Speaker 1: Now from our nation's capital. This is Bloomberg Sound On.
Speaker 1: This is a great night because so many people have
Speaker 1: gone to the voting both and they've sent a message
Speaker 1: we are not helpless in the face of our problems.
Speaker 1: One of the first things we're gonna have to do
Speaker 1: is be clear that there is only one Democrat in
Speaker 1: this race. Floomberg Sound On, Politics, Policy and Perspective from
Speaker 1: DC's top name. The Committee will come to order, scorn
Speaker 1: old to uphold the Constitution of the United States. These
Speaker 1: weapons have no place in our communities. Bloomberg Sound On
Speaker 1: with Joe Matthew on Bloomberg Radio. The biggest primary night
Speaker 1: of the year makes a tough ride for progressives and
Speaker 1: for Donald Trump. Welcome to the fastest hour in politics,
Speaker 1: with seven more states in the bag and another step
Speaker 1: closer to the general election. Will have expert analysis ahead
Speaker 1: from Kyle Condict, managing editor at Abbadose Crystal Ball at
Speaker 1: the University of Virginia. Later, Bloomberg's Mark Niquett will join
Speaker 1: us on the MAGA movement, he says, will transcend and
Speaker 1: outlive a man named Donald Trump. And as the households
Speaker 1: an emotional hearing on gun violence today, we'll get analysis
Speaker 1: from our signature panel Bloombery Politics contributors Rick Davis and
Speaker 1: Jeanie Schanzano America Votes, and we get analysis on the
Speaker 1: biggest primary day of the cycle by none other than
Speaker 1: the President of the United States. Joe Biden spoke with
Speaker 1: reporters on the Tarmact today at Andrews Air Base. He's
Speaker 1: on his way to California for the summit of the
Speaker 1: America's So what we learned. I think the voters sent
Speaker 1: a claire message last night. Both parties have to step
Speaker 1: up and do something about crime as well as gun violence.
Speaker 1: And I said, as you recall, were the first major
Speaker 1: bill whist we gave the states and local they's billions
Speaker 1: of dollars billions of allars have and encourage them to
Speaker 1: use it to hire police officers and reformed a race department.
Speaker 1: Very few have done it. In the addition to that,
Speaker 1: I sent the Congress request for three million dollars this
Speaker 1: year's budget the deal with hiring the cops to retraining
Speaker 1: cop That was not answering a question, by the way.
Speaker 1: He approached reporters on the tarmac and said, I'd like
Speaker 1: to give you a statement, a clear message from voters.
Speaker 1: He says crime and gun violence, and indeed crime was
Speaker 1: a big deal, a big part of the debate in
Speaker 1: California among other places, of course, where they were voting.
Speaker 1: We now have a runoff in the Los Angeles mayor's race, which,
Speaker 1: as we told you yesterday, split Hollywood in some interesting ways,
Speaker 1: and it's the race that many predicted with Republican turned
Speaker 1: Democrat Rick Caruso. This is a great night because so
Speaker 1: many people have gone to the voting booth and they've
Speaker 1: sent a message we are not helpless in the face
Speaker 1: of our problems. We will not allow this city to decline.
Speaker 1: We will know longer accept excuses. We have the power
Speaker 1: to change direction of Los Angeles, and that's the way
Speaker 1: we're voting. And yes, along with longtime Democratic Representative Karen Bass,
Speaker 1: one of the first things we're going to have to
Speaker 1: do is be clear that there is only one Democrat
Speaker 1: in this race. We cannot allow him to have that brand.
Speaker 1: We cannot allow that, and he spent several months constructing
Speaker 1: pretty much a fake kind of image. Congresswoman Bass talking
Speaker 1: to supporters in the street after the polls closed, remembering
Speaker 1: Caruso outspent her by thirteen to one, setting up what
Speaker 1: could be the most expensive race in the country here
Speaker 1: by the time it's done, imagine this is where we
Speaker 1: begin with Kyle Conduct, managing editor at Sabodaus Crystal Ball
Speaker 1: at the University of Virginia, where they do fantastic work
Speaker 1: in advance of and following nights like last. Kyle, are
Speaker 1: we about to set a record for money in a
Speaker 1: mayor's race here? Put me on the spot there. I
Speaker 1: don't know exactly what the record is. I'm assuming it
Speaker 1: would have something to do with the New York City
Speaker 1: mayoral race and uh, frankly, Michael Bloomberg, but um, I
Speaker 1: do think we're gonna see a lot of money. And
Speaker 1: of course, for Cruso has got a lot of money,
Speaker 1: uh to spend it in this race. And you know
Speaker 1: it is it's not necessarily uncommon for you know, Republicans
Speaker 1: to be able to win some or well Caruso is
Speaker 1: not technically a Republican but a sort of laps Republican, uh,
Speaker 1: to win a mayoral race, because we've seen that in
Speaker 1: New York too. Of course, l A and New York
Speaker 1: are both extremely democratic cities at the federal level, but
Speaker 1: they are sometimes open to taking a different tack in
Speaker 1: the in the mayor's race, and that's what Crusoe is
Speaker 1: hoping for. Yeah, boy, this is gonna be interesting. I
