Trump can hold a grudge, Daily Beast reporter Corbin Bolies tells Andy Levy on this episode of The New Abnormal podcast, and he’s not wrong.
“Donald Trump knows how to hold a grudge and he will, and we’ve seen that continue throughout the last year and a half, because Donald Trump has consistently attacked Mitch McConnell,” Bolies says, discussing the most recent verbal harassment levied at the former Senate majority leader’s wife, Elaine Chao, in the form of blatantly racist name-calling on his Truth Social platform.
And, shocker, Republicans said nothing—with the exception of Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL), sorta.
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“He started his approach with ‘It’s never ever OK to be a racist,’” says Bolies.
“Brave statement,” jokes Andy.
But back to McConnell and Trump.
“What is it that Trump hates the most about Mitch McConnell, do you think?” asks Andy.
Bolies has a few ideas, one of which being McConnell’s remarks about Trump after Jan. 6.
Whether McConnell or Chao will respond to Trump’s comments is a bit murkier. As Andy says, “in general [Republicans have] set themselves up as this party of the alpha males, and yet, none of them will jump in to defend their wives.”
“I think what’s gonna be really interesting is if there are top candidates primarying Trump next year. Debate moderators are going to ask them, ‘Why didn’t you say any of this before? Why didn’t you make these statements about Donald Trump when you could arguably say it mattered in 2020 after January 6th, before January 6th even? Why say it now when you’re trying to bolster yourself versus helping the country?’ And it’s gonna be really interesting to see what a Mike Pence has to say, what a Mike Pompeo has to say, what a Ron DeSantis has to say then,” says Bolies.
Also on this episode: Hannah Gais, a senior research analyst at the Southern Poverty Law Center, joins this episode to co-host with Andy, touching upon the intense violent threats against Dems and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s try-hard effort to get Republicans to think the threats are for them.
Plus! Daily Beast far-right reporter and Fever Dreams podcast co-host Kelly Weill breaks down a huge schism happening within the Libertarian Party, including how the old Libertarians are totally over these new Libertarians’ toxicity. Like, beyond-Trumpy toxic.
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