← The Briefing with Jen Psaki
The Briefing with Jen Psaki
Trump's budget bill is widely hated but Republicans are trying to push it through anyway
00:42:41
Jen Psaki reviews the terrible poll numbers of Donald Trump's budget bill, including among Donald Trump's core constituency, and runs through the diverse array of people and organizations, some of whom would otherwise be aligned with Trump, who utterly reject the bill's content as well as its intentions.
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- [00:00]
Nicole Wallace
MSNBC presents the chart topping original podcast, the Best People with Nicole Wallace. This week, Nicole speaks with American soccer legend Abby Wambach and her wife, best selling author Glennon Doyle.
- [00:12]
Glennon Doyle
We are in the middle of amazing dehumanization. So staying human and feeling it all and witnessing it all feels like the only antidote right now.
- [00:20]
Nicole Wallace
The Best people with Nicole Wallace listen now. For early access ad free listening and bonus content, subscribe to MSNBC Premium on Apple Podcasts. Start your day with the MSNBC Daily Newsletter. Sharp insights from voices you trust, standout moments from your favorite shows, and fresh perspectives from experts shaping the news.
- [00:42]
Rachel Maddow
Sign up now@msnbc.com okay, clearly Rachel's off tonight. I promise you she will be back with lots of brilliant thoughts. All saved up for all of you next Monday. I promise she'll be back. But in the meantime, as I just mentioned, it is shaping up to be quite a night on Capitol Hill. Just around the corner from here. What you're looking at right here is a live shot of the Senate floor where they are holding a marathon voting session. It's been going on for hours. It's nerdily called a votorama. It's all for the purposes of trying to jam through Donald Trump's big, ugly bill. And we're watching very closely. We have reporters on the ground, we have reporters on the Hill. We have sources everywhere. And we will bring you any updates as it develops in any way at all. But while we wait for that, I want to start with some important context for what we are watching play out in Congress tonight, and that is this. Donald Trump's big, ugly bill is absolutely screwing over Donald Trump's own voters. It is also screwing over every elected Republican who represents them. They all know this. I mean, just look at the latest Fox News polling on this bill. Americans as a whole disapprove of the big, ugly bill by a 21 point margin. No surprise. It's a terrible, terrible bill. Donald Trump doesn't really care about that. He probably somehow doesn't care about that number, which is crazy. But think about who we're dealing with. But he does care about his base and his base also hates this bill. White men without college degrees. I mean, a key part of Trump's coalition that he won by 40 points just last November. How much did we talk about? White men without college degrees. That group opposes the spill by a 10 point margin. Rural white voters oppose the spill by an 11 point margin. Those are not the kinds of numbers you want to see around your signature piece of legislation. With your hardcore base if you're the President of the United States. One of the big reasons this bill polls so badly with those key Trump demographic groups is the same reason everyone else hates it. The deep cuts to Medicaid that Republicans are trying to jam through the Senate and the House. And those cuts are set to disproportionately screw over Trump's own voters. Here's how one analysis from the Washington Post summed it up quite well, I would say. In counties where more than one quarter of the population is on Medicaid, Trump gained 17 percentage points on average over the party's 2012 performance. Seventeen points more than double his average gain in counties with low Medicaid enrollment rates. In other words, those Medicaid cuts will be felt the most in the places that were most crucial to Trump's two election victories. And Republicans know how unpopular those cuts are with their own voters. I mean, over the weekend, Donald Trump's own pollster, his own bolster urged Senate Republicans to scale back these cuts, saying, quote, the working class Americans who gave President Trump his overwhelming victory, as well as majorities in the House and Senate, deserve nothing less. That's Trump's own pollster. Senate Republicans, for their part, also seem to know that these cuts are going to hurt their voters. Former Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell reportedly told members of his caucus, quote, I know a lot of us are hearing from people back home about Medicaid, but they'll get over it. He literally, apparently said that, reportedly. See, this bill is so deeply unpopular that Republicans are intentionally ignoring the people they represent and just plowing forward to get it passed. And they're going to have to ignore a lot of other people while they're at it, because the opposition to this bill is broad and it's diverse. I mean, the group I'm about to tell you about is not on a group chat. No way in any scenario. They're not at a Thanksgiving dinner table. They never would be. But they all absolutely hate this bill. It's opposed by teachers and educators across the country. It's opposed by faith leaders of all denominations, including at least 20 Catholic bishops. It's opposed by major unions around the country. It's opposed by hospital associations in at least 14 states. It's opposed by Trump's former campaign chair and longtime adviser, Steve Bannon. It's opposed by Trump's top campaign donor, Elon Musk, who just today threatened to fund primary challenges to any Republican who supports the bill. And it's opposed by North Carolina Republican Senator Thom Tillis. Who decided this weekend that he'd rather give up his Senate seat than then be pressured into voting for this bill.