Speaker 1: have to say that Michael Bloomberg is the foundering majority
Speaker 1: owner of Bloomberg LP, the parent of Bloomberg Radio, because
Speaker 1: you said so, Kyle, Uh. And of course it's really
Speaker 1: the first thing that comes to mind, because you know,
Speaker 1: we did see this with with Bloomberg himself, uh, you know,
Speaker 1: twenty years ago, of course, taking over for for Rudy Giuliani,
Speaker 1: who was you know, who was also also a Republican
Speaker 1: at that at that time. So it is just an
Speaker 1: interesting little parallel. Of course, crime is a big topic
Speaker 1: in l A, just like it often isn't well. So
Speaker 1: look ahead to this general election contest. Obviously money is
Speaker 1: going to be a big factor. But as we heard
Speaker 1: from Karen Bass last night, she's really trying to paint
Speaker 1: him as a fake Democrat. You even accidentally referred to
Speaker 1: him as a Republican. How how are But he's also
Speaker 1: got Gwyneth Paltrow and Kim Kardashian and you know a
Speaker 1: lot of sort of unsuspecting people following him. We call
Speaker 1: him a friend and think that he's the answer to
Speaker 1: crime in homelessness. How does Karen basstop that? Uh? Look,
Speaker 1: I mean I think she is gonna need to you know,
Speaker 1: get get to Democratic voters essentially to come home and
Speaker 1: to convince them that she's the right fit for this
Speaker 1: race and also that you know that she is the
Speaker 1: true Democrat in the race, because you know, one general
Speaker 1: trend I think we've seen even in you know, in
Speaker 1: look in in sort of races far below the ballot
Speaker 1: from the presidential races, that you know, you're seeing partisanship
Speaker 1: more often. Um. Uh define these races as as opposed
Speaker 1: to people wanting to vote across the aisle. But again,
Speaker 1: Crusoe is technically a Democrat, uh in in in this race. Um,
Speaker 1: and you know bass Is gonna want to have to
Speaker 1: want to bring some of those voters home. But also
Speaker 1: you know, it's it's it's a year that um where voters,
Speaker 1: even Democratic voters are probably gonna be a little bit
Speaker 1: more open to uh, you know, to to two alternatives
Speaker 1: to true blue Democrats because it's probably gonna be a
Speaker 1: pretty bad year for Democrats across the country in this
Speaker 1: mid term. We're only by the way, it's about fifty
Speaker 1: uh reported here in l A. Rick Caruso forty two percent.
Speaker 1: Karen bass I never thought I'd talked so much about
Speaker 1: a mayor's race in the city that I was not
Speaker 1: living in at the time. Uh. Now, of course, again,
Speaker 1: both ran on improving crime and homelessness, another big part
Speaker 1: of this. Well. In San Francisco, Kyle of the progressive
Speaker 1: district Attorney lost a recall election. Chay Asa Boudine aimed
Speaker 1: to lower incarceration rates, put a check on the police,
Speaker 1: like a number of progressive prosecutors who were elected over
Speaker 1: the last couple of years. He lost convincingly sixty percent.
Speaker 1: And he spoke after it was done, and I want
Speaker 1: to be very clear about what happened tonight. The right
Speaker 1: wing billionaires outspent us three to one. They exploited an
Speaker 1: environment in which people are appropriately upset. Kyle. You know,
Speaker 1: as journalists were always looking for trend stories, right we're
Speaker 1: seeking trends. Is it safe to say that this was
Speaker 1: a tough night, certainly in California for for progressives? Did
Speaker 1: we did we turn back a couple of pages on
Speaker 1: defund the police, et cetera. Uh? Not necessarily. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: you you you you could find other examples of um,
Speaker 1: progressives doing you know, doing well in these kinds of
Speaker 1: local races, and certainly San Francisco this this was a
Speaker 1: kind of the banner race. But I think the overall
Speaker 1: story is a little bit mightier than that. There's a um,
Speaker 1: there's still gonna be a race to for the uh
Speaker 1: Los Angeles sheriff, and you've got a Democrat who's relatively conservative,
Speaker 1: who um you know was is still locked in a
Speaker 1: close race there. So I think the overall picture is is, uh,
Speaker 1: it's kind of muddy. But I do think the interpretation
Speaker 1: anyway a lot of people have taken away is that,
Speaker 1: you know, progressives were delta blow in San Francisco. I
Speaker 1: do think the truth is probably a little more complicated
Speaker 1: than that analysis from Kyle conduct with us from Sabodeau's
Speaker 1: Crystal Ball at u v A and looking at some
Speaker 1: of these congressional races. Uh, David Valadeo was one in California.
Speaker 1: While we're there, a Republican voted to impeach Donald Trump
Speaker 1: unclear exactly if he's gonna make it. He fell behind
Speaker 1: the Democrat in that race, but one of several Republican
Speaker 1: members Kyle in primaries last night who also voted for
Speaker 1: the January six commission, and based on past primaries, you
Speaker 1: would think that the would be some punishment there from
Speaker 1: you know, from the MAGA crowd in South Dakota though
Speaker 1: Dusty Johnson one with pretty good number fifty nine percent,
Speaker 1: New Jersey, Chris Smith one with about fifty eight percent.
