run up to $25 a pound. And so unless you're eating a very, very, very small piece of wild Alaskan salmon, you're never going to have a $5 wild Alaskan salmon dinner. It's not just a lie. It's a ludicrous lie that anybody who's ever been inside a seafood store or even a grocery store understands what's happening, Nicole, is that, you know, to your, you, you made the, the right point, which is it's hard. It's in at the highest level, the notion of being against Maha has, it's made people uncomfortable at various times because, you know, we have a lot of health crises in America and, and particularly things that relate to, to diet and, and nutrition and a lot of very basic things. And so the notion of a Health and Human Services secretary who would take that seriously and even one who one found objectionable on a variety of levels and ludicrous and who has like a, you know, a worm in his brain, you'd still be like, okay, this is a, that maybe these guys. I never had this hope because I knew he was a conspiracy theory nut on, on the question of vaccines. So I always thought this was going to be a disaster. But it's hard, you see, that people hesitate to want to criticize. One of the things that in principle at least, we could all get behind. We should all want to make America healthy again or healthier.

[Rev. Al Sharpton]

Right.

[John Heilman]

The problem is, you know, the utter lack of credibility that doesn't just go to the misinformation and the lies and the obvious transparent lies about how much all this is going to cost and, and all the rest of it, but is that this person has already lost all credibility because on matters of serious science, he's demonstrated that he, he, much like Donald Trump and the Republicans on Capitol Hill, RFK Jr doesn't give a crap about science either. And so how can you take seriously any kind of advice from someone who has made the world safe for the anti vax cause? That's sort of game, set, match for me and nothing he does in terms of an apron or reality show is going to change that.

[Nicole Wallace]

Yeah. All right, Tim and John, stick around. The Reverend Al Sharpton, thank you for joining us today. We'll see you this weekend on Politics Nation at 5pm Eastern. When we come back, good news for two Democrats crucial to the party's hopes of winning control of the United States Senate House Senator John Ossoff in Georgia and candidate James Talarico in Texas are winning over independents and even some Republicans, giving Democrats optimism for November's midterms, now less than 90 days away. Don't go anywhere.

[Dave Farenthal]

Normally in these ads you'd expect someone like me to ask you to buy something, but I want to ask you to do something different. I'm Dave Farenthal and I'm a reporter for the New York Times. I'm an investigative reporter, which means that I follow the money inside of government and outside of government. The point of my job is to find things people are trying to hide. It involves talking to lots of people. It involves looking through lots and lots of documents. And if there weren't folks like me to go beyond the surface to understand who was really shaping what the government does, the public will be left in the dark about what the government's doing with your tax money, what the government's doing to youth through regulations and spending. If you're like me and you think this kind of journalism is important, seek out a news source that does firsthand fact based reporting. If that's the New York Times, thank you. If that's your local paper, that's great too, because where you get your information matters.

[Podcast Host (Nicole Wallace's show)]

Ms. NOW presents the chart topping original podcast, the Best People with Nicole Wallace. This week, former acting director of the FBI Brian Driscoll.

[Brian Driscoll]

There's a lot of people that were pushed out that with no malice or thoughts of retribution in their heart, want to serve and correct if there are broken pieces to pick them up and rebuild. And I think we're all going to be prepared for that no matter where we end up.

[Podcast Host (Nicole Wallace's show)]

The Best people with Nicole Wallace listen now for early access and free listening and bonus content. Subscribe to Ms. Now Premium on Apple Podcasts.