- [05:26]
Senator Raphael Warnock
So what do I tell 663,000 people in two years or three years when President Trump breaks his promise by pushing them off of Medicaid? Now Republicans are about to make a mistake on health care and betraying a promise. It is inescapable that this bill in its current form will betray the very promise that Donald J. Trump made. You supporting the Senate, Mark, will hurt people who are eligible and qualified for Medicaid. I will be withholding my vote. Thank you, Mr. President.
- [06:09]
Rachel Maddow
Okay, all true. Everything you said is true. Before you give him a Profile in Courage award. This is the guy who saved Pete Hegseth. But my point is, he saved Pete Hegseth, but he can't support himself. He can't push himself to support this bill. Think about that for a second. He's not even the only one, because even Republican senators who are likely to support this bill can't deny just how much it screws over working people. Just listen to Republican Senator Josh Hawley, who says he is likely to support the bill. And remember that as you listen to what he had to say.
- [06:44]
Josh Hawley
We can't be cutting health care for working people and for poor people in order to constantly give special tax treatment to corporations and other entities.
- [06:56]
Rachel Maddow
I mean, we shouldn't be. But again, that is from a Republican senator who says he will support the bill. Well, you just heard about cutting health care for working people to fund tax breaks for corporations was from a Republican. Yes, vote Democratic. Senator Brian Schatz summed up that moment. I just played kind of perfectly when he said, I think what makes this video so compelling is that he's very convincing, but he couldn't convince himself. There you have it. And again, the reason people like Josh Hawley sound so exasperated right now is simple. Trump is forcing them to screw over their own voters. I mean, they're making their own choices. But this is Trump's bill. And for the record, in Hawley's home state of Missouri, tens of thousands of people, if not more, would lose health care as a result of this bill. He and the overwhelming majority of Republicans, though, have made the calculation that supporting Trump is apparently more important than supporting the people they represent. And they are making it very clear that this big, unpopular bill is also the core of Trump's agenda.
- [08:00]
Anderson Clayton
What do you think this means for.
- [08:01]
Rachel Maddow
President Trump's legacy in the second term?
- [08:03]
Josh Hawley
Well, this is his legacy.
- [08:04]
Rachel Maddow
This is going to fund his legacy.
- [08:06]
Josh Hawley
President Trump is the best negotiator, the.
- [08:09]
Rachel Maddow
Best leader of our party that we've ever had. And this bill is so good and so strong.
- [08:13]
Senator Raphael Warnock
This is his campaign promise. It's the fulfillment of all the things that he told the American public that he would do.
- [08:20]
Rachel Maddow
So even his core supporters in Congress aren't leaving a doubt about who owns this bill. Trump owns this bill's estimated $3.3 trillion increase in the deficit. He owns the decision to kick an estimated 11.8 million people off their health insurance. Trump owns it all. Right now, we're still waiting to see if this bill will pass and in what form it will pass. Republicans have the upper hand. I mean, they can afford to lose as many as three votes in the Senate. In addition to Thom Tillis, Republican Senator Rand Paul has also pledged to vote no on on this bill, though for different reasons. Senator Susan Collins says she is leaning toward voting no, though I think we all know if history is any precedent, that means very little at this point in the process. We'll see where she actually votes. Several other Republican senators are holding out for votes on amendments to the bill. And even if it passes the Senate, the bill will still need to face another vote in the House tonight. Speaker Johnson is still pleading with Senate Republicans to make changes to the bill to appease his own members. Because even as horrible as the House bill is, somehow the Senate bill got worse. And even that guy, Mike Johnson, Trump's buddy, is a little concerned about the Senate bill. But even through all of the Republican infighting, and there has been a lot, one thing has been pretty consistent on the other side. Democrats have made clear they are not going to stop hammering just how much this bill screws regular people, and it does. Here was Senator Raphael Warnock speaking late into the evening last night.
- [09:46]
Governor Andy Beshear
My friends on the other side are giving billionaires and the riches of the rich a tax cut. They are working real hard tonight to help billionaires because God knows they are having a hard time, apparently. Your health care is about to go up. Your hospital might close because they're cutting these clean energy tax cuts. Your utility bills are about to go up. And so I have a question tonight. Who voted for that? This is not just a health care fight. It is that. It is not just a fight for food security, for snap. It is that. But in a real sense, it is a fight for our democracy whose voice gets to be heard in this chamber. That's what this is about.