Speaker 1: Have we overplayed the Trump effect? Uh? You know, I
Speaker 1: think you have to put into context that, you know,
Speaker 1: incumbent members of Congress very rarely lose primaries, and they
Speaker 1: usually win by bigger margins than that what we're talking
Speaker 1: about now. Granted, it's a redistricting year all the South
Speaker 1: Dakotas and at large states of course, there's no redistricting
Speaker 1: to be done. It's a you know, a statewide election
Speaker 1: every every two years. So I do think that there
Speaker 1: is some there. There has been some you know, penalty
Speaker 1: paid for members who are seen as being uh you know, uh,
Speaker 1: not necessarily you know, maybe disloyal to Donald Trump or
Speaker 1: at least critical of Donald Trump. Or I think one
Speaker 1: other way of looking at is to say that that
Speaker 1: republic some Republicans can paint these members as essentially working
Speaker 1: with Democrats. To try to discredit Donald Trump, and I
Speaker 1: think that that continues to be kind of a black
Speaker 1: mark for Republicans, even though you know, a Trump endorsement
Speaker 1: or a Trump disendorsement is not necessarily the be all
Speaker 1: and end all in these primaries too. So again it's
Speaker 1: kind of it's kind of nuanced. But um, you know,
Speaker 1: in Valdeo, it looks like he probably will advance the
Speaker 1: general election, although there's still a lot of votes outstanding.
Speaker 1: In California, you can never quite you know, it takes
Speaker 1: basically weeks for for the California vote counts to become final.
Speaker 1: And I don't think there's anything nefarious about that. It's
Speaker 1: just that that's that's how it works out there. Um,
Speaker 1: so we still have to kind of wait and steve.
Speaker 1: But uh, um, you know, Valdeo is one of it
Speaker 1: is holding down at you know, one of the most
Speaker 1: democratic districts held by any Republican, and so he were
Speaker 1: to lose, that would that would give Democrats a good
Speaker 1: pickup opportunity in an election here that otherwise looks pretty
Speaker 1: bad for Democrats. If President Biden is correct, Kyle, that
Speaker 1: crime and gun violence where the issues on voters minds
Speaker 1: that's what drove people to polls last night. Does that
Speaker 1: flip to inflation, oil prices, et cetera, the other issues
Speaker 1: that we're hearing about on a daily basis in the
Speaker 1: general election. I don't necessarily agree with the President's characterization
Speaker 1: of that. I do think that that in general, the
Speaker 1: big the big issues right now are kind of you know,
Speaker 1: what what voters say. They are typically inflation and the
Speaker 1: economy more broadly, you know, and and uh take the
Speaker 1: take the top in terms of polling, of the of
Speaker 1: of what people care about. And uh, you know the
Speaker 1: problem for Democrats is that, um, yes, there are some
Speaker 1: positive economic indicators out there, you know, unemployment, etcetera. But
Speaker 1: people believe the economy is bad essentially because inflation is bad. Um.
Speaker 1: And far be it from me to tell them that
Speaker 1: they're wrong about that. Um uh so, and and that's
Speaker 1: what the Democrats are kind of have to try to do,
Speaker 1: is to say, hey, well, actually things are better than
Speaker 1: you think they are. But it can typically be a
Speaker 1: pretty hard argument. That youre is great talk, Kyle Condy.
Speaker 1: I'm so glad you could join us the morning after
Speaker 1: the big night. We're calling it Super Tuesday here on
Speaker 1: Bloomberg Sound On, Come back and see us Kyle as
Speaker 1: we work our way down the campaign trail. He's managing.
Speaker 1: Editors sabodah is Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia
Speaker 1: Center for Politics on the Fastest hour in Politics. Will
Speaker 1: assemble the panel next, see how Rick and Jennie are
Speaker 1: feeling after the big night. Will check traffic and markets
Speaker 1: for you along the way as you would expect, after all,
Speaker 1: this is Bloomberg. You're listening to Bloomberg. You sound on
Speaker 1: with Joe Matthew on Bloomberg Radio. President Biden called it
Speaker 1: a clear message to address crime. As you heard his
Speaker 1: analysis from Super Tuesday primary voting, It's time, he says,
Speaker 1: the states and localities spend the money they have to
Speaker 1: deal with crime as well as retrained police officers. We're
Speaker 1: calling a bit some of the language he used in
Speaker 1: his State of the Union address. If you remember, he said,
Speaker 1: I don't want to defund the police. I want to
Speaker 1: fund the police. And we assemble our panel on this
Speaker 1: day after Rick Davis, Jeanie Schanzano or with us Bloomberg
Speaker 1: Politics contributors. Genie, it was really interesting to hear from
Speaker 1: Kyle conduct there who was sort of busting some of
Speaker 1: the conventional wisdom coming out of last night. Did you
Speaker 1: see this as a challenge to progressives in California? I
Speaker 1: think it may be an overstatement to know that definitively
Speaker 1: at this point, you know, because if if we look
Speaker 1: at these two races that we've been talking so much about,
Speaker 1: these are both local officials. We haven't seen this impact
Speaker 1: at the state level. Were incumbents actually in California did
Speaker 1: pretty well, So you know, we can overstate these things.
