Why Trump's Presidency is All But Over: Carville

Summary

The Daily Beast Podcast

Episode: Why Trump's Presidency is All But Over: Carville
Host: Joanna Coles
Guest: James Carville
Date: December 2, 2025

---

Episode Overview

This episode features a lively and incisive conversation with veteran political strategist James Carville. Carville, known for his sharp wit and memorable turns of phrase, discusses the current state and future of American politics in the aftermath of the 2025 election. The main focus is on why Carville believes Trump’s presidency is effectively finished, the lingering impact of "performative woke politics," the centrality of economic concerns, and what Democrats need to do to seize their “second chance.” The episode is filled with Carville's trademark candor, colorful language, and pragmatic advice for the Democratic Party.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The State of the Trump Presidency

Carville’s Thesis: Trump’s ability to govern is crippled.

• Carville characterizes Trump as self-involved, addicted to humiliating his allies, and presiding over crumbling support and historically low poll numbers.
• Quote: “You have to understand that Trump doesn't care about anything but himself. Trump loves humiliating...I think he likes to get Mike Johnson and Lindsey Graham and just slap them around.” (James Carville, 01:36)
• Recent elections suggested sweeping opposition to Trumpism, with results “beyond conclusive” across diverse states. Trump’s polling “is now at an all time low…he’s at 36.” (04:29)

2. Economic Discontent and “Economic Rage”

Generational Unrest and Inequality

• Carville paints a bleak picture: 40-45% of Americans struggle with bills; young people don’t see a path to home ownership or affordable education.
• Quote: “Young people see no future… Meanwhile, savers and old people have just run off with the whole stack. And look at what we just did. We just added another $4 trillion in debt. We just gave more tax cuts to more rich people.” (03:07)
• The Oxford Dictionary’s “word of the year” is “rage bait” — Carville argues the real story is economic rage, rooted in “generational theft.”
• He warns of rising costs: “Electricity costs going up something like 21% higher than the inflation rate…insurance costs and God knows what.” (05:40)
• Quote: “The people should be outraged at what we've done at our tax code…at how we build more prisons than we build classrooms…” (06:44)

3. The Democratic Party’s Path Forward

Return to Economic Issues

• Carville says the party strayed into identity politics, losing focus on economic solutions—a mistake he urges them to correct.
• Quote: “It’s the economy, stupid.” (08:42)
• He insists Democrats must address wages—not just fight inflation.
  • Example: Calls for a minimum wage hike to $20/hour, arguing, “People need a raise. They need lower prices, but they need a raise also...Prices are not going to come down. [Even] if inflation rate goes to zero, the price is still baked there.” (08:58)
• Pushes back against business concerns, invoking Henry Ford: “If you worked for Ford, you could actually afford a Ford. What a drastic idea in this world.” (11:55)
• Memorable line: “If you can’t pay 40% [taxes], carry on. Get out of here.” (11:55)

4. Policy, Leadership, and Party Future

Debating the Democratic Bench

• Carville believes Democrats have the strongest bench of future talent he’s ever seen (“a talent level the likes of which I’ve never seen in my life in a single party” at 25:26); he names Ruben Gallagher and Alyssa Slack as potential future stars.
• Criticizes 2024’s lack of a contested process: “The mistakes we made over the summer of 2024, which some of the worst any political party has ever made in the history of the United States.” (25:26)
• South is crucial to Democratic primary outcomes: “If history is any guide...Southern blacks will determine the future of the party. They always do.” (39:05)

Moderates vs. Progressives

• Pushes back on New York City obsession: “You’re not the center of the political universe. You’re not even a swing place.” (22:03)
• Says Democrats have never picked “the most left candidate ever” in the modern era.
• Urges the party to focus on “affordability, minimum wage, electricity prices” rather than exclusive coverage of New York politics. (24:08)

5. The Tariffs & Global Impact

• Carville dismisses tariffs as minimally effective, particularly for farmers and agrarian communities. (13:17)

6. Trump, Scandal, and Public Perception

Marjorie Taylor Greene and the Fallout from Scandal

• Greene’s resignation is, in Carville’s view, a sign that even the loyal are realizing Trump “doesn't care about me… I’ve given everything in service to this person and he doesn’t give a shit about me.” (33:25)
• The Epstein files have had a serious impact, reinforcing the narrative that elites live by separate rules: “This story fit perfectly into that narrative… no one’s going to let it go because the story is too good.” (34:50)

"Imminent Implosion"

• Increasing public discontent—rising disorder, global instability, scandal—will doom Trump’s claim to power.
• Quote: “The public has turned on him. It turned on him decisively. And, you know, you see this, you know, the Epstein right now, it's all the—the shooting of these survivors on the gunboat...And the same thing with the Epstein files. He's caught in some pretty human dramas...I don't see how this gets better for them. I really don't.” (36:36)