- [10:35]
Rachel Maddow
That is what this is about. And this fight isn't new to Senator Warnock. In 2017, before he was elected to the Senate, Reverend Raphael Warnock was arrested for protesting against Medicaid cuts in the Capitol Rotunda. There it is. That's back in 2017 when he was a reverend before he was even in the Senate. You can see him there on the right side of the screen. And over the weekend in that same spot, Senator Raphael Warnock held a multi faith vigil against the Republican bill. And joining me now is Senator Raphael Warnock, a Democrat from Georgia. Senator Warnock, it's great to see you. I know you've had late nights trying to argue on behalf of the people of your state. Let me first, we've been watching the Senate four very closely. We've heard people express concern. We'll see what they actually do. What's going on in the Senate chamber right now that maybe we're not seeing?
- [11:21]
Governor Andy Beshear
Thank you so much. Very, very good to be here with you. Listen, it's been a very long day. Looks like it's going to be a long night. My Republican colleagues are working hard to give billionaires what they want. And the cost of that is taking from ordinary working class families what they need, health care, access to food, security. And so much is on the line. As many as 16 million Americans could be kicked off of health care. And if you say, well, I'm not on Medicaid, almost everybody's getting ready to see their health care premiums go up because they're not extending the healthcare credits through the Affordable Care Act. This is defund Obamacare Part 2. And we all, all know that when you see a horror movie, the sequel is usually much worse.
- [12:19]
Rachel Maddow
This is a much worse horror movie. That's quite an analogy, but one that will stick with me. There have been none of us are naive enough to think this is really happening. But I want to ask you because you know, you hold out some hope. There have been some Republican senators like Josh Hawley who said he was going to vote yes but would work to dial back the Medicaid cuts. Is that even happening? Is there anything constructive happening behind the scenes to make it less awful that people watching right now should know about?
- [12:47]
Governor Andy Beshear
Listen, my Republican friends have a real decision to make. Are they going to stand for the people who sent them here to represent their interests and their families, their children, their mothers and their fathers as they deal with the blessings and the burdens of aging in our rural or are they going to stand with Donald Trump and the billionaires in rural communities all across this country, people are getting ready to be hit especially hard in the state of Georgia, 49%, 49% of the people in rural communities use Medicaid. And so Donald Trump is crushing his base. And the question is, are my colleagues here in this building, are they going to go along? And so far, they've been going along. And the preacher in me can't help but hear again and again the words of Jesus who said, what does it profit you to gain the whole world and lose your soul? This is a fight for the soul of our democracy. Healthcare is on the line. But in a real sense, this is about the social contract. It's the covenant we have with one another to have each other's back. And there are those who don't believe in that, and they're literally trying to tear it apart before our very eyes. We must transcend partisan lines, transcend the trite ideological arguments that take place in this building, because in a real sense, this is literally about bread on your table and health for your bones and the people that you care about.
- [14:29]
Rachel Maddow
I know there are a lot of people watching the constituents of yours. I hear from people, too, who feel really frustrated. It's so unpopular, this bill. It's unpopular, including among Trump's days, and yet it feels like Republicans in the Senate and the House are going to vote this bill and pass it. What do you tell people out there who want to know, what can they be doing? How should they be handling this moment to prevent this from moving forward?
- [14:53]
Governor Andy Beshear
Call your representative. Call them right now. I mean, just literally have the phones ringing off the hook in this building. If you can make it come down, there's nothing like showing up. This is the people's house, and it's the people who have to remind those of us who are here that the people own this house. And so here's what I think. There are those right now who are trying to weaponize despair. Yes, they're cutting healthcare. They've been cutting federal workers. We've seen the cdc hard hit in Georgia, this agency that protects all of us from diseases that we haven't thought about because they've been doing such a fine job. They're doing that. They're cutting snap. In a nation where already one in five children in America is food insecure, don't know where the next meal is coming from. But they're also trying to weaponize despair. They're trying to convince us that they've already won the fight. And if you believe that, you stop fighting. I believe that it's not about the people in power. It's about the power and the People, I'm the pastor of Ebenezer Church where Dr. King served. I was John Lewis pastor. And so often we look at these historic movements and we act as if those victories were inevitable. They were quite improbable. They stood up to brute force. We must stand up to political power and moneyed special interests this night and in the days ahead. And regardless of the outcome of this battle, we have to keep fighting a good fight.
- [16:36]
Rachel Maddow
You and I have talked, and you reference this a lot, you and I have talked about the Affordable Care act and how we didn't know that John McCain would stand up and vote the way he did. This is still an open vote. There are two votes that are needed. There's two more, no votes, I should say, on the Republican side. If you were talking to Lisa Murkowski or Susan Collins or anyone else out there who might be on the fence, what do you want them to know? What would you tell them?