[Nicole Wallace]

There are some very real and growing signs today that some of the biggest stars in the Democratic Party have real crossover appeal. Pulling in high profile support from across the political aisle, even in these polarized times. In Georgia, two Republican mayors are breaking with their party to endorse Senator John Ossoff. Our friend Greg Bluestein reports this in the Atlanta Journal Constitution. Quote, Valdosta Mayor Scott James Matheson and Tifton Mayor Julie Smith are not household names. But their willingness to cross party lines signals a weakness for Republican U.S. senate nominee Mike Collins, who has struggled to unite his party and broaden his appeal following a bruising primary fight. Valdosta Mayor Matheson of Valdosta has cited his long record of working with Senator Ossoff. Says this quote, I will take heat for this endorsement and it does not matter. There's no way I can turn my back on this relationship. The voters put me in here to do a job and that man has been absolutely incredible. That man being Senator Ossoff. I want to bring in Cook political report editor for Senate and governor's races, Jessica Taylor. John and Tim are still here. Jessica, just take me aside. What's happening on the ground in terms of sort of this historically low approval rating for Donald Trump across the country and some of these really appealing Democratic candidates in places like Georgia and Texas.

[Jessica Taylor]

John Ossoff has really run a pitch perfect race and I'm not surprised to see him getting some of these crossover endorsements, though it is certainly unusual in a race that this high profile he has been praised for his constituent services. I think that goes a long way toward helping local mayors, as you're seeing there. But this is a race that is rapidly falling down Republican target lists. In fact, sources I talk to view Michigan now, especially after this past week, and even New Hampshire as better pickup opportunities than they do in Georgia. So really, Democrats are in the fight for the Senate because they have a strong incumbent like Jon Ossoff and that they have gotten good candidates like James Talarico in Texas, like Josh Turek in Iowa and Roy Cooper in North Carolina.

[Nicole Wallace]

Take me through how you see the Talarico race. Ken Paxton is so, so cartoonishly terrible. Does he have quiet support or is that race what it looks like?

[Jessica Taylor]

I think to me, Texas is Democrats, Lucy, in the football, you know, they seem like they, they seem like it's competitive and certainly it is a competitive race. If Texas is going to turn blue, this is absolutely the year because you have a candidate like James Talarico that has crossover appeal and most importantly, money to be able to run a statewide race in such an expensive state. And you have a deeply flawed nominee in Ken Paxton after a very bruising primary fight. So Talarico has the opportunity to win over John Cornyn supporters, sort of those old Bush Republicans to his side. But you know, this race hasn't really fully engaged yet. You have Republicans, they're sort of warring over who's going to come in and pick up the spending here because this is not a state that they had anticipated spending in and it's so expensive. And so I think that when you see some of these attacks come on Talarico that they know are coming, I do think this race will tighten. But it's certainly a race that we're watching closely. We still have it in the lean Republican column, but I've certainly taken note of some of the polls in the past few weeks that have shown this a really, really close race.

[Nicole Wallace]

You mentioned Iowa and North Carolina. How are those shaping up?

[Jessica Taylor]

North Carolina is the best pickup opportunity on the board for Democrats. It's an open seat. Roy Cooper has been very comfortably ahead in polling there. We rate that race as a lean Democrat. And so that's the best pickup opportunity. From there it goes to Maine. I do think the Democrats are better off with Troy Jackson after the Graham Platner debacle and he's I think I'm hearing very good reviews of sort of how his campaign has been launched over the past few weeks. But it's never easy, as we saw in 2024, to launch a campaign with just about 100 days until election Day. From there, it's Ohio and Alaska that I do think are the next two pickup opportunities. But we have to remember that those are in double digit Trump states. Those are not easy. Iowa I do think is next. There's something really unique happening in Iowa this cycle. Three of the four congressional seats are very competitive and they have a really strong gubernatorial nominee atop the ticket in Rob Sand. I mean, that's a race that's probably at this point leaning toward Democrats. So if sand can sort of carry the ticket, when you have tariffs, when you have rising fertilizer, diesel prices all being exacerbated by the war in Iran and the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, there is just something really unique happening in Iowa that Republicans are right to be very worried about.

[Nicole Wallace]

Tim Miller, how do you see the map today?