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Trump loves humiliating...Mike Johnson is a trouser stain.” (Carville, 01:36; 14:53)
• “The era of performative Woke politics from 2020 to 2024 has left a lasting stain on our brand, particularly with rural voters and male voters. We can no longer be the party with a whiff of moral absolutism.” (Coles quoting Carville’s NYT column, 01:52)
• On the future of the Democratic Party: “The people that vote in the Democratic primaries in 2028...if history is any guide...Southern blacks will determine the future of the party. They always do.” (39:05)
• On wage increases: “If your minimum wage is 8 and you’re paying 13, well, the minimum wage is 15 and you’re paying 19. People need a raise.” (08:58)
• On Young People: "They’re going to figure out that...people stole everything from us. So let’s go get our fair share. And that’s how unrest starts." (03:07)
• On disorder under Trump: "What he's bought is just massive confusion, massive disorder. And the public has turned on him." (36:36)
• On Marjorie Taylor Greene’s resignation: “I've given everything in service to this person and he doesn’t give a shit about me.” (33:25)

---

Timestamps for Important Segments

| Timestamp | Key Segment | |---------------|----------------------| | 01:36 | Carville on Trump’s motivations and humiliation tactics | | 03:07 | Generational theft and economic discontent | | 04:29 | Breadth and depth of Trump’s electoral losses, polling collapse | | 06:44 | Economic rage and its consequences | | 08:42 | “It’s the economy, stupid”—Democratic party’s needed pivot | | 10:52 | Arguing for a $20 minimum wage | | 13:17 | Discussion on tariffs and their limited impact | | 14:53 | “Mike Johnson is a trouser stain”—Carville’s vivid imagery | | 24:04 | NYC’s political relevance debunked | | 25:26 | Reflecting on missed opportunities, the party’s “talent level” | | 33:25 | Marjorie Taylor Greene’s resignation explained | | 34:50 | Epstein files, elite impunity, and impact on Trump | | 36:36 | Trump’s unraveling presidential authority, public disorder | | 39:05 | The future of the Democratic party decided by Southern black voters |

---

Tone and Style

The episode is peppered with Carville’s signature Southern directness, sardonic humor, and colorful phrasing. Joanna Coles brings thoughtful prompts and occasionally injects wry asides. Both maintain a brisk, conversational tone, intensely focused on substance over platitudes.

---

Conclusion

James Carville offers a searing post-mortem of the Trump presidency, situating economic grievance at the heart of America’s political trajectory and suggesting Democrats have an unprecedented “second chance” — if they focus on affordability and the material realities of voters’ lives. With memorable language (“Mike Johnson is a trouser stain”), historical perspective, and strategic insight, Carville argues that Trump’s collapse is visible and irreversible, particularly as new scandals surface and economic burdens increase. The Democratic Party, he maintains, has the talent and opportunity to lead — but only if it heeds the lessons of recent years and lets its base, especially Southern black voters, choose the path forward.

Transcript

[Ryan Reynolds]

Are you noticing your car insurance rate creep up even without tickets or claims? You're not alone. That's why there's Jerry, your proactive insurance assistant. Jerry handles the legwork by comparing quotes side by side from over 50 top insurers so you can confidently hit buy. No spam calls, no hidden fees. Jerry even tracks rates and alerts you when it's best to shop. Drivers who save with Jerry could save over $1,300 a year. Don't settle for higher rates. Download the Jerry app or or visit Jerry AI Acast today. Hey, Ryan Reynolds here wishing you a very happy half off holiday because right now Mint Mobile is offering you the gift of 50% off unlimited. To be clear, that's half price, not half the service. Mint is still premium unlimited wireless for a great price. So that means a half day.

[Joanna Coles]

Yeah.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Give it a [e-mail] Switch upfront payment.

[Mint Mobile Ad Voice]

$45 for 3 month plan equivalent to $15 per month required new customer offer for first 3 months only. Speed flow advert of network's busy taxes.

[Rubrik Ad Voice]

And fees Extra AI agents are everywhere, automating tasks and making decisions at machine speed. But agents make mistakes. Just one rogue agent can do big damage before you even notice. Rubrik Agent Cloud is the only platform that helps you monitor agents, set guardrails and rewind mistakes so you can unleash agents, not risk. Accelerate your AI [e-mail] that's R U B R I K.com.

[James Carville]

You have to understand that Trump doesn't care about anything but himself. Trump loves humiliating. I think he likes to get Mike Johnson and Lindsey Graham and then just slap them around. I think he enjoys it and maybe they enjoy it too far.

[Joanna Coles]

I'm Joanna Coles, this is the Daily Bees podcast and today we are back with James Carville. There is almost nobody who has a better turn of phrase, and he comes up with two fantastic ones in this interview. He wrote last week an excellent column for the New York Times, and I'm going to just read three lines from it. The era of performative Woke politics from 2020 to 2024 has left a lasting stain on our brand, particularly with rural voters and male voters. And then he says we can no longer be the party with a whiff of moral absolutism. We can correct this, looking toward the future always in every situation possible and pivoting to a form of economic rage as our response. This offers Democrats the greatest gift you can have in American politics, a second chance. So let's find out exactly what he meant by that, James Carville. Let's get into it, James. You are predicting a whiff of the French Revolution in America in an excellent column that you wrote in the New York Times in the last couple of days. What do you mean? What do you mean? How bad is it?