- [17:00]
Governor Andy Beshear
In this moment, Alaska is about to get hard hit, particularly the rural communities. Maine stands to lose a great deal as a result of this bill. Louisiana and rural communities all across our country. I don't know how they think about my job, but this is how about their job. This is how I think about it. I think it is a special honor when the people of your state say, you know, since all of us can't go to D.C. we're going to send you and because we love our children and we love our mothers and fathers and we can't be in these rooms, we're going to send you to rooms of power. And we're going to trust that when you get in the room and deals are being cut, you're going to remember the people, you're going to remember your neighbors, you're going to remember the folks who sent you here, you're going to remember the person who's trying to take care of their child, trying to take care of their aging or disabled loved one, that you're going to center the people rather than the politics. For me, that is a sacred trust, one I dare not violate and one to which I'm deeply committed. It transcends any kinds of partisan or short term political gains. And I hope, I hope that my colleagues. We just need two more, as you point out, we are close and we just need a couple of more folks to decide to stand on behalf of principal and the people rather than politics. And if we send it to people, we have a chance of getting the public policy right.
- [18:41]
Rachel Maddow
Senator Raphael Warnock, I know you're gonna have a long night. Thank you so much for joining us this evening. Really appreciate it.
- [18:46]
Governor Andy Beshear
God bless you. Keep the faith.
- [18:49]
Rachel Maddow
Thank you. You too. Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear is going to join me in a moment to talk about the devastating impacts of this bill on his state and the story Democrats should be telling about it. But first, Donald Trump just put the Senate back in play for 2026 and you don't even have to take my word for it. That's not even my prediction. That was literally the headline from the Wall Street Journal editorial board today. The person working day and night to turn Tom Tillis seat blue in November joins me next.
- [19:20]
Nicole Wallace
Stay connected with the MSNBC app bringing you breaking news and analysis anytime, anywhere.
- [19:26]
Rachel Maddow
All the stories that we're covering are live and happening as we speak.
- [19:31]
Nicole Wallace
Watch your favorite shows live.
- [19:32]
Rachel Maddow
What's happening right now is a hostile takeover of the US Government.
- [19:37]
Nicole Wallace
Read live blogs and in depth essays and listen to coverage as it unfolds. Go beyond the what to understand the why. Download the app now@msnbc.com app subscribe to MSNBC Premium on Apple Podcasts for early access. Add free listening and bonus content to all of MSNBC's original podcasts, including the chart topping series the Best People with Nicole Wallace, why Is this Happening? Main justice and more. Plus new episodes of all your favorite MSNBC shows ad free and ad free. Listening to all of Rachel Maddow's original series, Ultra Bagman and Deja News. Subscribe to MSNBC Premium on Apple Podcasts.
- [20:28]
Rachel Maddow
In the last presidential election, Donald Trump won the state of North Carolina by just over three points. Now, to be clear, North Carolina has not gone for a Democrat since Barack Obama in 2008. When you look beyond the presidential results, Democrats pretty much ran the table in North Carolina last year. Democrat Josh Stein won the governor's race by nearly 15 points. A Democrat won the state attorney general's race. Democrats flipped the lieutenant governor's office and the office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, which is a very important job as the state's top education official. Republicans lost their supermajority in the legislature, meaning they can no longer reliably override vetoes from the Democratic governor. And the only real bright spot for North Carolina Republicans was the state auditors race, which Republicans won for the first time in 20 years. Which also probably explains why Republicans in the state legislature promptly set about stripping powers from the governor and Attorney general, both Democrats, and handing those powers to the newly Republican state auditor. North Carolina's Republicans frantic scramble after a string of losses probably ought to be setting off alarms for Republicans at the national level about just how tenuous their hold on the Tar Heel state really is. And yet, instead of shoring up support for North Carolina's few remaining Republican statewide elected officials, Donald Trump has essentially pushed North Carolina's Republican senior senator into giving up his seat. The announcement from Thom Tillis this weekend that he will oppose Trump's spending bill, which he says will put Medicaid coverage for over 600,000 North Carolinians at risk, followed by Trump's attacks on Tillis and then Tillis decision not to run for reelection next year. That creates a wide open Senate race in 2026 in a state where Democrats did very well in the last election, where one Democratic congressman has already announced a run for the seat Tillis is leaving, and where a very popular two term Democratic Governor Roy Cooper may also be gearing up to. We'll see. Maybe it's not such a deep red state after all. So how are Democrats in North Carolina gonna take advantage of this opportunity? That's kind of the big question. Joining me now is the perfect person to answer it, Anderson Clayton, chair of the North Carolina Democratic Party. I always love talking to you, Anderson. You give me good spirit about what's possible. So let me just start by asking you, I mean, Thom Till is not running kind of feels like a huge opportunity for Democrats. How much better do you and other Democrats in North Carolina feel chances are of winning back the Senate now versus last week?
- [23:01]
Anderson Clayton
I mean, I think that we felt confident even last week, especially when we saw Thom Tillis being willing to bend the knee to Republicans originally on this bill and cost over 3 million people in North Carolina that are on Medicaid right now access to health insurance when we've already seen healthcare deserts across eastern North Carolina in particular impact communities and devastate whole regions, especially in an economic format. You're talking about losing all livelihoods in communities when you rip away foundational community organizations and foundational building blocks of communities like hospitals, like your school system. Other things that we've seen Republicans come after aggressively with this budget and also with federal cuts.