Speaker 1: You know, my takeaway from last night at San Francisco
Speaker 1: in l A. Was you have to do the job
Speaker 1: you were chosen to do. If you're elected to be
Speaker 1: d A, you need to prosecute criminals. If you're elected
Speaker 1: to the school board because they had the recall the
Speaker 1: year before, you need to educate children. So do the
Speaker 1: job you're elected to do. I think is the number
Speaker 1: one lesson whether that expands into a you know, there
Speaker 1: is a challenge between progressives and establishment democrats in the party.
Speaker 1: We know that, But whether that is a full out
Speaker 1: of tach nation wide on progressives, I think it's too
Speaker 1: early to say. What did you learn last night? Rick?
Speaker 1: You know, I don't know I I think it's a
Speaker 1: little different. I think that it was a rebuke to
Speaker 1: the progressives in the Democratic Party. I think this concept
Speaker 1: of hug a thug that we saw in the New
Speaker 1: York mayor's elections and now in the West Coast is
Speaker 1: something that they've got to sit up and and and
Speaker 1: and recognize as a problem for the way that they
Speaker 1: talk about crime, and and and the policies that they
Speaker 1: want to pursue around crime. And well, I think he
Speaker 1: read the tea leaves. He's he's a smart Paul and
Speaker 1: when when he spoke out today, it was he defined
Speaker 1: this election is about crime and making sure that we
Speaker 1: can get ahead of it. And so I guess, but
Speaker 1: I mean, yeah, he doesn't want to talk about inflation.
Speaker 1: But this is one that he's got to get right
Speaker 1: because at some point people will take their eye off
Speaker 1: of the economic issues and want to know what's going
Speaker 1: on in their neighborhood. And as Jennie said, these are
Speaker 1: local issues in the sense that crime is up all
Speaker 1: over the country. So it is it is localized, but
Speaker 1: it is a national problem. But he did distance himself
Speaker 1: from defund the police genie before today, right, I mean,
Speaker 1: I mentioned the state of the Union. Even on the
Speaker 1: campaign trail, progressives were worried about him being I guess
Speaker 1: too tough on crime. Is that the right way to
Speaker 1: put it. Yeah, I mean Joe Biden, I think, is
Speaker 1: much more of a moderate. He's always been that way.
Speaker 1: He he wasn't comfortable in that sort of progressive lane.
Speaker 1: I mean that was what we heard throughout the entire
Speaker 1: campaign from people like Elizabeth Warren and AOC and Bernie Sanders.
Speaker 1: So he's much more of an establishment um, you know,
Speaker 1: a moderate Democrat if you will, um. You know. The
Speaker 1: one thing I would say is I just think we
Speaker 1: have to be careful to overread. I do agree with
Speaker 1: Rick there is this debate going on and they can
Speaker 1: overreach on the progressive side. But the reality is is
Speaker 1: that this elected d A in Stanford Francisco. He is
Speaker 1: a very specific person. I mean, he had a very
Speaker 1: strong message crime was very bad in San Francisco, and
Speaker 1: he came with a history that made him a target
Speaker 1: and he lost last night with this recall. But I'm
Speaker 1: just not so sure that that extends across the country
Speaker 1: at the at the federal level, if you will, do
Speaker 1: Democrats need to start talking more like the president here, Rick,
Speaker 1: or do they need to get their arms around inflation.
Speaker 1: I'm assuming that as we go from primary to general here,
Speaker 1: inflation is going to be the deciding factor. Once we
Speaker 1: get to November. Maybe there's a Supreme Court decision on
Speaker 1: Roe v. Way that that that adds another layer there.
Speaker 1: But is this going to be a crime election in November? Yeah,
Speaker 1: we have to understand that a lot of these elections
Speaker 1: we're talking about, these officials, you know, district attorneys and mayors,
Speaker 1: aren't really driving the economic burden of their communities, right,
Speaker 1: and and and they're really defining their own races. And
Speaker 1: they defined them as being about security and homelessness. So
Speaker 1: I think that's that's part of it. But too, this
Speaker 1: is a this is an issue that that that the
Speaker 1: president has to lead his party on, right. I mean,
Speaker 1: Jennie pointed out, he's not in sync with the liberal
Speaker 1: left of his party, the progressives, and and and and
Speaker 1: but he's not winning that fight. In other words, he's
Speaker 1: letting them push back on him on issues of crime,
Speaker 1: on issues of the economy. Uh, there's not a single
Speaker 1: voice of the Democratic Party. The president is not uh
Speaker 1: the strongest voice all the time on issues of inflation,
Speaker 1: and and so he's got to outshout members of his
Speaker 1: own party just so that the public can hear what
Speaker 1: the argument is against what Republicans are saying, which is
Speaker 1: the Democrats brought this on. This is a policy of
Speaker 1: the Biden administration that they couldn't contain inflation. A lot
Speaker 1: of this will be crystallized in this l a mayor's
Speaker 1: race that we've talked so much about this week and
Speaker 1: and last. Genie Karen Bass says that Rick Caruso is
Speaker 1: a Republican in chep's clothing, right, that he's he's Mr Money,
Speaker 1: but he's not the person you need to deal with
Speaker 1: issues social issues from crime to homelessness. But my goodness,
Speaker 1: when you look at the numbers here, including the money
Speaker 1: that's been spent, how is she actually going to convince
Speaker 1: people of that case? I think it's a hard case
Speaker 1: to make because the reality is is that people are
Speaker 1: extremely dissatisfied with what has gone on in that city.