[James Carville]

Well, what's happened is we have cheating at this, inequalities and discrepancies or whatever you want to call it. And about 40, 45 of the country can't pay any bills. Young people see no future, that they can't imagine themselves ever buying a house. They can't imagine themselves ever affording an education. Meanwhile, savers and old people have just run off with the whole stack. And look at what we just did. We just added another $4 trillion in debt. We just gave more tax cuts to more rich people. We cut substantive things that matter to people all over the country, like rural hospitals, small town hospitals. What will we do it? And the young people are going to see us and they're going to figure out that, hey, these people stole everything from us. So let's go get our fair share. And that's how unrest starts. And the best thing to do is get ahead of it and try to even this thing out a little bit.

[Joanna Coles]

Do you sense that Donald Trump having won, you know, every single swing state is actually somewhat more vulnerable than we might have anticipated this early into his administration.

[James Carville]

Well, let's look at the election that was held, I guess. Are we still in November?

[Joanna Coles]

No, it's the first of December. James, Happy winter.

[James Carville]

Less than a month ago, it was an election that was beyond conclusive. It was, it was stunning. It was stunning, not just in the depth but the breadth of it. I mean, wherever it was, if it was Mississippi or Virginia or New Jersey or Georgia, it was all the same thing. And you know, as we speak now, there's this Tennessee district that's going up special on going to be the second. And Trump carried that district by 22 points. His polling is now at an all time low. I just saw a gallop. He's at 36. I'm not much lower. You can go. I think his presidency in terms of getting anything significantly done is awful. He's got a definitely deal for the Democratic House. I think it's more than likely to be dealing with a Democratic Senate.

[Joanna Coles]

So today is the first day when people can enroll in Obamacare and they will see their health premiums going up substantially, often double, in some cases treble. Do you think that is going to be a new tipping point for people? I mean, it impacts 23 million people.

[James Carville]

Of course it is. And what's also going up is electricity costs going up something like 21% higher than the inflation rate. So you got to deal with that, insurance costs and God knows what. Now people are like to be able to afford it. The people that were on the exchange, I mean you hear real light bar stores and people like I was paying 450 a year, now I'm going to pay $2,200 a year. I just can't afford it. And that's very common. And these notices are going out as we speak in and it's going to. We hadn't begun to feel the real effect of this.

[Joanna Coles]

So you mentioned the idea of economic rage and the Oxford Dictionary has just released its word of the year which is rage bait. As usual you're right on the money. What exactly did you mean by that? And how can people, how can people display it?

[James Carville]

Well, it means what a alerts. There's been a tremendous amount of generational theft from people, my generation even generation go after me to the current young people and they're going to figure it out. And the range is what is our death now? Like $38 trillion, $39 trillion and they got nothing. They got nothing. They can't buy a house. I mean in everything our entire tax code is tilted towards savers is tilted toward, you know, the way I describe here, there's two kinds of people in the world. Those that have it made, they have saved the account, they own their house, they have money in the bank and they have health insurance and they have all the accoutrements that she would think of that are part of a good life. And then you have people that would like to have some power. And if the people with power block out everybody else but themselves, people will find a way to get around it, if you will. I mean Lloyd Blankfein, this was back in the last decade he was the chairman of Goldman Sachs. He said we know how to create wealth, we just don't know how to distribute it. And as we go to more stratified is, you know, seven, eight companies that make up every X percent of the S and P or whatever it is, it's going to get worse. And if you don't do something and correct it and try to balance it out and this is all happening by the way, at 4% unemployment. Could you imagine what it's going to look like in six and a half percent unemployment? So the people should be outraged at what we've done at our tax code. It should be outraged about how we don't give opportunity and how we build more prisons than we build classrooms or any of the stuff you want to go to. There's a lot to be outraged about, a lot.

[Joanna Coles]

So what is the solution for Democrats? You've always maintained it's the economy, stupid. That was your sort of brilliant catchphrase. And yet the Democrats seem to move away from that. What happened and how do they get it back?

[James Carville]

Well, I think it did start moving back in the last election. I think Spamberger, I think Sheryl and Freddie Mondoni was. That's all he talked about. So you're right. The party got, I don't know what happened. People lost their minds with this identity walks off. I wish somebody would explain it to me one day. I mean, it was so, it was so stupid and it was so sticky. It didn't the language just kind of debunked. You couldn't wash the stench off. But what Democrats can do when we talk about cost issues, affordability, inflation, cost of living, whatever you want to call it, we always talk about how we what can we do to get to price down. Well, there's also another way that you can deal this. There's another tool in the toolkit and let's try to get wages up, right? We have a. So you, you could raise the minimum wave like it's been done in, I don't know, 15 years or more than that maybe. And people said, well, I don't know how many people get there. Well, okay, but you're telling people, we see you who's going to live on $8 an hour and then a lot of people, a lot of companies take prior to fact, well, we pay four or five dollars above the minimum wage. Well, great. If your minimum wage is 8 and you're paying 13, well, the minimum wage is 15 and you're paying 19. People need a raise. They need lower prices, but they need a raise. Also, you know, prices are not going to come down. If inflation, inflation rate goes to zero, the price is still baked there. You see what I'm saying? It's different. It doesn't cost a dollar. It costs a dollar fifty and you stop all inflation. Well, still fifty cents more than it was before and you got to deal with that too. Paying people more.