- [23:39]
Rachel Maddow
Right now, I know you're, you're not just so everybody knows, everybody knows this. Who's watching. You're never going to take a position in a primary. You're the party chair. There is one candidate currently in the race. When do you expect, I mean, the big question right now is whether former Governor Roy Cooper, who's very popular, is going to get in the race. I know you're not going to know the answer to that. But is there a timeline? When does he need to make a decision? When do you expect he'll make a decision? Anything you can tell us on that?
- [24:07]
Anderson Clayton
Look, I think that Governor Cooper, as we've all seen, has been eyeballing this race. Definitely. And what I've heard, I can at least tell you across the 50 counties that we're doing this rural tour that the North Carolina Democratic Party has embarked on since the beginning of the summer throughout eastern North Carolina. What I've heard from a lot of folks on the ground is that they would be really excited to see Governor Cooper enter this race. I think the party's job is to always think about how do we best support the candidate. You know, a Democratic Party is the operation that the candidate drives their cars on. We are the road in which they drive their cars on. And so I want to make sure the roads and the areas to get out to every county in North Carolina is sufficient for all of our candidates, which means that we're organizing in every county in North Carolina right now. We've been doing Republican accountability canvases already this year. We've had 35 all across the state. And North Carolina Democrats have 30,000 active volunteers right now that are geared up and prepared for municipal elections in 25 and also midterm elections in 26. It's a different ground game than we've seen before in this state. And I'm really proud of the folks out there working with us. If you'd like to get involved, you go to ncdp.org, we're always looking for folks come out and knock doors with us.
- [25:12]
Rachel Maddow
That's such an important part of it. These races do not start when a candidate emerges from the primary and organizing in between. As one of the big lessons you and I have talked about this the Democrats have learned after last year. Let me ask you just about the bill and this bill. We don't know if it's going to pass. We'll see. I was just speaking with Senator Warnock about this. But if it passes, a lot of Americans out there don't know all of the terrible things about this bill. What are you. What are the Democrats in North Carolina doing? You're doing this rural tour. How central is this message about this bill and what are you doing to make sure people in North Carolina know about this?
- [25:50]
Anderson Clayton
It's twofold, right? We're going out to communities right now where there tend to be news deserts. So oftentimes folks are not receiving the information out of D.C. or Raleigh right now about what's going on in both our state legislature and in Washington. And so ensuring that we're holding public town halls, we're bringing Democrats out to areas that honestly Democrats haven't represented for a long time. You know, we've been in places like Martin county in eastern North Carolina, we've been in places like Onslow county trying to take a message to people that oftentimes don't hear it from us. But also it's about accountability, canvassing and making sure that we're having people go out and talk to their neighbors. Because folks are not receiving information right now, unfortunately, they're not watching the news. They are getting their information from their friends, their community members. And I just express to everybody right now, if you think you can't make a difference on this bill, talk to the people in your life about it. Make sure that they understand what you do about how this is going to impact people across our state, across our communities. I was listening to what the senator said and he goes, you know, you may not be on Medicaid, but you know somebody that is. And I challenge folks right now to uplift their own personal stories that can sometimes be the hardest to tell about how you are, how healthcare has impacted your life and the access to it. Because that's what we're fighting for right now is the fact that no one should have to choose between a grocery bill and a doctor's office.
- [27:05]
Rachel Maddow
It's so interesting hearing you talk about news deserts. This is such an important challenge everybody's facing and certainly political candidates are facing. What have you learned about how to reach people? It's neighbor to neighbor is effective. If people want to be constructive in communicating this in news deserts, what do they do?
- [27:22]
Anderson Clayton
So honestly, North Carolina Dems, if you're in the state, you can sign up for our weekly content package with the state party. It's on our website@ncdp.org and I tell folks this because if you're confused about how to talk about the bills that are going on in Raleigh right now, Republicans trying to defund public education in our state, or if you're seeing Republicans defund public education at the national level with defunding the Department of Education, and you're curious about that, we're gonna give active talking points weekly. And we do that weekly for folks across North Carolina that wanna be advocates, but just posting on your own social media, being that messenger, because oftentimes that's how people see this, but it's not the only way. And so we've really tried to engage local newspapers, rural radio, making sure that we're hitting every single angle and also social media. One of the greatest things that I've had happen is that folks have come out and said, I saw Your post on TikTok about this rural tour and a lot of the times we're seeing the lack of broadband access, the lack of newspaper and honestly just press infrastructure in general in these places, being a real inhibitor right now to communities being able to access what's happening.