Speaker 1: And she represents, in many Democrats minds, sort of the
Speaker 1: you know what has been the quid not quid procope,
Speaker 1: but what has been the reality of the city. And
Speaker 1: he represents a change. So he's in a much better position,
Speaker 1: not only vis a VI the money, but coming in
Speaker 1: and saying I'm going to do things differently. I have
Speaker 1: a different plan. So I think she's got you know,
Speaker 1: she's got an upheld battle there to make this case.
Speaker 1: And of course in the face of all the money
Speaker 1: that he's spending is another thing she's got to deal with.
Speaker 1: And let's not forget he's also talking a lot about
Speaker 1: corruption because people hold that thought. Rick and Jeannie with
Speaker 1: us for the hour. This is bloomberg pretty amazing to
Speaker 1: think that. You know, we're here in the throes of
Speaker 1: primary season, we're getting deeper into this thing, and the
Speaker 1: politician that has received more talk really than I guess
Speaker 1: anyone else is Donald Trump, the one who's not on
Speaker 1: the ballot, and he's certainly had an influence on some
Speaker 1: of these primaries, others not so much. But the Republican
Speaker 1: Party is betting that the Trump brand will help get
Speaker 1: things done in November. Take back Congress. This is the
Speaker 1: year that we're going to take back the House. We're
Speaker 1: going to take back the Senate, and we're going to
Speaker 1: take back America. We're going to take it back. That's
Speaker 1: the former president at a rally but just two weeks ago,
Speaker 1: and the crowd goes wild until you read Mark Niquette's column.
Speaker 1: Though Trump's cult of personality has been replaced, he says,
Speaker 1: with a new political philosophy branded like his buildings and resorts.
Speaker 1: It's a really smart piece. We had to talk to
Speaker 1: Mark about it. To make America Great Again movement. He
Speaker 1: writes that tens of millions of Americans adopted put him
Speaker 1: in the White House, transformed the Republican Party, but the
Speaker 1: current crop of midterm primaries is revealing the former president's
Speaker 1: brash brand of politics more than the man himself is
Speaker 1: driving many Republican voters. Thanks for being with us, Mark,
Speaker 1: Does that mean that Joe Biden is onto something when
Speaker 1: he keeps talking about the ultra mega agenda? We're gonna
Speaker 1: see because it does look like the movement that, as
Speaker 1: you say, Trump tapped to get to the White House
Speaker 1: and certainly amplified, you know, showing signs of being willing
Speaker 1: to to to live with or without him. Um. We
Speaker 1: noticed as we are covering the Trump rallies during the
Speaker 1: primary season that he would stage to help support US
Speaker 1: endorsed candidates, that these folks would come to the rallies
Speaker 1: they'd be wearing their Maga hats and their Maga gear
Speaker 1: and you know, chanting Trump's name at the rally. But
Speaker 1: they weren't inclined to the support the candidates that Trump
Speaker 1: was endorsing. They're gonna make up their own minds, and
Speaker 1: they liked other candidates better. And we saw that in
Speaker 1: some of these primaries where Republican voters, you know, maybe
Speaker 1: they love Trump, but they weren't going to support his
Speaker 1: endorsed candidate. That's pretty remarkable. But to your point, it's
Speaker 1: about the brand, just like it's on one of his
Speaker 1: buildings here. His brand just came off the hotel in Washington.
Speaker 1: But the idea is they plaster themselves with MAGA and
Speaker 1: don't have a lot of interest in the content. Necessarily.
Speaker 1: They were in some cases the president, the former president,
Speaker 1: was having trouble pronouncing the names of some of the
Speaker 1: candidates that he had endorsed. Right. It's it's I guess
Speaker 1: the idea is that the philosophy and the style, more
Speaker 1: than anything else of MAGA is more important, perhaps than
Speaker 1: you know, Trump himself. Trump is still overwhelmingly popular in
Speaker 1: the gop um and I think he's you know, odds
Speaker 1: on favors to be the Republican nominee if he runs
Speaker 1: again for president. UM. But there's a sense now that
Speaker 1: we quoted a couple of folks, folks in our piece
Speaker 1: saying that if if Trump were to leave the stage tomorrow,
Speaker 1: MAGA would still exist. You know, this type of aggressive
Speaker 1: politics and sort of the American first ideas that Trump
Speaker 1: champion died would still live on and and probably be
Speaker 1: embodied by somebody else. Well, that's my question for you, Mark.