[Joanna Coles]

You're calling for a minimum wage of $20. Is that manageable? I mean, I can already hear pop business is saying we can't do that. If we have to go to $20 an hour, we're going to have to Lose people where our margins are so thin. We can't do that.

[James Carville]

Well, your margins are thin if because everybody around you is making $8 an hour and you rise, you had to pay $20 an hour. That would. That would go to your bottom line. Okay. But you'd be paying people, by the way, other people would be getting paid $40 an hour so other people would come in and buy more of your product. I mean, what you're trying to do is say I can't pay anybody because I'm right here and I'm living with the margin I have in the system I have, which is a very low, low wage system that we're living in. Well, understand that, but think of the possibility when. Remember Henry Ford, for all of his faults, he didn't tell you the word multitudinous. He was the first person to figure out if you tell your people, they buy your product.

[Joanna Coles]

Right. Okay, good point. Yeah, very good point.

[James Carville]

If you worked for Ford, you could actually afford a Ford. What a drastic idea in this world. It's going to cost, you know, Seattle raised that way, I don't know, $20 an hour or something. And then it was going to cost all the jobs and it was in doomsday and everything else. Of course, no such goddamn thing happened. California raised as. You can't. He can't get Emma in and out. Burr, every time I go and the driver picks me up at lax, there's one I guess on Sabaro. So let's stop at any time. I want to get a burger now. We're buying lines too. And I've never seen that place where they weren't ringing up the cash register and they have a higher minimum wage is always the excuse. We can't raise taxes on risk people because they might leave. Well, you know what? If you can't pay 40%, carry on. Get out of here. All right. You think of the people that sacrificed this country, that marched and assaulted machine gun nests that, you know, the Revolutionary War and UK paid act. Well, carry your ass, man.

[Joanna Coles]

Carry your ass, man. I love that expression. Okay, that's a good expression for a Monday. So, James, what do you think the tariffs have done to the economy? I mean, some days there are tariffs, other days we're not sure if there are tariffs. It's making very difficult for businesses to manage. What are your thoughts on the tariffs?

[James Carville]

I don't think tariffs. I think the weight thought is that they're not. Don't work very well. And some people claim that if you limit it, they can have some, some values. The economy is really big. Okay. And the amount that the tariffs affect is probably not as big as, you know, for certain products in certain things. In a lot of them in that they're trying to adjust to the higher tax. So it put off at a head inventory, but it's going to kick in more and more. And it doesn't produce the kind of revenue that Trump thinks it produces. It produces some, but not, not a great deal. And you know, Democrats had never been a pro cow party and he just ended up hurting out there over a long period of time our agrarian interest because the American aim culture is very much a worldwide product.

[Joanna Coles]

Okay. So you mentioned Zoran Mamdani earlier and he's been utterly focused on the word affordability. We saw him last week or ten days ago now meeting Donald Trump. What was your impression of their meeting? Because I think it surprised a lot of people.

[James Carville]

Yeah, I guess in here, this is mine first. You have to understand that Trump. I'm gonna get to my point. I'm not using this just the way I attack Trump. And he doesn't care about anything but himself. Right. For about the Republican House majority of Mike Johnson. I think Mike Johnson is a trouser stain. That Donald Trump.

[Joanna Coles]

Mike Johnson is a trouser stain. How fantastic. You're full of very vibrant images this morning.

[James Carville]

So then you have the whole box advice or the whole Newsmax, the whole New York Post operation.

[Joanna Coles]

Yeah.

[James Carville]

It was the now of urban Manone. Everything has been done. This is such as what are you going to do? You got to see every time you do. And Trump just stuck the shimmer. Okay. Because now if any Democrat goes on Fox, we got to have Trump acting. Trump's a bigger fan than I am. But Gary, you know, you can barely. He sees a lot of nominated lights. I mean he just, he just completely took the oxygen out of the talking point. Election night, you'd have never known that it was New Jersey or Virginia or anything like that was all, you know, did socialists of the world, workers of the world unite or anything. And it was really, it was amazing. And it was amazing to see how little about the kind of people I stick with him and how well he is to die for if you were when I probably learned one day. But I'm a win.

[Joanna Coles]

James, hold on one second. We're just going to take some ads.