[Tim Miller]

Not too. I'm a little bit more bullish on Texas than Jessica. There definitely is a Lucy with the football element to it. But I think it's important to remember Beto never led in the polls. There was a lot of positive vibes around Beto. He raised a lot of money he was close in the polls. I think a lot of people were excited because it was like, wow, it's Texas. Beto is only down by three. Talarico is consistently leading in the polls. So this doesn't mean that he's going to win. We've seen poll misses, of course, we just saw one this week in Michigan. But I think that Paxton is a pretty uniquely bad candidate. I think the Hispanic numbers, the bottom's falling out for Republicans among Hispanics. I think the Talarico can appeal to the suburban college women in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, et cetera. So I think that that's, that's not completely out of the question. I think that Ossoff moving to Georgia in that race, I think that race is over basically. Mike Collins was a horrific nominee for all of the garment rending about some of the Democratic nominee issues. Mike Collins Twitter feed was like the Twitter feed of a college aged racist groiper. And I think that's because he handed it over to one of those. And Jon Ossoff on the other hand, Erik Erickson, if people don't know him, he's a, he's a pretty conservative, he's very conservative right wing radio host in the state that's kind of had an on again, off again relationship with Trump, mostly on again. And he was talking, he just was being blunt on the radio show this week around these mayor's endorsements. And he said, hey, Ossoff, he's like, I know business guys who are Republicans, never voted for a Democrat, but if they need something in the state, they call Ossoff, he calls them back. And I do think that Ossoff has been really good at just kind of that blocking and tackling there in Georgia. So that's where I'm at. I agree with Jessica about Iowa. I think I was in Alaska. Places to watch. I mentioned Kansas earlier. I think that's a big long shot. But if you're going to look at a long shot for Democrats, I'd look at Kansas.

[Jessica Taylor]

And we recently shifted our rating this week on Kansas as well. So I do think Kansas is coming on the board.

[Nicole Wallace]

Well, there you go. We'll pull Highland into this conversation on the other side of a very short break. Don't go anywhere.

[John Heilman]

I'm awfully tired. It's not just because I'm old and I walked up the stairs back there. It's because I'm tired of divisive politics. I'm tired of hateful rhetoric, tired of corruption. I'm tired of criminals running for office. I'M so tired that I'm willing to fight for what's right and Talarico is

what's right for this state.

[Nicole Wallace]

It's a huge deal. That was Jim Ross, the independent mayor of Arlington, Texas, throwing his support behind James Talarico in the Texas Senate race. Tim mentioned the polls. A brand new one by Texas polls shows that Talarico has opened up a four point lead against Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in the state Senate race. Well, that's within the poll's margin of error. The same poll had Talarico and Paxton tied in June. We're back with Jessica, John and Tim Halman. You've spent a lot of time in Texas, as have I. There's a lot of concern with this batch of Republicans and I'm out of the prediction business, but I think there's reason to trust that this, this lead that Talarico has is real.

[John Heilman]

Well, I just, just not to be persnickety, but, you know, it's, it's within the margin of error. It's not really a lead. I think what there's willing to, what you should trust in Nicole is I think something that are the two evident right realities. One is Talo is a very, very good candidate and a candidate who has certain qualities that will make it harder to beat him in the way that Republicans beat Beto o'. Rourke. He does not read as a cultural liberal in the way that, that there's not a dis on Beto, but that was part of the thing. He was always Beto was able to, even though he worked incredibly hard, was very charismatic, was kind of could be portrayed as kind of a, as kind of a cultural liberal. That is not the way James Tallarigo comes across. The second thing I think you should trust is the thing Tim just said a second ago. It is going to blow everyone's mind except for maybe Jessica's when I say this. But back in when that better rook Ted Cruz race. Throughout that entire race, Ted Cruz's favorability ratings were always in the positive. He was above water. He was a relatively popular incumbent. It's hard for people to hear that because they hate Ted Cruz an awful lot. But he was not wildly unpopular. The, the, the net Republican Ken Paxton, the Republican nominee,

[Tim Miller]

Is that him or me?

[Nicole Wallace]

Oh, Heilman, you're muted. You muted yourself.

[John Heilman]

You got me.

[Nicole Wallace]

Now we do start over. We lost you right at. Ted Cruz was popular.