Speaker 1: Is this the type of thing where Rhonda Santis takes
Speaker 1: on the Maga mantle or you know, somewhere down the road,
Speaker 1: Ted Cruise is your MAGA guy? Or is this a
Speaker 1: more decentralized movement that will never have another figurehead like
Speaker 1: Donald Trump. We're gonna find out, I think, because movements
Speaker 1: have always had factions. If you consider the Tea Party movement,
Speaker 1: for example, there were different groups within the movement, you know,
Speaker 1: struggling to get UH control and dominance. And we may
Speaker 1: see that in the MAGA movement. But I think at
Speaker 1: least initially, you're you're seeing UM folks like Rhonda Sandys
Speaker 1: sort of adopt the the MAGA playbook. You know, he's
Speaker 1: he's promoting issues that are popular with the bass. He
Speaker 1: went after Disney as a corporation that you know was
Speaker 1: considered he considered woke. Um. He has sort of an
Speaker 1: aggressive style of politics that mirrors Trump's with some of
Speaker 1: the same aggressive rhetoric. Um So, at least initially, you're
Speaker 1: seeing sort of characters adopting the MAGA style and playbook,
Speaker 1: even if they're not specifically as um um charismatic, perhaps
Speaker 1: as Donald Trump not not many people have been to
Speaker 1: as many Trump rallies as you have, Mark, Do you
Speaker 1: plan to continue attending them for the next several months? Yeah?
Speaker 1: I think so, because they're they're always interesting if nothing else,
Speaker 1: and and you know, it's it's it's helpful to talk
Speaker 1: to the folks who are there because um, Like I
Speaker 1: said that, that was sort of our first clue that
Speaker 1: you know, this phenomenon was underway, that the number of
Speaker 1: people who would come to these rallies and clearly are
Speaker 1: are strong Trump supporters, but you know they weren't going
Speaker 1: to blindly follow him and in supporting these candidates that
Speaker 1: Trump pres there to to promote. Great piece look forward
Speaker 1: on the terminal, He's not God by Mark Nickatt Bloombery
Speaker 1: Politics Reporter. Always a great pleasure to have Mark with us.
Speaker 1: It's curious to touch on this with the panel quickly. Well, well,
Speaker 1: we have a moment here, Rick Davis and Jeanie Schanzano
Speaker 1: of course spending the hour with us. What's your thought
Speaker 1: on this? Rick? If Donald Trump fell off the face
Speaker 1: of the earth, I think the line was tomorrow the
Speaker 1: MAGA brand would continue. Do you see that happening. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I think it'll happen for a while. I think it'll
Speaker 1: be subsumed by other movements. As you were talking there,
Speaker 1: you know, was the Tea Party before there was Maga.
Speaker 1: Rostrow had his own brand of cultural personality prior to that. Um,
Speaker 1: we've we've seen this come and go in in the
Speaker 1: party and and I think what makes it unique to
Speaker 1: to Donald Trump is there's no real ideological underpinning, right.
Speaker 1: He vacillates all over the place on whether he's a
Speaker 1: conservative or progressive in in many ways, and and he
Speaker 1: makes his decisions based on his inclinations, not on any
Speaker 1: kind of Maga ideology. And so I think it's going
Speaker 1: to become up to others, you know, after Donald Trump,
Speaker 1: to sort of define it, and they'll define it in
Speaker 1: their own way, because it'll be in their interest not
Speaker 1: to just be a knockoff of Donald Trump. What does
Speaker 1: maga mean, Genie? If if Trump supporters say they support
Speaker 1: the former president but they would not vote for the
Speaker 1: candidates he endorsed. Yeah, yeah, best title of marks piece.
Speaker 1: I love that title, and it's a great piece. But
Speaker 1: you know, I was thinking of Cathy Barnett in Pennsylvania.
Speaker 1: I mean, she campaign talking about the fact that you know,
Speaker 1: she's really maga. Whether he you know, Donald Trump recognized it,
Speaker 1: and that's right, and so I do think that there
Speaker 1: is a way in which this could, uh, you know,
Speaker 1: sustain despite you know, what happens to Trump, whether he's
Speaker 1: on a ballot or not. I'm not sure for how long,
Speaker 1: but at least in the short period. It's certainly, uh,
Speaker 1: it's certainly out there. Has Webster put maga in the dictionary? Yet?
Speaker 1: Did that happen? Man? We got to look that up.
Speaker 1: If not yet, it's certainly going to happen this year.
Speaker 1: Ultra maga anyone. Rick and Genie will reassemble the panel
Speaker 1: coming up next here following the gun hearing today on
Speaker 1: the House and the latest uncompromised This is Bloomberg. You're
Speaker 1: listening to Bloomberg you sound on with Joe Matthew on
Speaker 1: Bloomberg Radio. It turns out maga is in the dictionary,
Speaker 1: just not the maga we thought has to do with Hinduism.
Speaker 1: Apparently this is fascinating to me and the sours of India.