[SimpliSafe Ad Voice]

I had one of those moments coming home after a late night flight and thinking maybe I should really upgrade my security. So I went with Simplisafe. Most security safety systems, they wait until someone's already inside. SimpliSafe is different. AI cameras spot a potential threat before they even reach your door. Then live agents step in, letting the person know that police will be dispatched if they don't leave. You can even trigger sirens or spotlights. I trusted to protect what matters most my studio, my notes, and yes, my family. And right now is the perfect time. This month, only 50% off any new system. Go to SimpliSafe.com DailyBeast SimpliSafe.com DailyBeast because really, there's no safe like SimpliSafe.

[Joanna Coles]

You know that gift you get that everyone actually remembers? That's what an aura frame does. I gave one to my business partner and he loves it. It's got all sorts of photos and videos of the two of us together. And the best part? I can keep adding to it from anywhere, straight from my phone. Every frame comes in a beautiful gift box and you can even add a personal message before it arrives. You can't wrap togetherness, but you can frame it for a limited time. Save on the perfect gift by visiting auraframes.com to get $35 off or as best selling Carver matte frames named number one by Wirecutter by using promo code Daily Beast at the checkout. That's a U R A frames.com promo code dailybeast this deal is exclusive to listeners and frames sell out fast, so order yours now to get it in time for the holidays, support the show by mentioning us at checkout. Terms and conditions apply.

[SimpliSafe Ad Voice]

As you head into this holiday season, let's focus on what counts your family, your financial security. Noble Gold Investment CEO Colin Plume and his team are available and easy to understand. And in a moment like this, you can't help from thinking about how to protect your family from all that volatility. Gold and silver can offer something sturdier than whatever mood the markets decide to be in next. So before you disappear into the holidays, go to noblegoldinvestments.com DailyBeast and download their free gold and silver guide. If you open a qualified account, you'll receive ten 1 ounce commemorative silver holiday gift coins. That's noblegold investments.com/dailybeast Again, noblegold investments.com forward/dailybeast.

[James Carville]

Hi, this is Joe from Vanta. In today's digital world, compliance regulations are changing constantly and earning customer trust has never mattered more. Vanta helps companies get compliant fast and stay secure with the most advanced AI, automation and continuous monitoring out there. So whether you're a startup going for your first SoC2 or ISO 27001 or a growing enterprise managing vendor risk. Vanta makes it quick, easy and scalable and I'm not just saying that because I work here. Get [e-mail].

[Joanna Coles]

And I'm back with James Carville discussing the opportunity in front of the Democrats right now. So in that election that you've just referenced, we had two moderate candidates in Mikey Sherrill in New Jersey and Abigail Spanberger in Virginia. You had Zoran Mamdani speaking a much more well he would say he's a democratic socialist, although he frantically seems to be moving to the middle now. What do you think is the future of the actual Democratic Party?

[James Carville]

So let's do a little unwrapping here. It's we have to ask about Madonna because Nomi is the kind okay, let's start with something the mayor of New York has never been a figure in national politics and you were Keith the mayor of New York has never been much of a figure in national politics.

[Joanna Coles]

I'm not sure they would all agree with you with that ain't more than.

[James Carville]

Went anywhere Cumberland tried they went nowhere. John Lindsay Bruno Giuliani was a disgraced person in America. Are you kidding me? Laguardia No, I don't think so. So I think New York clocks in about 8 million people New York City right between New Jersey and Virginia. You're looking I don't know probably 17, 18 million people. So why if the obsession with one city and by the way what about the Georgia Caucus Commission, the Mississippi state Senate, the Pennsylvania retention, the California There are ballot initiative with all of the dirt in upstate New York there were huge ships in these county commissions. But we must talk about Mongombe because New York is the center of the universe that nothing else exists in the United States but New York when in fact the city of New York is not a very It's a big player in finance. It's a big player in the theater. It's a big player in the advertisements A big player and creativity One of my favorite cities in the entire world like I'm going out of war. I can't wait but you're not the center of the political universe. You're just not. You're not even in a swing. You're not even a swing place. And if it wouldn't be for your money politicians wouldn't much care about I'm.

[Joanna Coles]

Deducting from that that you're saying the future of the Democratic Party is going.

[James Carville]

To be moderate Right now the Democratic Party does Not have a message. It can't have a message. It doesn't abnormally it hasn't argument. These people have to be stopped. We need somebody in the Congress to stand up to that argument is going to win you a lot of elections. The only way that you're going to have a message is Democratic voters are going to pick their presidential nominee that way that the mondomet people, the socialists can have somebody, the bodies can have somebody that somebody else can have somebody in Citadel Rock in them and the commentariat was not picked. Who's going to lead the party? The actual people who voted the party primaries are going to pick to pick us the lead the party who should be the most important people and are the most important people. Now what we do know for a fact that in this century now since I made it 72 but maybe not even net the Democrats never pick the most left candidate ever. That that gets in the way of the storyline. Because New York have to be central to the story, right, Madame? Has to be central to the story. But I'm not to do the thing. Madame in New York got 50%. 50. I think it's 50.5. To be fair. They predict 58. 50% for the Democratic nominee is not a bully number at all.

