THE DAILY BLAST with Greg Sargent

Greg Sargent
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THE DAILY BLAST with Greg Sargent

Every weekday, The New Republic’s Greg Sargent brings you a fresh way of thinking about the biggest political stories of the moment, offered up in an entertaining, information-packed conversation with a leading lawmaker, journalist, or newsmaker. We go deep into the stories behind the headlines leading TNR and other news outlets—while making it fun and fast.  

  1. 4 HR AGO

    Trump’s Eruption of Rage at NYT Offers Unnerving Hint of What’s Coming

    This week, Donald Trump erupted in fury at The New York Times. He appeared triggered by a story about a Trump aide named Natalie Harp, who serves as his gatekeeper with creepy levels of devotion. What caught our eye is that in his rant, Trump demanded that The Times show obeisance to him because he won the election, perhaps providing an early glimpse of how he will seek to cow the media into submission. We talked to Margaret Sullivan, the former Times public editor and author of the great Substack “American Crisis,” who explains what Trump’s crackdown on the press might look like—and how well the media will respond to it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    31 min

  2. 1 DAY AGO

    Why Did Trump Win? James Carville Has Discovered an Unsettling Answer.

    As Democrats sift through the wreckage left behind by Donald Trump’s victory, it’s become clear the party needs a major rebuilding effort with the working class. A new analysis from The New York Times finds unnervingly large swings among working class voters during the Trump era, including among nonwhites. We talked to veteran strategist James Carville, who offers a deceptively simple diagnosis: The Democratic Party is simply “in the dark” about how many Americans, especially working class, young, and nonwhite voters, are getting their information right now, and getting to the bottom of this conundrum is urgent. Carville also unveils a new project he’s pursuing that he hopes will begin to solve the problem.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    32 min

  3. 2 DAYS AGO

    Trump Allies Rage at Each Other as His Latest Nutball Pick Roils MAGA

    Donald Trump’s top allies are already at war with each other over the transition, according to The Washington Post. Meanwhile, Trump just tapped anti-Islam extremist Sebastian Gorka for a big national security role, and that’s unnerving even some in MAGA. Trump is so certain he won a massive mandate that he doesn’t feel obliged to run a smooth transition or refrain from appointing wildly extreme people. We chatted with political scientist Julia Azari, author of a great new piece on presidential delusions about mandates. Azari explains why mandates are usually illusory, how Trump is grotesquely overreading his victory, and why it all bodes badly for what’s to come.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    24 min
  4. Trump Suddenly Goes Weirdly Quiet After Gaetz Mess Triggers MAGA Rage

    5 DAYS AGO

    Trump Suddenly Goes Weirdly Quiet After Gaetz Mess Triggers MAGA Rage

    After Matt Gaetz abruptly withdrew from consideration as Donald Trump’s pick for attorney general, Trump seemed uncharacteristically muted. Intriguingly, he accepted this outcome without once trying to crack the whip on the Senate Republicans who apparently blocked Gaetz’s nomination—which is doubly strange, as MAGA personalities were furiously urging Trump to use recess appointments to put the Senate GOP in its place. What really happened among Republicans here? We talked to Congressional scholar Norman Ornstein, who brilliantly explains what’s really driving the key GOP senators to watch going forward—and whether we’ll see real resistance among them to Trump’s future authoritarian excesses. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    28 min
  5. “Huge Mistake”: GOP Senator’s Surprise Takedown of Trump Draws Blood

    6 DAYS AGO

    “Huge Mistake”: GOP Senator’s Surprise Takedown of Trump Draws Blood

    This week, Donald Trump confirmed that he will use the military to carry out mass deportations. This prompted a surprisingly sharp response from GOP Senator Rand Paul, who denounced the idea as a “huge mistake” that will send a “terrible image” to the world and likely be “illegal” to boot. But why is it left to a fringe figure in the GOP to denounce Trump’s vile threats? Where are the rest of Republicans on this? We talked to Tom Nichols, a writer for The Atlantic and a sharp observer of the MAGA-fication of the GOP, about what will really happen within the military and beyond once these threats get put into action—and why it poses such a menace to the country. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    23 min

  6. 20 NOV

    Big Setback for Trump as GOPers Privately Tell Him: Matt Gaetz Is Done

    In a blow to Donald Trump, Politico reports that GOP Senators are privately telling him that Matt Gaetz has little chance of getting confirmed as attorney general. Yet these Republicans hope Trump doesn’t make them “walk the plank,” meaning they remain reluctant to publicly challenge him, even to sink the profoundly unfit Gaetz. In short, it’s now clear that one of our only bulwarks against an authoritarian Trump will be the GOP Senate. We talked to writer Jill Lawrence, who has a new piece for The Bulwark arguing that Trump is assembling a “team of outlaws” to run the country. She explains what it means that Republicans are drawing a line against Gaetz—and why the pressure on them will be intense to challenge him when it really counts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    20 min
  7. Trump’s Angry Threat to Bypass Senate Takes a Dark and Disturbing Turn

    19 NOV

    Trump’s Angry Threat to Bypass Senate Takes a Dark and Disturbing Turn

    Donald Trump has angrily put Republicans on notice: He may bypass them with recess appointments to get his personnel picks through in a hurry. In a scary turn in this saga, a top conservative lawyer is warning that Trump may well resort to a nuclear option that threatens devastating consequences: House Speaker Mike Johnson can trigger a complicated scenario clearing the way for those appointments, wrecking the Senate’s advice-and-consent role. With GOP opposition brewing to Matt Gaetz and Robert F. Kennedy Jr., MAGA is raging at any signs of opposition. We talked to the Brookings Institution’s Sarah Binder, a leading expert in congressional rules, who explains how this would all unfold, why it plausibly could happen, and how it would threaten our constitutional system.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    27 min
  8. Another Fiasco for Trump as His Pick to Run Pentagon Suddenly Implodes

    18 NOV

    Another Fiasco for Trump as His Pick to Run Pentagon Suddenly Implodes

    First came Matt Gaetz. Now The Washington Post is reporting that Donald Trump’s pick for Defense Secretary, Fox News personality Pete Hegseth, paid a woman who accused him of sexually assaulted her as part of a nondisclosure agreement (he insists the encounter was consensual). One Trumpworld source is even describing internal frustration over the failure to vet Hegseth in advance. We talked to leading Never Trump strategist Rick Wilson, who’s launching a new effort to conduct opposition research on Trump and his most prominent allies. He explains why Trump’s initial personnel moves are putting Republicans in a terrible spot—and how they betray his intent to destroy our institutions. Listen to this episode here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

    28 min
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Every weekday, The New Republic’s Greg Sargent brings you a fresh way of thinking about the biggest political stories of the moment, offered up in an entertaining, information-packed conversation with a leading lawmaker, journalist, or newsmaker. We go deep into the stories behind the headlines leading TNR and other news outlets—while making it fun and fast.  

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