Donald Trump recently made headlines by calling for Republicans to default on federal debt if they don’t get everything they’re asking the Democrats for, including the “kitchen sink.” Not only is this exactly the opposite of his stance while president, but it could also bite the GOP in the ass.
The Daily Beast congressional reporter Sam Brodey came on The New Abnormal politics podcast to talk through those ways that Trump’s default talk could screw Republicans, and also to share how this could possibly benefit Trump (or not.)
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“If you’re in a situation where [Speaker of the House Kevin] McCarthy is trying to win over these members with something that they don’t like—that they think doesn’t go far enough—that is a concession to the Democrats, and Donald Trump is out there every day talking about how they can't compromise with Sleepy Joe and that they should default and that’s way better than accepting this deal, yeah, that’s gonna complicate things [for Republicans],” says Brodey.
He tells co-host Danielle Moodie that Trump may have actually put himself in a catch-22, too.
“The logic is if a default happens, President Biden is blamed and that helps Trump if he’s running against Biden. But if he’s out there cheering for default to happen—and this is maybe where you get into the territory of, ‘Huh, Donald Trump might have miscalculated here’—by openly cheering for something that he wants to happen, he is making it more likely that he’s linked to that.”
Brodey also explains why the more involved Trump is, the worse it’s going to get for Republicans.
Then, Jonathan Last, editor of The Bulwark, joins co-host Andy Levy on the show to talk through evidence that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is not actually running a campaign to beat Trump—he has an ulterior motive.
Last also breaks down his rankings for the possible 2024 Republican presidential nominees most likely to win, including a very crass argument for putting Chris Christie dead last.
And speaking of DeSantis, Andy and Danielle can’t believe that Florida is turning into one big “sundown” town.
Listen to this full episode of The New Abnormal on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon and Stitcher.