[Joanna Coles]

No, but, but Mamdani was up against an establishment Democrat in Andrew Cuomo who who fought as an independent. Right.

[James Carville]

So he still couldn't get much above 50.

[Joanna Coles]

But James, it was the biggest voter turnout since the late 60s.

[James Carville]

It's great. This great is New York City. It's not anything else.

[Joanna Coles]

Okay.

[James Carville]

Can I tell you that you're not the center of the political universe in the United States.

[Joanna Coles]

That's very disappointing to me. This is a brutal Monday morning general business.

[James Carville]

They're fighting it because this is so we want to report on. This is not the story. We don't want to talk about the minimum wage. We don't want to talk about electricity prices. We don't want to talk about. We don't talk about the Georgia. We want to talk about New York City and we will talk about New York City and nothing else because that is all that interests us.

[Joanna Coles]

It's a great point. Except that Donald Trump didn't invite or perhaps Abigail Spanberger and Micah Sherrill were turned down, but they didn't go and talk to him. And that's what was interesting about the development.

[James Carville]

I thought it was very interesting. I did and I thought that again what I said earlier, Trump just, he just stabbed every right wing person because Nami was going to be the billionaire. But now we spent 60% of the show talking about Nanami.

[Joanna Coles]

You have said that the Democratic Party has a fantastic bench of potential future leaders. You analyzed very early on that Bill Clinton was an early leader and was going to win, and you hitched your wagon to him. Who would you hitch your wagon to with the current bench?

[James Carville]

First of all, if I do that, I was to get somebody, and I know everybody will for that. And I've just come to realize if you just look around and when you see it, you're going to see a talent level the likes of which I've never seen in my life in a single part. And some of them are not even gonna run for president. I mean, let me give you two. But probably will run for president one day. I don't. I don't know about 2028. Ruben Gallagher and Alyssa Slack. Then they need to sell. People are so talented or completely different level when than you can imagine. But there's all kinds of. We got terrific people. I got run for president. I hope gal run. I talked to a lot of them and I said, man, for God's sakes, get out there and run. There are more people that we have run. And if my friend Harris wants to get in, I get it. Everybody's gonna hand it to you. That was the stupidest thing we ever did, was not try to get some kind of a contested process under Ray in 2024. The mistakes we made over the summer of 2024, which some of the worst any political party has ever made in the history of the United States.

[Joanna Coles]

And do you mean because Joe Biden didn't step down early enough? Do you mean because he just anointed Kamala?

[James Carville]

Let's go through the time box. I myself, and to be fair, some other people were the only one. But a few people kept saying, we shouldn't be doing this. We shouldn't be doing this. Biden's too old, probably knows it, assume too much. Then there was a fundraiser, famously, in early June of 2024. There, George Clooney said, okay, I've seen the light. Rob Reimer, who was one of my good friends, good, big credit. Well, I've seen the light. Okay. And then so on June 27, we had this catastrophic debate. There's no other word that you could use to describe. And so the heat comes up and blow. See Schumer go to sea. And then on the 21st, we've already gone through this agony from June 27th. Now we're sitting at 41st. He says, I'm getting out. You know I wanted to be harsh and they were. Jamie Harrison was trying to avoid Obama's phone call because the new I think it was Jamie somebody was trying to avoid Obama's phone call because Obama was going to say we need to figure a way to have this thing contested. They were bragging to Harris people basically we shut down any of this contested convention check. Yeah, you did. And you shut down any chance I was winning the election. It what I said I'll stick with it. If we'd have done this. We don't want my five points that President Obama and President Clinton should pick six, seven, eight cabin days in whole four town halls around the country in northern Chicago and have an open convention and have some drama. You could have done that. You could have done that. But they shut down any opportunities the Democrats had to pick somebody that they wanted. And you given that we only lost about 1.7% it actually picked up a House seat. The press overreaction to death of the Democratic Party. Oh my God, what's going to happen was actually comical. And now that everybody trying to figure out what to do because well, maybe the Hispanics are not gone. What happened? Oh my God. We had reported that the Democrats lost all the Hispanics. Then it comes back. Well they really get and then the Democrats lost all the young things but they really didn't. And so now everybody has got to cover up every asinine thing they said close to 2024 election and we're going to win big. We're winning everything like really big and we're going to continue to do that. And Trump, the power is going out of Trump about a minute. You can just feel it oozing out now the last people, sometimes the last people to know that are the people that are closest to it. But his numbers a catastrophic position. Remember we still have this healthcare subsidies coming and it's still going to have a boat on January 31st. Who knows what's going to happen. And you know Mike Johnson, he can't do anything. I mean he pathetic to brigand board and Trump just Trump loves humiliating. I think he likes to do is get Mike Johnson and Lindsey Graham and then just slap them around. I think he enjoys it and maybe they enjoy it too for all I know.

