THE DAILY BLAST with Greg Sargent

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Why Trump’s Sordid New Dealings With Saudis Have Jamie Raskin Alarmed Apr 05, 2024

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This week, The New York Times reported that Donald Trump recently spoke privately with Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman. Trump’s team won’t say word boo about what was discussed, and we can guess why: His private business dealings with the Saudis are going gangbusters even as he’s locking up the GOP presidential nomination, creating all kinds of opportunities for corruption. We talked to Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland, who explained why the Trump-Saudi relationship is absolutely crying out for serious scrutiny.

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How Judge Cannon Is Quietly Strangling Jack Smith’s Case Against Trump Apr 04, 2024

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This week, special counsel Jack Smith made a surprise move in his prosecution of Donald Trump for stealing classified documents. He called on Judge Aileen Cannon to make a quick decision on a key matter, flaunting his frustration with her over numerous rulings putting the thumb on the scale for Trump. We chatted with Philip Rotner, a veteran lawyer who has written a series of pieces for The Bulwark arguing that Cannon is killing the case against Trump right in broad daylight. Rotner explains in unsettling terms why her interventions for Trump are likely to get uglier.

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Trump’s Sick Vow to Pardon Jan. 6 Rioters Just Got Even Uglier Apr 03, 2024

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One of Donald Trump’s central campaign promises has been to pardon untold numbers of rioters who attacked the Capitol—people he’s described as martyrs, victims and “hostages.” Now, an important new analysis finds that many of the inmates Trump has referred to are ones who violently attacked law enforcement officers. We talked to Tom Joscelyn, lead author of that analysis and a former senior Jan. 6 committee staffer, who explains how his findings blow apart a lot of Trump-MAGA propaganda about that dark and terrible day.

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Why Trump’s Lunacy Is Suddenly Raising GOP Fears of Down-Ballot Losses Apr 02, 2024

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GOP members of Congress facing tough races are suddenly worried that having Donald Trump at the top of the ticket might present them with a problem, according to new reports. They fear having to answer for Trump’s degeneracy and extremism, even as the GOP’s small donor base is not delivering at the very moment as Trump is siphoning off party money for legal fees. What explains this sudden GOP epiphany about Trump? How likely is it that these fears will materialize? We chatted with Tim Persico, a top Democratic operative involved in House races in 2022, who provided insights into how this Trump effect really works.

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How Trump's Weird Bible Scam Sends Hidden Codes to His Angry MAGA Base Apr 01, 2024

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Donald Trump’s announcement that he is now peddling something called the “God Bless the USA Bible” drew outrage from some religious figures, but one group that’s been conspicuously quiet about it are evangelical leaders. Why? Perhaps because Trump is making subtle promises to give them what they want. We talked with Katherine Stewart, a journalist who covers the religious right, about all the ways Trump is signaling a second term shaped around ideals of Christian Nationalism.

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Striking New Data Reveals It: Trump’s Support Is Shakier Than It Looks Mar 29, 2024

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You’ve probably heard someone say we’re in the midst of a “racial realignment.” The idea is that Donald Trump is surprisingly strong among nonwhite voters, helping explain why head-to-head polling looks rough for President Biden. But political analyst Ron Brownstein has written an important new piece that adds sorely needed nuance, finding that the flipside to Trump’s strength among nonwhites is Biden’s unexpected support among white voters. We chatted with Brownstein about why his thesis shows that Trump’s position is more precarious than it seems.

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Horror in Baltimore: Awful New Info Emerges About Six Missing Workers Mar 28, 2024

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Two days after a major bridge collapsed in Baltimore when a cargo ship rammed into it, we still know little about six bridge workers who are presumed dead after an intensive search. Little by little, we’re learning that police were just about to alert the workers about the crash but were a hair too late, and that they were immigrants who were supporting children and families. Who were these workers? Could they have been saved? We talked to Maximillian Alvarez, editor in chief of the Baltimore-based Real News Network, about what this horror tells us about immigrant life in America.

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Marjorie Taylor Greene’s Rage at Mike Johnson Has Gone Nuclear. Why? Mar 27, 2024

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All of a sudden Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene seems to be attacking House Speaker Mike Johnson almost daily over all kinds of things, especially his promise to find a way to pass military aid to Ukraine. Does that mean Donald Trump and MAGA Republicans will successfully thwart that effort? Why is the House GOP in such chaos, anyway? We chatted with GOP lobbyist Liam Donovan, a Twitter virtuoso and shrewd observer of Republican politics, who helped demystify all the crazy.

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Why NBC Is Suddenly In Full Meltdown Over Ronna McDaniel Hiring Fiasco Mar 26, 2024

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NBC News is reeling over its decision to hire former Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel as a political analyst. McDaniel actively participated in Donald Trump’s effort to steal the 2020 election, pressuring state officials not to certify the outcome, and personalities like Joe Scarborough and Chuck Todd have been harshly critical. We chatted with New York University’s Jay Rosen, one of our most incisive media critics, about whether the uproar will prompt the media to grapple more deeply with its struggle to capture the true threat Trump and MAGA pose to our democracy.

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Krugman: Trump Has Duped MAGA Voters With an "Amazing" Scam Mar 25, 2024

Show notes

In recent days, Donald Trump opened the door to cutting Social Security, and he’s also threatened to repeal the Affordable Care Act, which would throw millions off health insurance. All this comes as President Biden’s economy is doing quite well by many metrics. Yet Trump is favored on the economy, and his MAGA support remains solid, even though his policies would badly sell out his base. We talked to New York Times columnist Paul Krugman, author of a series of columns about the economies under Trump and Biden, who helps us make sense of all these disconnects.

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