[John Heilman]

Ted Cruz was pretty popular. People like Ted Cruz, amazingly in Texas. And that's not the case with Ken Paxton. Ken Paxton's probably sitting a good, like I think he's in the kind of net negative favorability territory. Not net negative, but about a dozen net negative. So really unpopular candidate. So the combination of a, of a good candidate for Texas and Talarico, a bad, unusually bad candidate in Paxton and then the, and the energy of the year, which is to say so much intensity against MAGA Republicans around the country, you got to look it's not although Michigan's a long way from Texas. Michigan again showed the trend, which is vast turnout for Democrats and okay turnout for Republicans. That is a, has been a trend we've seen for 18 months. And I don't think Texas is going to be immune to that in the fall. So I don't think it's by no means a gimme state, but I am, I think that is a state that is, that is going to be in play all the way until the very end. And ultimately I think both the national parties are going to have to be in that race spending money on it because it's going to be that close when we get to November.

[Nicole Wallace]

Jessica, are you moving races directionally more frequently than you usually do because of national trends, the war in Iran and people's sentiments about the economy, or is this about normal as sort of a midterm enters the less than 100 day window?

[Jessica Taylor]

I think that right when we, we start to move races more frequently and I would continue to want to [e-mail] for some upcoming moves perhaps in the coming weeks. But you know, Labor Day is traditionally the start of campaign season. We get sort of more polling and things from then. But I will say that, you know, when I was talking with Republicans in the spring, I've certainly moved more races in Democrats direction earlier than I would have anticipated. Places like Ohio and Alaska. Then I, you know, a year ago I would not have sat here and said that the Senate was even in play or I would not even have dreamed that Kansas or perhaps even Mississippi might be on the board. So I do think the war and the fact that it has, it's a stalemate and we're, you know, it's sort of a quagmire right now and the way that it's driving up gas prices and Trump's approval rating, it does feel like all it feels a lot like 2006 to me with an unpopular war in the Middle east and unpopular president and you have really strong candidates and races that are coming on board like it did in 2006, like places like Montana and Virginia.

[Nicole Wallace]

Mm mm. And an economy that felt terrible from coast to coast. Jessica, thank you so much for joining us today. John Hallman and Tim Miller, thank you both so much for spending a Friday afternoon hour with me. Ahead for us, an update to some exclusive reporting we brought you this week about the conditions American sailors and Marines are currently enduring on board the USS Abraham Lincoln. And we'll have that after a short break. Don't go anywhere. An update to a story we brought you earlier this week. MSNOW's Priya Shriether is reporting that in two separate meetings, the families of the service members aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln angrily confronted Acting Secretary of the Navy Hungkao over the conditions that their loved ones are facing on board. They report this quote. Among the concerns brought up in the contentious meetings, the sailors mental health safety on deck, a lack of supplies, food shortages, water contamination and disruptions in the mail system which have caused many care packages en route to the ship to be lost in transit for months. One parent said that her daughter feels that she is never going to come home and believes she is going to die on the ship. Others asserted that the Navy has not done enough to take care of the sailors as they fight this war. Navy leadership expressed sympathy for what their loved ones are going through but were unable to tell them when the USS Lincoln will come home, citing operational security. We'll stay on top of this story. A quick break for us. We'll be right back. Thank you so much for letting us into your homes for another week of shows. We are so grateful.

[Podcast Host (Nicole Wallace's show)]

Ms. Now presents the chart topping original podcast the Best People with Nicole Wallace. This week, former acting director of the FBI Brian Driscoll.

[Brian Driscoll]

There's a lot of people that were pushed out that with no malice or thoughts of retribution in their heart, want to serve and correct if there are broken pieces to pick them up and rebuild. And I think we're all going to be prepared for that no matter where we end up.

[Podcast Host (Nicole Wallace's show)]

The Best people with Nicole Wallace Listen now for early access and free listening and bonus content. Subscribe to Ms. NOW Premium on Apple Podcasts.