[Joanna Coles]

James, one moment. We're going to take a break for some sponsors.

[Ryan Reynolds]

Hey, Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile. You know one of the perks about having four kids that you know about is actually getting a direct line to the big man up north. And this year he wants you to know the best gift that you can give someone is the gift gift of Mint Mobile's Unlimited Wireless for 15amonth. Now you don't even need to wrap it. Give it a [e-mail] Switch upfront payment.

[Mint Mobile Ad Voice]

Of $45 for three month plan equivalent to 15 per month required new customer offer for first three months only. Speed slow after 35 gigabytes if network's busy, taxes and fees extra. C mintmobile.com you know you've reached peak couple energy when your undies match. Meundies Match Me has you both covered literally in super soft ultra modal undies, socks, PJs and loungewear. Festive prints. Check. Cozy vibes. Double check. And right now it's deal season. Get up to 50% off site wide for Black Friday and Cyber Monday. Take your couple game to the next level with Meundies Match Me to get deals up to 50% off, go to MeUndies.com acast Enter promo code acast that's me neonbees.com acast code acast we spend.

[Miracle Made Sheets Ad Voice]

A third of our lives in bed, so why settle for ordinary sheets? Miracle made sheets use NASA inspired silver infused fabric to keep you cool, clean and comfortable all night long. The silver naturally fights bacteria so your sheets stay fresher up to three times longer. That means fewer washes, clearer skin and better sleep. They're soft, breathable and built to last. An affordable luxury that actually delivers. It's not magic, it's science inspired by innovation, designed for everyday life. Because sometimes the simplest upgrades make the biggest difference this Christmas, upgrade your sleep or give the gift of better rest. Go to trymiracle.com clean to try miracle made sheets today you'll save over 40% and when you use promo code clean you'll get an extra 20% off plus a free three piece towel set.

[Rubrik Ad Voice]

AI agents are everywhere, automating tasks and making decisions at machine speed. But agents make mistakes. Just one rogue agent can do big damage before you even notice. Rubrik Agent Cloud is the only platform that helps you monitor agents, set guardrails and rewind mistakes so you can unleash agents, not risk. Accelerate your AI [e-mail] that's R U B R-I K.com.

[Joanna Coles]

And I'm back with James Carville talking about the future of the Democratic party. What did you think about the resignation of Marjorie Taylor Greene from Georgia?

[James Carville]

You know I, I think that first of all that when those survivors of that Maxwell and Epstein, which I was women congressmen, I think it affected her. I mean he has really kind of weird politics but, but that gives up. I mean I say I think she was affected by that. I think she figured out that Trump, she was kind of the first one making sure a little smarter or better antenna. He doesn't care about me. What am I doing here? I've given my whole sense of loyalty, my whole, I've given my self respect. I've given everything in service to this person and he doesn't give a shit about me. The other thing is I know that congressional district is Northwest Yardner is a lot of, of people that need health insurance subsidies to put in by the way. It's not a, it's not, not a particularly, it's not particularly diverse. There's not a particularly affluent part of the country and probably the combination of that is being affected by these survivors of realizing that this Trump block is a one way street and seeing real damage come to not we have any doubt that she likes to feed people in congressional district.

[Joanna Coles]

And what do you think about the Epstein files? Do you think that's had a serious impact on Donald Trump?

[James Carville]

I mean, yeah, because there's a, the reason is there's a belief I might add pretty correct that there's different set of rules for powerful people and they get away with stuff and they get away with sexual exploits or tax avoidings or things like that or you know, they cut line. There's old van, there's a, they had a world, the rest of us have a world and this story fit perfectly into that narrative and furthermore it fit perfectly into a right wing narrative where they'd been telling people there was this cabal of sex traffickers that were trying to get a young women they should know end up being one of the ass caught in the middle of it. But they're not going to let it go and no one's going to let it go because the story is too good.

[Joanna Coles]

And your old boss Bill Clinton and the former first lady Hillary Clinton have been subpoenaed by Donald Trump or by his doj. Do you think they're going to show up?

[James Carville]

I have to ask David Kendall. I mean why don't we be flipping about it? But I know that lawyer and he's a good one.

[Joanna Coles]

Okay. All right. So finally James, where do you think the next year finds us? I mean we seem to have Trump distancing himself from his head of the Department of War Pete Hegseth over what's happening in the Caribbean with the Department of War bombing little boats and saying that you know, he only thought it was going to be bombed once and, you know, blah, blah, blah. Do you see this all imploding for Donald Trump at this point?

