THE DAILY BLAST with Greg Sargent

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“Sick”: GOP Senator’s Harsh Takedown of Trump Hints at a Darker Story Mar 03, 2025

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After President Trump and JD Vance ambushed Ukrainian president Zelensky in the Oval Office, one GOP Senator stepped up. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska decried Trump not just for his appalling treatment of Zelensky, but also for realigning the US with the rising forces of Putinism around the world. Meanwhile, European leaders are set to negotiate a Russia-Ukraine ceasefire, which could pressure Trump-Vance to show what they really want the war’s outcome to look like. We talked to Yale professor Lauren Young, who pinpoints the message Trump-Vance were sending to the global far right—and explains what Murkowski’s lonely status in the GOP says about the collapse of a center-right bulwark in the U.S. against rising authoritarianism. Listen to this episode here.

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Trump Hit by Brutal Poll on Economy as Panicked GOPers Nix Town Halls Feb 28, 2025

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President Trump looks increasingly vulnerable on the very thing that helped him win the election: Rising costs. On Thursday, Trump announced that his tariffs on Mexico and Canada will begin on March 4th. Yet only hours later, a new Bloomberg poll found that 59 percent expect the tariffs to drive up prices further. Only 31 percent say they’ll be good for the economy. Meanwhile, Republicans are starting to cancel their town halls, fearing voter blowback over Elon Musk’s rampage. We talked to Andrew Bates, a former White House communications adviser, who argues that the Trump-GOP political mess will only get worse once Republicans start cutting Medicaid—and says Democrats have a big opening to capitalize. Listen to this episode here.

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“Terrifying”: Trump’s Ominous Moment with RFK on First Measles Death Feb 27, 2025

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In Texas, an unvaccinated child just died of Measels—the first reported death related to the disease’s recent outbreak. This came up at President Trump’s cabinet meeting on Wednesday, and the results were troubling. After Elon Musk admitted that his cuts had briefly closed down Ebola prevention, anti-vax Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr. was surprisingly cavalier about the outbreak, and didn’t bother urging Americans to get vaccinated. Trump said nothing to reassure the nation. We talked to Stephanie Psaki, a former top White House official who specialized in pandemic response. She explains what we want from public officials at moments like these—and why Musk’s wanton cuts to government, the anti-vax views of RFK, and the cavalier approach to public health from all three of them add up to a picture that’s “terrifying.”

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Trump Press Sec Seethes at Media over Musk as More Bad Econ News Hits Feb 26, 2025

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At Tuesday’s media briefing, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt announced that the White House will now decide who attends briefings, an effort to insulate President Trump from tough scrutiny. She also offered awful spin about the developing Elon Musk fiasco. At key moments, Levitt visibly seethed at the media. And we think we know why: On Tuesday, consumer confidence registered another big drop, and Leavitt was simply unable to defend the glaring Trump-Musk failures we’re seeing. We talked to MSNBC.com columnist James Downie, author of a recent piece detailing how Trump doesn’t want to talk about the economy these days. He explains how Leavitt’s performance illustrated key fault lines in the MAGA coalition and big weaknesses that will bedevil Trump’s presidency.

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Trump’s Angry DOGE Defense Backfires at Presser as More Bad Polls Hit Feb 25, 2025

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At a Monday press conference, Donald Trump angrily defended Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency. Though officials from Trump’s administration are defying Musk’s email instructing federal employees to list their accomplishments, Trump said it was “great,” only spreading more confusion about whether it’s operative. This comes as Trump is getting hit by more polls showing broad disapproval of his performance on prices and deep dissatisfaction with the economy. We talked to writer Susan Milligan, who has a new piece for The New Republic detailing how Republicans have been portraying Trump as a strong “daddy” figure. She explains why the DOGE fiasco and Trump’s rambling presser could undermine perceptions of Trump as a competent, decisive leader.

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Fiasco for Musk as Trump Aides Suddenly Defy Him amid New GOP “Panic” Feb 24, 2025

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House Republicans are suddenly facing angry voter revolts back at home over Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency. Some of them are reportedly in a “panic” about DOGE’s increasingly destructive cuts and firings. Meanwhile, Musk just ordered federal employees to list their accomplishments or risk termination. But some senior Trump administration officials defied Musk, telling employees they had no obligation to respond. What if Musk’s DOGE effort is shaping up as a full blown fiasco for President Trump and the GOP? How should Democrats capitalize? We talked to Leah Greenberg, a co-founder of Indivisible, about what she’s seeing on the ground, what the prospects are for mobilizing a sustained opposition, and what comes next.

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Trump Suddenly Slips in 3 Brutal New Polls—and Musk Looks Even Worse Feb 21, 2025

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Three new national polls—from CNN, Gallup, and The Washington Post—show that President Donald Trump’s job approval is decidedly underwater. Importantly, the polls also show majorities rejecting Trump’s authoritarian governance. And Elon Musk, who’s carrying out Trump’s most autocratic designs, fares even worse. Are we finally seeing a real public backlash to Trump’s authoritarianism, the one that was supposed to materialize during the election, but didn’t? If so, what does that mean for how Democrats should proceed? We talked to political scientist Julia Azari, who writes on these matters for her “Good Politics, Bad Politics” Substack, about why Democrats have an opening to run harder against Trump-Musk autocratic overreach—and what that might look like.

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Trump’s Unnerving “Dictator” Rant Forces GOPers into Wild Contortions Feb 20, 2025

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President Donald Trump unleashed a long, angry tirade on Wednesday that falsely blamed Volodymyr Zelensky for Russia’s invasion. Trump pushed many other lies that sounded unsettlingly like Russian propaganda, even calling Zelensky a “dictator.” This forced Republicans into wild, comically evasive contortions. Which raises a question: What should Democrats say about all this? It seems like an unusually good opportunity to indict the craven GOP embrace of Trump and all he represents. We talked to Brian Beutler, author of the great Off Message Substack, who explains how Democrats can seize on moments like this to drive a wedge into the GOP—and why the Russia-Ukraine war will get much more brutal politically for Trump and Republicans going forward. Listen to this episode here.

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Stephen Miller Rages at CNN Host as Musk’s Latest DOGE Fiasco Implodes Feb 19, 2025

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On Tuesday, top White House adviser Stephen Miller unleashed a wild, angry rant on CNN after tough questioning from CNN’s anchor about Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency. This comes even as one of Musk’s silliest absurdities yet—the idea that DOGE found rampant fraud in Social Security—imploded spectacularly under basic scrutiny. There’s a through line here: The great illusion that Musk, Miller and President Trump are trying to push—that they’re rooting out immense amounts of governmental waste and fraud—is collapsing all around them. We talked to writer Jill Lawrence, who has a new piece for The Bulwark arguing that the Musk enterprise has been exposed as a sham, about the larger MAGA mythology about the “deep state,” and why it’s proving unsustainable.

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Trump-Musk Threats Darken as Their Anger at Enemies Takes Ominous Turn Feb 18, 2025

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Our descent into authoritarian rule continues. Over the weekend, Elon Musk raged on Twitter that people at CBS News deserve a “long prison sentence” based on a fabricated rationale. Meanwhile, President Trump tweeted out a line saying straight out that his presidency is above the law. And Trump nominated a nominee for U.S. Attorney in D.C. who has elevated the idea that DOJ should have no independence from the president. According to scholars of authoritarianism, these are the things that happen when a country is sliding into authoritarian rule. We talked to one such scholar, Steven Levitsky, co-author of a great new piece that charts what the path to American autocracy looks like. He explains how Trump-Musk’s latest moves, show how far along on this slide we truly are.

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