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

THE DAILY BLAST with Greg Sargent

The New Republic

News, Politics

4.4 • 800 Ratings

🗓️ 3 March 2025

⏱️ 15 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

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. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	It's February, and that means Valentine's Day is around the corner, love is in the air, and the new Trump administration is causing stress with every new action.
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0:55.1	This is the Daily Blast from the New Republic, produced and presented by the DSR Network.
1:14.6	I'm your host, Greg Sargent.
1:26.1	After Donald Trump and J.D. Vance ambushed Ukrainian President Zelensky in the Oval Office,
1:32.3	one GOP senator stepped up and said the right thing. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska decried Trump
1:38.8	not just for his appalling treatment of Zelensky, but also for realigning the U.S. with the rising forces of Putinism around
1:45.8	the world. Meanwhile, European leaders are now stepping up to negotiate some kind of ceasefire plan for
1:51.9	the end to the Russia-Ukraine war. We're hoping this could increase the pressure on Trump and
1:56.8	vans to show what they really want the outcome to look like, something they clearly don't want
2:01.5	to be candid about. We're going to get into all of this today with Lauren Young, a lecturer on
2:07.2	the global right and democratic erosion at Yale University. Thanks for coming on, Lauren.
2:12.3	Thank you very much for having me, Greg. So by now everybody's seen the video of Trump and Vance attacking Zelensky.
2:19.7	They said Zelensky doesn't hold any cards right now and that he hasn't been sufficiently
2:24.5	thankful to the U.S. for its support, which is appalling and complete fiction.
2:29.6	And otherwise, they engaged in what was clearly a setup, an effort to show that under Trump advance,
2:35.3	the U.S. support for Ukraine is in the process of getting withdrawn.
2:38.9	Lauren, I just wanted to get your reaction to what we saw.
	...

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