THE DAILY BLAST with Greg Sargent

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Trump’s Angry New Rants About the Obamas Betray a Deeper MAGA Fear Aug 22, 2024

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After Barack and Michelle Obama ripped into Donald Trump at the Democratic convention, it unleashed a flood responses from the former president. He ranted that the Obamas had called him names, blamed his advisers for constraining him, and vowed to unleash more personal attacks on Kamala Harris. We think Trump is rattled by the likelihood that the convention is currently uniting the anti-MAGA coalition. We talked to data analyst Lakshya Jain—co-author of a good Politico Magazine piece about new numbers showing a shift toward Harris among many disparate voter groups—who explains what all this says about that coalition’s prospects for success.

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GOPers Now Openly Admit Trump’s Flailing Could Cost Them Senate Aug 21, 2024

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According to a new report in The Hill, GOP aides and strategists fear that Donald Trump’s inability to adjust to Kamala Harris’s surge is shifting the Senate map against them. That’s striking, given how heavily the Senate map is tilted towards Republicans. So we checked in with Justin Barasky, a veteran Democratic operative who has worked on many Senate races over the years and is now involved in contests in Ohio and Arizona. He helps us break down the map, and assesses how realistic these GOP fears are, as well as what all this says about the true nature of Harris’s surge and Trump’s struggles.

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Suddenly, Trump’s Biggest Far-Right Allies Admit He Could Lose—Badly Aug 20, 2024

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Some of the biggest far right figures on the internet are deeply worried that Donald Trump is in danger of losing the election to Kamala Harris—perhaps by a large margin. The Washington Post reports that these extremists are now turning on the Trump campaign, which could fracture the MAGA movement in the race’s final stretch. We talked to Jared Holt, a senior researcher at the Institute for Strategic Dialogue who closely tracks the far right, about what this moment reveals about the MAGA right when it faces extreme pressure—and what these far-right personalities really fear most about a Trump loss.

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Trump in Real Peril as New Polls Show Kamala Has Many Paths to Victory Aug 19, 2024

Show notes

Two major new polls of the presidential race released over the weekend show fresh gains for Kamala Harris—and illustrate how she is now putting the Sun Belt states fully in play. That gives her multiple routes to an electoral college victory over Donald Trump. So is Harris on her way to reversing Trump’s gains among Latinos and young voters? What does a winning Harris coalition look like, anyway? We talked to Amanda Litman, co-founder of Run for Something, which recruits young candidates for state and local office, including many in the Sun Belt. Litman explains how the region’s evolution opens up new possibilities for Democrats—and is helping to transform our politics.

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How Kamala Will Use the Convention to Trigger an Epic Trump Meltdown Aug 16, 2024

Show notes

Because Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign is under a month old, Democrats see next week’s nominating convention as a unique opening to do more than usual to define her in the minds of swing voters. But there’s another opportunity here as well: A successful convention will deeply rattle Trump, and when he fears he’s losing, he does himself tremendous additional harm. We talked to veteran journalist Ronald Brownstein, who has a new piece for The Atlantic on the task ahead for Harris in Chicago, about what she might be able to accomplish—and how it could frustrate future Trump attacks.

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Striking New Polls Reveal How Kamala’s Surge Put Trump on Defensive Aug 15, 2024

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In some good findings for Kamala Harris, the Cook Political Report’s new polls find her leading Donald Trump or tied with him in six of the seven key swing states. Other polls show her doing surprisingly well among key demographics like noncollege whites and Latinos. So far, despite GOP attacks on Harris as a crazy leftist, she appears to be widely perceived as broadly acceptable. We talked to Reed Galen, a veteran former Republican strategist working to win over centrist voters to Harris for the group Join the Union, about why Harris seems to be withstanding the GOP attack machine—and whether it will last.

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Trump’s Fox News Allies Suddenly Erupt in Panic as MAGA Lies Fail Him Aug 14, 2024

Show notes

In recent days, Fox News personalities have begun urging Donald Trump to get more “disciplined.” Many seem to fear Trump is in trouble, as evidence mounts that his sleazy, racist attacks on Kamala Harris are backfiring. Yet Trump’s Fox allies aren’t telling him to stop smearing Harris with falsehoods; they’re just telling him to adopt a more civil tone in doing so. We talked to Steve Benen, author of a new book about the GOP called Ministry of Truth, who explains how the Fox News panic shows the limits of Republican propaganda—and why the Trump-MAGA-GOP addiction to lying is pushing our system to the breaking point.

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Surprise Poll Exposes Hidden Trump Vulnerability Against Kamala Harris Aug 13, 2024

Show notes

To defeat Donald Trump, Kamala Harris must do far better among young voters than President Biden did. Guess what: An important new poll of young voters finds that Harris’ entry has dramatically shifted their preferences in her favor and against Trump. Which confirms a larger story: The Democratic-leaning constituencies who had drifted toward Trump now may be swinging to Harris, exposing a weakness in his previous support. We talked to John Della Volpe, an expert in the youth vote who conducted this poll, abut what’s driving all these shifts—and why they might enable Harris to triumph.

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Trump's Private Anger Over Kamala's Poll Surge Takes an Ominous Turn Aug 12, 2024

Show notes

Over the weekend, The New York Times reported that Donald Trump is deeply unsettled about Kamala Harris’s successful launch, even as polls show her edging into a small lead. His anger has led him to escalate the private conspiracy-mongering about Democrats supposedly cheating in the election. We talked to Amanda Carpenter—a leading Never Trump conservative and an editor at Protect Democracy—about why it’s so disturbing that Trump is already laying the groundwork to overturn a loss, a novel way he might try to pull this off, and whether the GOP will ever move beyond MAGA.

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As Trump Rages Over Freed WSJ Reporter, GOP Suddenly Enters Panic Mode Aug 02, 2024

Show notes

With Republicans running from Donald Trump’s ugly attack on Kamala Harris’ blackness, new reports paint a picture of a party that is deeply worried about Trump’s chances. Meanwhile, Trump is raging about another piece of bad news for him: that reporter Evan Gershkovich is getting released from Russian captivity. We talked to Stuart Stevens, an operative with extensive experience in Republican politics who has forcefully renounced his former party, about why the GOP is suddenly hitting the panic button, and what has really happened to his former party as it fully embraces Trump.

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