Speaker 1: Maybe this year Webster will get with it. Thanks for
Speaker 1: joining us on the Wednesday edition of Bloomberg Sound on
Speaker 1: the Fastest Hour in Politics. As we turned to what
Speaker 1: happened today in the House along with our panel, Rick
Speaker 1: and Genie or with us, both sides of the aisle
Speaker 1: say that we're caen to finalize a deal to address
Speaker 1: gun violence in the Senate as soon as this week.
Speaker 1: Things have been a little bit more complicated in the House,
Speaker 1: where the Oversight Committee today held a hearing the committee
Speaker 1: will come to order. There were family victims from those
Speaker 1: lost at rob Elementary School in Uvaldi, from those lost
Speaker 1: in Buffalo. There were law enforcement officials and of course
Speaker 1: politicians on the panel asking the questions, including Congressoen Katie Porter,
Speaker 1: Democrat from California. Shootings involving assault weapons are six times
Speaker 1: as deadly as shootings involving handguns, and when assault weapons
Speaker 1: are equipped with high capacity magazines or bump stocks, the
Speaker 1: death toll rises even further. Representative James Comer is ranking
Speaker 1: member on the committee, Republican from Kentucky. I strongly believe
Speaker 1: that there's important place for law abiding gun owners to
Speaker 1: serve and protecting themselves, their families, and their communities from violence.
Speaker 1: This went on for hours today following a similar hearing yesterday.
Speaker 1: And I'd love to hear from the panel on this
Speaker 1: because there are there are two parallel tracks happening. One
Speaker 1: seems to be associated with reality and the other one
Speaker 1: does not genie this effort in the House here they
Speaker 1: marked up a series of a package of legislation, if
Speaker 1: I can call it that, last week. The hearings now underway.
Speaker 1: Nancy Pelosi says they're going to vote on these bills.
Speaker 1: But but there's no path for them to become law,
Speaker 1: no path for them to get through the sentence. What
Speaker 1: are we doing here? You know, there's no chance. And
Speaker 1: you know the House has a very publicly um you know,
Speaker 1: be helding holding these hearings. They're very emotional. Another emotional
Speaker 1: day following Matthew McConaughey's you know statement in front of
Speaker 1: the White House Press Corps. Yesterday you heard from the
Speaker 1: victims and an eleven year old girl smearing her dead
Speaker 1: friends blood on her Just a horrific hearing to and
Speaker 1: to witness that. And of course, as you mentioned, the
Speaker 1: House putting forward a package that has no chance of
Speaker 1: getting through the Senate. And then you juxtapose that with
Speaker 1: the fact that the Senate is working very much in private.
Speaker 1: They're not, you know, using these emotional at least not
Speaker 1: yet having these emotional testimony go forward. And yet we
Speaker 1: know what they're debating about now is much more incremental
Speaker 1: and likely won't change gun laws at least if you
Speaker 1: listen to what Senator Cornyn had to say. Yes, right,
Speaker 1: the bill expected to pass the House without any Republicans support. Uh.
Speaker 1: We heard Republicans talking about this in their leadership briefing
Speaker 1: in the House today. Representatives Galase was asked about it
Speaker 1: Rick he wouldn't even say that he was in favor
Speaker 1: of a red flag law. It does seem like the
Speaker 1: House and Senator two different worlds right now. Well, they
Speaker 1: always have been and always will be. I think you
Speaker 1: can almost ignore the Republican leadership in the House. They're
Speaker 1: not a factor in the debate right now on guns
Speaker 1: and not in the House, and and and no one
Speaker 1: in the senate's listening to them. So the people who
Speaker 1: are doing the bipartisan negotiation in the Senate are the
Speaker 1: ones who are trying to make progress. I think they
Speaker 1: are legitimately trying to find common ground amongst Republicans and
Speaker 1: Democrats to do something about this. I do think that
Speaker 1: the Democratic leadership in the House is doing a good
Speaker 1: job of keeping the public attention on this issue. We
Speaker 1: know that these issues tend to fade and take the
Speaker 1: political saliency out of the debate. And so by doing
Speaker 1: things like inviting Matthew McConaughey over to the White House
Speaker 1: to talk about his hometown and the massacre that took place,
Speaker 1: having these hearings, even if the legislation isn't going anywhere,
Speaker 1: the testimony was extremely powerful, as Genie said, and and
Speaker 1: and this won't be missed by those negotiators when they
Speaker 1: see the evening news tonight. And so I think that
Speaker 1: that right now the environment is right for a deal,
Speaker 1: and I think before we start classifying the deal is
Speaker 1: is not good enough, we have to remember that that
Speaker 1: we've had incidents like this where nothing has happened, and
Speaker 1: guests right, and so I think that that we we
Speaker 1: ought to we ought to keep the heat on members
Speaker 1: of the negotiating committee in the Senate and and see
Speaker 1: what comes out of there, and and and frankly, the
Speaker 1: only thing is disappointed to me is that there isn't
Speaker 1: a deadline for their actions. They need to be under
Speaker 1: some public heat to show their cards. Well. Interesting to
Speaker 1: hear from Senator Chuck Schumer today, Genie. He said at
Speaker 1: least in the last twenty four hours. This may have
Speaker 1: been late yesterday, but he said the Senate will vote
Speaker 1: on gun legislation soon. This is different than a week
Speaker 1: from now, like we heard, when everyone's back, you know,
Speaker 1: you guys around a time. He does seem like he's
Speaker 1: willing to give Murphy and corn In a couple of
Speaker 1: extra days, if not weeks, don't. Yeah, And I think
Speaker 1: he's right to do that. I think both he and
Speaker 1: the President are trying to, as Rick said, you know,
Speaker 1: allow this committee to do its work, to do it
Speaker 1: in private, and to try to come to some agreement.
