Scott, let me start with you.
Some in his own party.
Let's start
with the
Republican nominee for governor there,
Carrie Lake.
She lost.
She's been promoting
these conspiracies about the vote
in Maricopa County.
Of course,
she could fight it on the court.
She has not started that process,
but her social media is focusing a lot
on Bill Gates here.
Is there a direct link
between what we're seeing him
forced to do and what she is doing?
Or is that oversimplified?
I mean, I don't know.
I mean, certainly
you would think some people are believing
what she has to say.
I mean, my view is
if you have something, go to court
and if you don't shut up.
I mean, most people in the country,
we had an election,
the winners won, the losers
conceded most, most places.
This worked out Arizona.
Obviously, we've got a different result.
So I don't think it's good.
I think it's
I think it's unfortunate for the people
who were out there
trying to do their duty
and count the votes.
And I hope they're safe.
But, you know, broadly, this one.
Okay, Arizona,
we have an issue
and I think people should respect
the results of elections.
Well,
on that note, Ron
Brownstein,
we heard from a number of members
of the Republican Party
over the weekend, Chris Christie
and Governor Sununu.
Even Paul Ryan spoke out
all saying
that the party needs to move on
from Trump.
Encapsulating it
by just suggesting
he is not even suggesting
by saying
that that he's a loser for the party
and that he won't be able to win again
if they want a Republican
in the White House.
What's notable,
though,
is that they focus on this notion
that he keeps losing elections
for Republicans
and not the morale at his side of this,
not that he
incited and helped
to incite an insurrection.
What do you make of that message
from Republicans?
Is it something that you think
is a valid one
and one that can get more Republicans
on board to move on from Trump?
Or are they missing a key component here?
Well, as you, me and Scott
discussed on the Friday
after the election,
it is striking that extorting Ukraine,
inciting a riot,
trying to overturn the 2020 election,
using racist language on a regular basis
for seven years and hoarding
classified documents in Mar
a Lago were not enough to cause a breach.
But pushing through the nomination
of candidates
who proved weak in key states was.
I mean,
that says something
about the strategy Republicans
have had
about dealing with Trump
and why it may be more difficult
than they now think
to separate themselves from.
And they have been so deferential
through all of those other events
because they fear that
any alienation of him
would depress turnout
among his base voters,
which they are more dependent on now
than they were even in 2016.
I mean, one of the things we saw in
this election
was that even with 9% inflation,
a deep
discontent over the economy, for one case
getting pummeled,
Democrats matched
or exceeded Biden's margins
in the key
suburban counties
in all of the states
that decided the 2020 election.
And that means
Republicans are even more dependent
than they were six years ago
on that Trump base
to win
places like Arizona, Georgia,
Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
And I think that leaves
in trading a very narrow path
as they try
to separate the party from him in 2024.
Mm hmm.
Scott,
as you know, there was that mass
shooting Saturday night in
Colorado Springs
at an LGBTQ
nightclub, five people killed.
Herschel Walker in Georgia
released a new ad today.
Let's play a portion of it.
We
I'm really Gaines, a 12 time
all-American. And I'm Herschel Walker.
For more than a decade,
I worked so hard for him.
Practices to be the best.
But my senior year,
I was forced to compete
against the biological male.
That's unfair and wrong.
A man won the swimming title
that belonged to a woman
and Senator Warnock
voted to let it happen.
One unafraid
to stand up for female athletes.
Herschel Walker
stands up for what's right.
Why is that?
The message for this moment?
Well, it's a huge issue
for Republican base.
I assume what the Walker campaign
is thinking
is, is that they need to keep Republicans
engaged in this election.
Obviously,
they've got to get him
to come out to the polls one more time.
And there were a number of Republicans
who voted for Kemp in the
general election
who didn't vote for Herschel Walker.
So this is a base engagement strategy.
And just having been around
Republican politics
for a few years,
I can tell you this issue right here
does engage Republicans.
So I see why they're doing it.
I understand the strategy behind it.
But to me, it is
it is all about keeping Republicans
on the hook
to come out one more time
in an election
where Walker
is actually fighting from behind,
he got fewer votes.
So he's got to get a few more Republicans
to the polls on the runoff.
Just question
the timing of it all, though.
He's got a few more weeks
in this election.
And to do it after a mass shooting,
just a few days.
Listen, Republicans and you, Ron,
would agree
in your assessment,
Republicans got hurt
by some of their leaders
response to the attack
against Nancy Pelosi's husband.
Not really
reading the temperature in the country.
And now to release
this ad has a lot of people
raising raising questions.
Thank you so much, Ron Brownstein and
Scott Jennings.