- [28:24]
Rachel Maddow
Anderson Clayton, thank you so much for joining and for explaining all this. I really appreciate being with us tonight. So today's White House briefing was a little wacky. It included questions about Zoran Mamdani, Alligator Alcatraz, the Republican backlash against the Big Ugly bill. Answers were at times off the rails. So when we come back, I'm gonna step in for Carolina answer for me myself. We'll be right back.
- [28:54]
Nicole Wallace
Stay connected with the MSNBC app bringing you breaking news and analysis anytime, anywhere.
- [29:00]
Rachel Maddow
All the stories that we're cover live and happening as we speak.
- [29:04]
Nicole Wallace
Watch your favorite shows live.
- [29:06]
Rachel Maddow
What's happening right now is a hostile takeover of the US Government.
- [29:10]
Nicole Wallace
Read live blogs and in depth essays and listen to coverage as it unfolds. Go beyond the what to understand the why. Download the app now@msnbc.com app.
- [29:30]
Rachel Maddow
Now. In a regular White House, the briefing room is it's a place where basically journalists get to ask anything they want and the press secretary answers to the best of his or her ability representing the President of the United States in this White House. Though I think, as we all know, the briefing room is often a place where disinformation is spread, misinformation is spread, all in a place where the American people are trying to get information and sometimes they practice some light prop work of sorts. I mean, this was the press secretary today bandying about this list of global interest rates hand annotated by the president to be delivered to the chairman of the Federal Reserve because, sure, I guess that is how this White House does policy or whatever. I'm not even sure what that was about. And since this White House doesn't appear to take these briefings very seriously, I figured I would take a shot again at answering some of the questions from today. Okay, Jeff Earl from the Daily Mail, kick us off.
- [30:29]
Josh Hawley
You mentioned the dangerous wildlife at the alligator Alcatraz. Is that a design feature?
- [30:36]
Rachel Maddow
Is the dangerous wildlife surrounding the new migrant detention center in Florida on purpose? Well, Jeff, I'm going to go out on a bit of a limb here and say yes, the dangerous wildlife is A feature, not a bug. I mean, cruelty is kind of the point with these guys, but also when your administration is preparing to pass a wildly unpopular piece of legislation. You know what I mean? I guess I bet the President, his advisors would much rather be talking about alligators than the fact that his big ugly bill is about to strip health care away from millions of people. Maybe that is part of the strategy. Okay, Joe Khalil from News Nation. Go ahead.
- [31:15]
Senator Raphael Warnock
On the reconciliation bill, Senator Tillis from the floor yesterday seemed to suggest President Trump was getting bad counsel on the effects of the bill. Is President Trump aware of the analyses?
- [31:28]
Rachel Maddow
Joe, Joe, Joe, I think we both know that Donald Trump is not a policy wonk. Everyone knows he's not a policy wonk. You're not going to find a dog eared copy of the CBO report on that guy's bedside table. The weeds is also not a place where he is familiar. But the thing is, the practical impacts of this bill on everyday Americans, millions of Americans are not exactly hidden amongst the policy weeds. To know that his bill will have life and death consequences for millions of people, all you need to do is be a sentient person in the world right now, able to read a handful of headlines which even I think Trump is capable of. So no, the effort by some, including I would note Senator Tillis, to blame Trump's support on advisors not briefing him well enough, I think is the explanation does not feel on the level. Said it feels safe to assume he just doesn't care as long as the bill is cutting taxes for the highest earners and biggest companies in this country. That's what this is about. That's why he wants to get the bill passed. Okay, next question. I might regret this, but maybe not. Go for it. Peter Doocy, Fox News.
- [32:35]
Josh Hawley
Does President Trump want Zoran Mandani deported?
- [32:39]
Rachel Maddow
Okay, my instincts are right on that one. I'm going to give it a little go. Does President Trump want Duran Mamdani deported? The guy who just won the Democratic mayoral primary in New York City? I mean, honestly, my answer is probably yeah. Mohammedani is a charismatic, energetic politician. He has inspired or hyped up millions of Democrats in politics right now. Not something you really want if you're a Republican president. And so it wouldn't surprise me if Donald Trump wants to somehow make him disappear, whether it is by deportation, which is crazy, or, or some other kind of presidential voodoo. I don't even know. It's not even. The only reason is a thing. Don't forget that the current mayor of New York Eric Adams was going to be criminally prosecuted for a whole bunch of felonies until Donald Trump leaned on the Justice Department to make that prosecution go away. Trump is the mayor of New York under his thumb right now. If Mamdani unseats Eric Adams, it's not only bad news for Eric Adams, probably bad news for Donald Trump, too. That's probably a factor. Okay, let's take one more. John Fredericks, take us home.
- [33:44]
John Fredericks
Let's get to the one big, beautiful bill first.
- [33:46]
Rachel Maddow
Sure.
