Trump’s GOP Allies Admit He’s Toxic as New Poll Stuns Analyst: “Scary”

THE DAILY BLAST with Greg Sargent

The New Republic

News, Politics

4.4 • 800 Ratings

🗓️ 15 May 2026

⏱️ 22 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

NBC News reports that some vulnerable Republicans are privately worried about use of the slogan “MAGA majority” to describe the GOP effort to hold the House. Why? Because the term “MAGA” puts Trump “front and center,” as NBC puts it. That’s quite an admission of Trump’s toxicity. Meanwhile, CNN’s Harry Enten reports on new polling that finds his disapproval on gas prices at 79 percent, higher than under any other president. That disapproval is shared by 85 percent of independents and even 52 percent of Republicans, which Enten describes as “scary” for the GOP. Mona Charen, a writer for The Bulwark, has a good piece arguing that high gas prices are dovetailing with public revelations about Trump’s corruption to produce a particularly toxic combination for him. So we talked to Charen about why that double whammy is so potent, why corruption is a sleeper issue in the midterms, and why the GOP panic is a real moment of poetic justice. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Ready to launch your business? Get started with the commerce platform made for entrepreneurs.
0:04.8	Shopify is specially designed to help you start, run and grow your business with easy customizable themes that let you build your brand.
0:12.4	Marketing tools that get your products out there. Integrated shipping solutions that actually save you time.
0:17.4	From startups to scaleups, online, in person and on the go Shopify is made for
0:22.8	entrepreneurs like you sign up for your one dollar a month trial at shopify.com
0:27.7	slash setup this is the Daily Blast from the New Republic, produced and presented by the DSR Network.
0:46.5	I'm your host, Greg Sargent.
1:05.8	NBC News is reporting that some House Republicans privately admit that Donald Trump and MAGA are now a serious liability in the midterms.
1:12.3	They're in a trap. Republicans can't decide whether to rely on Trump to turn out his supporters,
1:18.7	voters that Republicans very much need, because that risks tying them too closely to the ailing unpopular president. All this comes as new polling shows that Trump is literally the most
1:25.2	unpopular U.S. president ever when it comes to gas prices.
1:30.1	It also comes amid new signs that Trump's corruption is becoming a more central issue by the day.
1:36.8	That GOP trap, whether or not to run with Trump, perfectly captures how the GOP's
1:42.7	on critical embrace of the president is backfiring in just about every way.
1:47.4	So we're talking about it all with Mona Charon, a writer for the bulwark, who has a good piece arguing that gas prices and corruption are combining to hurt Republicans in hidden ways.
1:58.0	Mona, thanks for coming on.
1:59.7	My pleasure. Always nice to be with you, Greg. So let's start with
2:03.8	this analysis from CNN's Harry Enten. Here he's talking about disapproval of presidents on gas prices.
2:10.3	Listen. Oftentimes when gas prices go up, the president pays a price. But never this much,
2:17.2	because we're talking about a record here.
2:18.8	Take a look at this. Highest disapproval on gas prices. Look at this. President Trump,
2:23.5	79 percent, 79 percent of Americans disapprove of him on gas prices. Look, the rest of them, you see
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 5 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from The New Republic, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of The New Republic and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.