Transcript: Trump Wrecks GOP Midterm Strategy in Dumbest Self-Own Ever

As Trump badly undercuts the GOP electoral strategy, Jennifer Rubin of The Contrarian explains why this could make a meaningful difference—while urging Dems to avoid falling into overconfidence.

The following is a lightly edited transcript of the August 29 episode of the Daily Blast podcast. Listen to it here.

Greg Sargent: This is The Daily Blast from The New Republic, produced and presented by the DSR Network. I’m your host, Greg Sargent.

This week, Donald Trump amplified a screed from a MAGA influencer that will make Republicans very, very unhappy. It accused the GOP of utterly failing Donald Trump. That could depress base turnout. But here’s the thing: Trump keeps saying things like this. In other words, Trump keeps directly undercutting the GOP message in the midterms right now, which is that the Republican Congress has accomplished great things.

So here’s the question: Could what Trump is doing here make a difference and hurt Republicans in the midterms? We think it actually might be seriously damaging, and we’re going to try to lay out why, with Jennifer Rubin, editor in chief of The Contrarian, who’s been writing scaldingly on the GOP’s failures lately. Jennifer, good to have you on.

Jennifer Rubin: It’s great to be here, Greg.

Sargent: So this week, Trump posts a tirade from a MAGA influencer named Matt Van Swol. It says this:

“I don’t think the GOP fully grasped how badly they are fucking up right now. I’m talking to people who normally have zero interest in politics who are legitimately pissed off. They’re not seeing the major reform they thought would happen and are really mad about it. I’m very worried the GOP is sleepwalking toward a midterm reckoning they don’t see coming.”

Jen, this guy thinks he’s constructively criticizing the GOP, but Trump has now taken it and turned it into an effort to discourage Trump voters from coming out in the midterms. Your thoughts about all that?

Rubin: I think our work is done here, Greg. Perhaps you just have this guy on your show. He perfectly embodies the reality, which is: the Republicans have fucked up. They’ve done nothing. Now, the irony, of course, is that they’ve just deferred to Trump. And Trump’s the one who’s done nothing. Trump is the one who has raised prices with tariffs.

Trump’s the one who started a war that no one wanted. Trump is the one who has made hash out of every government agency. So, yes, on one hand, the Republicans are to blame. But they’re to blame because they have blindly followed Trump into one blind alley after another.

Sargent: It’s a thing of beauty that they’re going to get screwed by this too. By the way, there’s another element to this that people are missing, I think. The screed from this guy that Trump amplified also said this:

“No meaningful decrease in the deficit. People are pissed off that they voted Trump into office, and then the GOP continues to slow-walk every reform people want,” close quote.

Jen, it’s a really creative strategy for Trump to admit that the deficit isn’t going down on his watch. I mean, in fact, it’s going up. But wow, like, what a message: me and my party are failing. Your thoughts?

Rubin: Well, forty trillion dollars in the debt later—these people really have fucked up. Now, it’s also ironic, because Trump himself keeps saying this is the golden age of the economy. So it’s not even consistent with Trump’s own messaging.

So I think he is so upset and looking for people to blame. For a while, he was going to blame, I don’t know, election fraud. Now I think he’s decided to get a jump on things and blame the Republican Party for the upcoming failure and defeat that they are facing, because he sure isn’t going to take the blame.

Sargent: Right. It sure sounds like he expects defeat, and that’s why he’s saying this. And the real crux of this is that it isn’t a one-off. Trump keeps saying things like it. Listen to this. It’s Trump talking to a reporter about his own voters. Listen to this exchange with the reporter.

Donald Trump (voiceover): Because a lot of them are very angry at Republicans, to be honest with you.

Reporter (voiceover): Why are they angry at Republicans?

Donald Trump (voiceover): I don’t know. I mean, they’re angry at Republicans, but they’re not angry at me. They’re not angry at me, but they are angry at Republicans.

Sargent: Jen, that is basically a direct command to his voters to see the GOP as having let him down. It’s complete nonsense, of course. As you said, voters are furious with Trump across the country, but........

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