It’s been a big week in politics with revelations galore from the House Jan. 6 committee. Former President Donald Trump’s attempts at stopping the peaceful transfer of power have been the talk of the nation—and this week’s admissions at the committee are a “pretty big deal,” says Molly Jong-Fast on this episode of The New Abnormal podcast.
But it’s not all bad news. Speaking with Molly, former presidential candidate and independent Utah Senate candidate Evan McMullin reveals that he is seeing “a weakening in Trump support across the country.”
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“I think that people are tired,” says McMullin. “They are tired of the chaos and the broken politics and the extremism. They want change, but they want more constructive, effective change, not the, you know, not the extremes who have just failed to govern.”
According to McMullin, reports about Trump’s attempts to launch a 2024 presidential campaign stem from the fact that “he’s getting nervous that his support is weakening.”
McMullin notes that Trump’s popularity has plummeted in Utah since Jan. 6 and would now be about 37 percent of the vote, a far cry from his 2020 election high of 58 percent.
“A lot of people here voted for him because they wanted to vote for a Republican, but they never loved him,” he says. “If they’re given another alternative that they think reflects their positions enough or their values enough, their traditional or moderate Republican views, they will choose that rather than Donald Trump or the far right. And that in part is what gives me optimism about our future here in Utah, but what we can do as a country as well.”
Next, Mary Trump, host of The Mary Trump Show podcast and the author of Too Much and Never Enough, reveals that she found the Jan. 6 committee hearings’ revelations surrounding the “vast web of people” covering for her uncle “at times difficult to process.”
“Probably the most glaring part of these hearings is how much the people around Donald knew and how long they knew it,” she says. “None of this should shock us. None of his behavior should shock us. None of his viciousness should shock us, but how long they stayed silent, how long they protected him, knowing what they knew. And I don’t just mean in real time. I mean, when there was an opportunity to do something, even after Jan. 6.
“The silence, the enabling, their continuing to admire him is so egregious and almost incomprehensible.”
Mary Trump says her uncle’s mental health conditions are “serious and they’re deteriorating. Any serious illness that's not treated gets worse over time.
“He is addicted to being at the center of attention. I’m sure he’s as riveted by these hearings as we are, but in completely different ways. And for him to feel that the focus is shifting away from him or that he’s losing power will make things even worse because he won’t confront that and process it and deal with it. He will bury it and therefore worsen his situation.”
“I can only imagine what it’s like to be anywhere near him right now. I'm sure the temper, the out-of-control narcissism must be just unspeakably difficult for people around him to deal with. Not that I have any compassion for any of them at this point, but yeah, it’s only gonna get worse from here.”
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