Trump Press Sec Seethes as Fresh Polls Show Him Losing Shutdown Badly

THE DAILY BLAST with Greg Sargent

The New Republic

News, Politics

4.4 • 800 Ratings

🗓️ 6 October 2025

⏱️ 24 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Things are not okay in the White House. Numerous new national polls show President Trump and the GOP taking far more blame for the government shutdown than Democrats. One polling analyst flatly declared that the gap has reached double digits. Meanwhile, at a media briefing, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt twice lost her temper under tough questioning. Notably, what angered her was the spectacle of reporters punching holes in the leading White House arguments in the shutdown standoff. Why is this happening, given that many pundits predicted Democrats are in the weaker position? We talked to Salon’s Amanda Marcotte, a sharp observer of MAGA follies. She explains why the Trump-GOP talking points are failing, why Democrats have fresh incentives to hold firm, and what all this reveals about the deepening fissures in the Trump coalition. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	This is the Daily Blast from the New Republic, produced and presented by the DSR Network.
0:16.4	I'm your host, Greg Sargent.
0:32.2	As of now, most indications are that President Trump is losing the political battle over the government shutdown that started last week. Three national polls show Trump and the GOP taking substantially more blame for it than
0:39.6	Democrats. The White House is attempting several lines of attack. One, that Democrats are shutting down
0:45.7	the government to deliver health care to undocumented immigrants, which is a lie. And two,
0:51.3	if Democrats continue with this, the White House will use all its power to punish
0:55.8	democratic states and constituencies, which is depraved. At a media briefing, press secretary
1:01.9	Caroline Levitt lost her temper precisely because she was questioned about both of those.
1:08.0	All of this goes completely counter to what our wisest pundits predicted. Why is it
1:13.2	happening? We're puzzling through all of this today with Salons Amanda Marcotte, who's always
1:18.2	good at ski-wearing MAGA. Amanda, great to have you on as always. Thanks for having me.
1:23.9	So Trump posted video of his Office of Management and Budget Chief Russell vote in the
1:29.7	role of the Grim Reaper. This refers to vote using the shutdown to inflict big spending cuts
1:35.5	designed to hurt Democratic states and cuts to the workforces that agencies Democrats like.
1:41.4	A reporter asked Caroline Leavitt about the Grim Reaper imagery. Here's her answer.
1:46.5	The president likes to have a little fun every down and then, and I think both things can be true
1:50.1	at the same time. The Democrats have given the administration this opportunity, and we don't like
1:54.4	laying people off. Nobody takes joy in that around here. And if you think that, then I think
1:59.2	that's very sad. You view the White House and our staff is wanting to put people out of work. Nobody wants you think that, then I think that's very sad. You view the White House
2:01.2	and our staff is wanting to put people out of work. Nobody wants to do that, but sometimes in
2:05.4	government you have to make tough decisions. So leave it as very angry that anyone would dare
2:10.6	question Trump's deep empathy with those hurt by his policies. Amanda, your reaction to that?
	...

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