Greg Sargent: This is The Daily Blast from The New Republic, produced and presented by the DSR Network. I’m your host, Greg Sargent.
They must be extraordinarily careful about how they distance themselves from the despot, if they’re willing to do it at all. So how can Democrats fully exploit this developing fiasco? We’re working through it all with one of our go-to people on midterm elections, Democratic strategist Christina Reynolds. Good to have you on, Christina.
Sargent: So over the weekend, Trump’s trade talks with Canada collapsed, unleashing 50 percent American tariffs on a whole range of Canadian goods. Canada’s now retaliating—we’ll get to that in a sec—but first, Trump is in a fury. He posted this:
Christina, this is meant to make MAGA think what? He’s owning Canada? What do you make of it?
And Donald Trump has done this to those states, to all consumers, and to these candidates. And so they’re going to be in a tough spot of probably owning this economic trouble that we’re in, and having to decide: do I risk ticking off the despot, as you put it? Do I risk inflaming him and having him come after me? Do I risk standing with him if he decides to come campaign, knowing that he owns this?
So the Iowa Senate race is very contested. There are several House seats in Iowa that are up for grabs as well. It sure looks like Canada’s directly aiming these retaliatory tariffs right at the midterm map, doesn’t it?
And all of this—you mentioned farm equipment—that matters in Wisconsin, where we’ve got House seats and a governor’s race that Republicans would love to flip. That’s half of the battleground this cycle. It’s a huge number of seats, to say nothing, again, of the fact that this will impact consumers across the country. And people have a pretty good understanding of who’s in charge when they pay more at the grocery store. You know, for all of the things they’re aware of, they’re aware of whose fault it is.
They’re both gettable for Democrats in this cycle. And at the same time, you’ve got Democratic governors in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania, and a lot of Democratic successes, and they’re driven by Trump’s unpopularity. So for Donald Trump’s new trade war to be really shaking up the globe, kind of, in the Midwest, and making it even harder for Republicans there, I think really shows that Trumpian populism is kind of running out of steam in a sense. What do you make of all that?
I think there’s a very clear understanding of who got us into this trade war. Voters generally blame the party in charge when their prices go up. But voters right now have an even clearer understanding of what’s causing gas prices to go up—that Donald Trump went to war with Iran, that is now going on for almost six months. And what’s causing things like groceries to go up? And in these places where the industry really impacts their economy, they have a good understanding of what drives that industry. So he’s going to suffer, and his candidates are going to suffer even more as a result.
And again, this is in Pennsylvania, a state that Trump won twice, and is kind of like the storybook center of the Trumpist transformation of the Midwest. And you’ve got a Democratic governor there, Josh Shapiro, who’s way ahead of the MAGA candidate right now. So Trumpism, I think, is toxic right in Trump country now. That’s what I take from this.
So these are states that many people had shifted into the red category, as you mentioned, that are suddenly seeming a little more purple this cycle.
But I think this kind of milquetoast criticism, all it actually accomplishes is it reminds people that Susan Collins’s “concern” about Donald Trump isn’t doing anything to protect voters from Donald Trump.
Sargent: Well, so Christina, are Democrats prosecuting this case effectively? They’ve been handed this enormous political weapon to use against Republicans right now. The thing about the trade war with Canada is it’s perfectly suited to making this case in a number of ways.
And so are Democrats taking this on directly enough? Or is there some sort of sneaking fear underneath it that tariffs sound, I don’t know, vaguely pro-worker, so Democrats can’t really condemn Trump for tariffs because it’ll sound like they’re elitist or whatever? Are Democrats doing this properly?
And so I think the more we define them as the party that does that—you can say tariffs, you can talk about his taxes on consumers, you know, how this is a tax on consumers, how this raises prices. I think the simplest way we say it is the best. But I think we need to not be too precious about how we’re saying it. Voters have an understanding here. And so we just need to remind them who is doing this.
Sargent: Yes, I think you’re raising a really important point, which is Donald Trump is going to spin his trade war with Canada in all kinds of ways. Democrats can’t let him get away with that. They have to say that Trump is losing, Trump is failing, Trump is weak, Trump doesn’t know what he’s doing, Trump is in chaos, right?
Sargent: Yes, Trump did this. This is his fault. Trump did this to you. Donald Trump did this to you. Trump, who polls at 33 percent in some polls, is destroying your local economy, and Republicans are letting him do it because they’re essentially lickspittles for him. It’s just got to be really clear, right? Donald Trump is destroying your life.
And so everything needs to focus on that—on the impact on people’s lives. I think the more we’re talking about actual impact, and the more we’re talking about who got us here—Donald Trump and his Republican allies—and who can take us out—Democrats, the specific candidate in whichever case—the better off we are.
He’s gone all in with Trumpism and terrible ideas, but he is, I think, unfortunately widely seen as a real son of the Ohio working class. And so for Sherrod Brown to be leading in Ohio, to be up a few points in polls, is simply remarkable. Donald Trump won Ohio by double digits less than two years ago. And Sherrod Brown is ahead there. Can you talk about that?
They don’t have anything that can distance themselves from it. It’s way too late to do that. And so if they decide they’re just going to hope that their voters turn out, I think that’s a losing bet.
They see what their party has done and what they’re bringing them, and they’re not enthused to go out and vote for them for another term. And so people like John Husted are going to suffer as a result. And that’s why we have to keep talking about what’s happening.
And to your point about Democratic enthusiasm—an 18-point shift in western Pennsylvania, in Butler County, that’s Democratic enthusiasm for you right there, isn’t it?
Who you turn out determines who wins. And right now, Democrats want to go out and make change, because they don’t like what’s happening. Republicans don’t like what’s happening either, in many cases. And so they’re not enthused to come out and vote for their party.
Christina, that’s the essence of this. Republicans have to choose between working for Trump and working for their own voters, right? Are Democrats making this clear enough? How do you see this all playing out?
This is something where Donald Trump chose to get into a trade war that thus far has only resulted in higher prices. It has not helped industry the way he promised it would. And it is promising right now further damage to states that desperately need more help. And we need to just keep reminding voters, and being very clear, about what the danger is in reelecting people who will just walk in lockstep with him.
Reynolds: Thanks.
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