- [33:46]
John Fredericks
It appears now you're going to get at least 50 votes in the Senate. There'll be some amendments. What is the president's confidence level in getting 218 votes in the House by the end of this week in order for him to sign it on Friday?
- [34:00]
Rachel Maddow
I mean, we're not in a sane political universe, John. But let me just start by saying in a sane political universe, it shouldn't be high at all. I mean, Trump's little buddy, Speaker Johnson seems nervous in large part because there are two warring factions within his own party in the House. The first group made up of members of the Freedom Caucus who think the bill is way too expensive, and the other who think it's not expensive enough because they want a higher salt deduction cap. So that's challenging because both of those things cannot happen at once. One side is not going to get their way, which should, in a sane political universe, make the path to 2018 very uncertain right now. That said, Republicans in Congress are not exactly known for their spines of steel these days. So we'll see how this goes. In the meantime, a quick reminder, though, there are a whole lot of Republicans in Congress who just barely eked out a win last November, who are vulnerable in purple districts. And the midterms is not that far away. You know what? I think I kind of get the prop thing now. I'm just going to say here's a little prop for everyone of districts to pay attention to. I even signed it just like Donald Trump did. Some districts for people to pay attention to. And my next guest after this is a Democrat leading a bright red state who has a lot to say about this bill. Governor Andy Beshear from Kentucky joins us next. Stay with us. The Kentucky Hospital association says if the Senate was to pass the current version.
- [35:37]
Anderson Clayton
The state could lose 20,000 hospital jobs.
- [35:40]
Rachel Maddow
It's just unfathomable. Republican Medicaid cuts are poised to do a lot of damage in states across the country, as we've been talking about throughout the show, but they will be especially damaging in a state like Kentucky. And that's because Medicaid is Kentucky's single largest payer of health care. In addition to hundreds of thousands of people being kicked off their health care, one study by the University of North Carolina estimates the cuts would kill 20,000 jobs and put at least 35 rural hospitals in danger of closing. One nurse in eastern Kentucky said, quote, I've never seen as much concern and turmoil in health care as what I'm seeing now. And I've been doing this since 1978. Yet despite that level of concern, Kentucky senior Senator Mitch McConnell reportedly told his Republican colleagues during a meeting just last week, I know a lot of us are hearing from people back home about Medicaid, but they'll get over it. I just can't. I have to keep repeating that. I can't believe that came out of somebody's mouth. Joining me now is Kentucky's Democratic governor, Andy Beshear. Governor, it's great to see you. And I think it's so important for people to understand the substantive impact, not just the process, which we are following very closely, but the impact of people in this country. Medicaid cuts to your state, according to the statist I have seen, could result in the loss of 20,000 jobs, the closing of 35 rural hospitals, 200,000 people could lose their health care. What am I there's obviously the impact of SNAP benefits. What else am I missing here in terms of what you're preparing for, in terms of the impact on your state?
- [37:13]
Josh Hawley
Well, first, you are entirely right that this would be absolutely devastating to Kentucky, but it's going to be devastating to all of rural America. You mentioned that it is basically going to fire because that's what Donald Trump and everybody who votes for this is doing. They are firing health care workers across the country. 20,000 in my state, 200,000 people in Kentucky, and millions more aren't going to be able to get the treatments they need. They might not survive. And those 35 rural hospitals that are at risk of closing, Jen, each and every one of them is the second largest employer in the community that they're in. So just imagine you're a small business in that community and the second largest employer goes under, all the jobs evaporate. What happens? Your entire community's economy takes a major hit and all of a sudden you as a small business may be laying some people off as well. But then take the families and how they're going to be impacted, whether you're on Medicaid or on private insurance. If your rural hospital closes you got to drive a couple hours just to see the doctor you used to see in your own community. If your parents get kicked off of their coverage and they're in long term care costs, you got to bring them into your home and try to figure out how to keep them alive. Half of Kentucky's kids are covered under Medicaid. They lose their coverage and you are scrambling over that next prescription. This is going to impact the life of every single American negatively. It is going to hammer our economy and it is wrong and it is mean. And I cannot believe that people refuse to do their job and represent their people that they were sent to Washington to represent and instead are just pledging fealty towards someone pushing such a damaging piece of legislation.
- [39:03]
Rachel Maddow
Let me ask you about a specific piece of this. You've seen this trend over and over again where Republicans will express concern there'll be one tiny band aid fix and they'll say, oh, it's good, we're good now, right? I mean right now to help get their members to yes, Republican senators have put this $25 billion in a stabilization fund for rural hospitals that would presumably be divided between states. I don't think we know exactly how it would be divided. Is that enough? I mean, you're not, it's not just Kentucky, it's rural hospitals. To your point, across the country. What kind of a dent would that even do in terms of the impact of these cuts on rural hospitals where people haveit would mean people would have to go much further to get health care. Wouldn't have access to health care. But anyway, tell me about that $25 billion and would it even make a dent?