[James Carville]

People, at the end of the day, people look at things, people like horror, they don't want to write beat people up on the streets that don't mind that they like having level of immigration, all right? But when they see disorder, they blame. And Trump's it was so dominant, reminds you so much that he's in charge, okay? So they. They're going to blame him. And look, to look around the world, look at Ukraine, the Middle east, the Caribbean. Look at what's happening on city streets and Washington D.C. and his young guardsmen tragically being shot down. Everywhere you look, there's dishonor. You know, you have the volatility in the stock market, and people are just like, who's in charge out there? And that's what. And that was sort of Trump's brand, was that, hey, I'll bring Artie. They may have to be a little extreme in doing it, but what he's bought is just massive confusion, massive disorder. And the public has turned on him. It turned on him decisively. And, you know, you see this, you know, the Epstein right now, it's all the. The shooting of these survivors on the gunboat. That's the oldest law of the sea that exists, is you don't poppee or people who are clinging on dear life. I mean, I meant, you see a World War II movie where the Germans would, you know, surface and then, you know, machine gun down the sailors of these cargo ships that were coming over. You were outraged. Like, oh, my God, you let them freeze to death, but don't shoot them. So, and it's something that people can understand. This is not abstract use of military power. Nighttime raid. These are some people clinging to a board in the middle of the ocean that we just went out and shot again. And the same thing with the Epstein files. He's caught in some pretty human dramas. And then you have the whole FBI cash Patel taking a 757 to see his girlfriend, take his girlfriend some concert. I don't see how this gets better for them. I really don't. Maybe there's a way, but it is very difficult for me to see it.

[Joanna Coles]

Well, James, I think you're bringing order to the Democratic Party.

[James Carville]

Well, you can't bring it. People ought to go bring order to the Democratic Party are the people that vote in the Democratic primaries in 2028. And I can, if history is any guide, and I suspect it will be right. Southern blacks will determine the future of the party. They always do. We in 92 deal with the people that really nominated us. We did when New Hampshire. Same thing was true President Obama. Same thing was true with President Biden. It all came down to the south and Democratic Party. A lot of our voters in the south are black in a very wisely pick candidates and they don't go for the shiny object. There's an expression and they said they're looking for a candidate that's walked to walk, not one that talks the talk. And so look at who's walked to walk. And I sure can do pretty good.

[Joanna Coles]

All right. Well James, thank you very much for joining us. Always good to hear your point of view and your phrases. Mike Johnson, a trouser stain. Thank you very much. We will see you soon.

[James Carville]

Thank you.

[Joanna Coles]

So there you have it. Mike Johnson, a trouser stain. I don't know whose trousers he was a stain on but but what an image to leave you with. And of course James Carville at 81 is ahead of the pack. Oxford says that the word of the year is rage bait and James says it's actually economic rage. Economic rage for the Democratic Party that is the solution to the midterms. If you have been thank you for joining us. Please subscribe to the Daily Beast podcast and let us know what you think. Leave us a comment Leave us a review we love to hear from you. Don't forget very important to be Beast. And don't forget to subscribe to the Daily Beast podcast and you can join our community by clicking the button below. We have some new Beast level members. I'm going to read out their names. So big thank you to Sandra Clark methinks Travels with Carl, Andrew Beaver, Capinator Harry Clark, Dawn McCarthy, Daniel Dog Lover, M. Griner, Fulvia Orlando Herbie, Andrew Mellor or Melor as Michael always says. Laz Conde, Bonz O Val Love, Francisco, Andrea Hodel Bocock D.C. sharon Shipley, Connie Rutherford, Karen White and Heidi Reilly. And again, don't forget bebeast. And a big thank you to our team. Devon Rogerino, Anna Von Erssen and our editor Jesse Millward.

[Miracle Made Sheets Ad Voice]

Need real insight from industrial data. Verse it with a single source of everything and get the best outcome. Transform the everyday with Siemens you know.

[Mint Mobile Ad Voice]

You'Ve reached peak couple energy when your undies match meundies match me has you both covered literally in super soft ultra modal undies, socks, PJs and loungewear. Festive prints? Check. Cozy vibes, double check and right now it's deal season. Get up to 50% off so sitewide for Black Friday and Cyber Monday, take your couple game to the next level with Meundies. Match Me. To get deals up to 50% off, go to Meundies.com acast Enter promo code acast that's Meundies.com acast code acast hey.

[Ryan Reynolds]

It'S Adam Grant from Ted's podcast Work Life, and this episode is brought to you by ServiceNow AI is only as powerful as the platform it's built into. That's why it's no surprise that more than 85% of the Fortune 500 companies use the ServiceNow AI platform. While other platforms duct tape tools together, ServiceNow seamlessly unifies people, data workflows, and AI connecting every corner of your business. And with AI agents working together autonomously, anyone in any department can focus on the work that matters Most. Learn how ServiceNow puts AI to work for [e-mail].

[James Carville]

Want more great listens? Check out our comedy podcast the Last Laugh and Our Star Studded the Daily beast [e-mail] podcasts.

[Joanna Coles]

If you enjoyed this episode, consider becoming.

[Mint Mobile Ad Voice]

A Daily Beast subscriber.

[Joanna Coles]

Subscribing is the best way to feed.

[James Carville]

The beast and support all of your.

[Joanna Coles]

Podcasts as we cover what might become the darkest timeline.

[James Carville]

Head to thedailybeast.com membership podcast and sign up today.