- [39:49]
Josh Hawley
Oh, it's not even close. You're basically cutting hundreds of billions of dollars and saying here is a tiny fraction. But what you're not doing is replacing the steady revenue that comes in for these hospital systems. It is so important that they are able to be compensated for the care and the good care that they get. Instead of people showing up at the emergency room when it is far too late, when they haven't been able to get their screenings, when been able to provide life saving care ahead of time that keeps them around for decades with their families and suddenly that hospital has to provide that uncompensated care. Not only are they losing revenue, but their expenses are going up as well. Listen, our hospital association aren't a whole bunch of liberals. Far from it. Right. They are executives of very large organizations and they're out very clearly saying how bad this bill would be. Why? Because this bill is that bad. And I get that there are a couple of Republicans speaking up, but that's their job. Well, I'm glad they're doing it. It's their job. Your job isn't to be the best Republican you can be. It's to be the best representative or senator from your state. And so I know we've had to say this a lot during the second Trump term, but just do your job, do what's right for people. And by the way, if you're their elected representative, don't vote for something that is going to fire tens of thousands of your citizens and your voters, strip health care from even more and devastate your rural economies.
- [41:26]
Rachel Maddow
Let me ask you, I mean, this bill, it's the Senate and the voterama, very nerdy term. But I started off the show just talking about how this bill has a direction, terrible impact, dramatically bad impact on many of the people who voted for Trump to begin with, many of whom voted for you, too. Given how much Trump won your state by, what would be your advice? You know, we don't have that much time left, unfortunately. But to Democrats out there about if this bill passes, how should they be talking about it and helping connect with people about the impacts of it?
- [41:56]
Josh Hawley
They should be looking squarely at voters and saying, we are opposing this because we care about you. We know the next doctor's appointment for your parents and your kids is critical to you. And you know the person that you elected and the president that you elected doesn't care about you. They're willing for you to be fired. They're willing for you to lose your health care coverage, and they're willing to make your drive just to see your doctor hours longer. Why? Because they don't care about your everyday life. They said they would, but what you've seen is lies and is betrayal. So now is the time for the Democratic Party to make sure every single day we're talking about your job, your next doctor's appointment, the roads and bridges you drive, the school you drop your kids off at, and whether you feel safe in your community. We are going to be the party of your everyday life, and we're going to work every day to make it better.
- [42:47]
Rachel Maddow
Governor Andy Beshear, thank you so much for joining me tonight. Coming up, a strongman leader tries to scare people out of protesting. Guess what? Didn't work. Be right back. Three decades ago, Budapest became the first ever Eastern European city to hold an LGBTQ Pride march and has held one every single year since. This year, however, Hungary's far right, led by Viktor Orban, of course, banned Pride outright. But the mayor of Budapest scheduled one anyway for this past Saturday. So police set up facial recognition cameras across the city, threatened marchers with hefty fines, and threatened organizers with up to a year in prison. The people planning to march had every reason to be afraid. I mean, the danger of potential prosecution, arrest, or physical violence loomed over all of them. And Orban hoped those threats and the fear they evoked would keep everyone at home. But there would be no Pride in Hungary anymore. That was their goal. But Hungarians also realized there was a different threat that loomed even larger than all of the others. The threat of what would happen if they did stay home. If no one showed up, it would ensure that Orban won. So on Saturday, protesters flooded the streets of Budapest. You can see this amazing photo there, over 100,000 of them, making it the largest Pride parade in the city's history. Draped in rainbow flags and carrying anti Orban signs, they marched and danced and most importantly, fearlessly resisted. It was not only a bold celebration of LGBTQ life in the face of a government that seeks to silence and erase them, but also a powerful rejection of Orban and his authoritarian ambitions altogether. While the success of Saturday's Pride parade alone won't be enough to stop Orban, the message from the streets of Budapest could not have been the people are not afraid. They're going to march and they're going to come out. That does it for me today. You can catch the show Tuesday through Friday at 9pm Eastern on MSNBC. And don't forget to follow the show on Blue Sky, Instagram and TikTok for now. Goodbye from Washington and we'll see you next week.
- [44:57]
Nicole Wallace
MSNBC presents the chart topping original podcast, the Best People with Nicole Wallace. This week, Nicole speaks with American soccer legend Abby Wambach and her wife, best selling author Glennon Doyle.
- [45:08]
Glennon Doyle
We are in the middle of amazing dehumanization. So staying human and feeling it all and witnessing it all feels like the only antidote right now.
- [45:17]
Nicole Wallace
The Best People with Nicole Wallace Listen now. For early access ad, free listening and bonus content, subscribe to MSNBC Premium on Apple Podcasts.