Speaker 1: But we also need to say that Chris Murphy yesterday
Speaker 1: was saying that, you know, they're extending a hand of
Speaker 1: partnership to their Republican colleagues are trying to get a deal.
Speaker 1: They're not going to settle for legislation that's box checking,
Speaker 1: and so where what that means exactly is very unclear
Speaker 1: to me. And timing wise, I think is still a
Speaker 1: big question mark. I was thinking they needed to maybe
Speaker 1: get a framework this week, but I don't know if
Speaker 1: we're going to see something like that until maybe next week.
Speaker 1: And the longer this goes on, the harder to move
Speaker 1: forward on it. So I think, you know, at least
Speaker 1: by July, we have to see action the lesson we
Speaker 1: have been taught repeatedly over the last year or so. Uh,
Speaker 1: this time tomorrow, right around this time tomorrow, we're gonna
Speaker 1: be gearing up for the big hearing, the January sixth Committee.
Speaker 1: This is the first prime time hearing. You've heard about
Speaker 1: it the networks. Now we're on board. This thing starts
Speaker 1: at eight o'clock and we're told by the Committee, as
Speaker 1: we've discussed on this program, that we're going to see
Speaker 1: and hear things. We're going to learn things new, not
Speaker 1: just another montage of terrible video from the riot at
Speaker 1: the Capitol. This came up by the way. In that
Speaker 1: Republican leadership briefing that I mentioned today, Congresswoman at least
Speaker 1: to Fank was asked about this, what her thought was
Speaker 1: on the work of the committee, and what she expected
Speaker 1: to hear on Thursday night. Listen to the way she
Speaker 1: answered this and get prepared to hear this a lot more.
Speaker 1: Over the course of this process, they are scrambling to
Speaker 1: change the headlines, praying that the nation will focus on
Speaker 1: their partisan witch hunt instead of our pocketbooks. It will
Speaker 1: not work. Just this week, Nancy Pelosi's illegitimate January six
Speaker 1: committee secretly hired the former president of ABC News to
Speaker 1: produce these shameless primetime show this with the same producer
Speaker 1: that covered up victims of Jeff Epstein. This further solidifies
Speaker 1: what we know, what we have known from day one.
Speaker 1: This committee is not about seeking the truth. It is
Speaker 1: a smear campaign against President Donald Trump, against Republican members
Speaker 1: of Congress, and against Trump voters across this country. This
Speaker 1: committee is un constitutional, it is illegitimate. I thought it
Speaker 1: was worth running that whole thing. Rick partisan which hunt.
Speaker 1: We've heard that from Kevin McCarthy, illegitimate, unconstitutional, We've heard
Speaker 1: that from Republicans as well, now taking aim at this,
Speaker 1: this former ABC News president James Goldston, who we at
Speaker 1: least I refer to this that they had hired a
Speaker 1: veteran news uh, a newsperson to make videos. He's gonna
Speaker 1: be producing videos as part of this presentation. To think
Speaker 1: that she's invoking the name Jeff Epstein into this, Rick,
Speaker 1: this is uh, this is a new layer. Yeah, it's
Speaker 1: it's not a new layer in the debate in Washington
Speaker 1: for a long time. It's a new layer in this debate.
Speaker 1: But the reality is this is a classic you know,
Speaker 1: attack the messenger. So when you don't have anything to
Speaker 1: say about the message, right, there's nothing she can say
Speaker 1: about what happened on January six that isn't either already
Speaker 1: in the record or very uh the amatory to her
Speaker 1: own party. Uh, then she got to attack the messenger
Speaker 1: in this case. I think part of the reason that
Speaker 1: the committee is doing these high profile uh hearings in
Speaker 1: prime time is to actually set that record straight right,
Speaker 1: and and to to try and get that message out
Speaker 1: that this is the historical context that we want. It
Speaker 1: is a competitive marketplace for ideas, and they have to
Speaker 1: be out there shouting as loud as they can to
Speaker 1: make sure people understand what their version of events on
Speaker 1: January six is. There is not as as at least
Speaker 1: Aphonic pointed out, a uniform sense of history here. And
Speaker 1: this is a very important task the committee has to
Speaker 1: set the record straight. Was it smart to hire a
Speaker 1: former ABC News president to be involved in this genie?
Speaker 1: I actually think it was. And unlike least Stephonic Justice said,
Speaker 1: this was not a secret. This you know, we've all
Speaker 1: been talking about it. It was widely reported. So maybe
Speaker 1: because she was at the fun raiser with Trump this
Speaker 1: week raising millions of dollars, she didn't get to see
Speaker 1: the news, but widely reported. And um, her for it,
Speaker 1: doesn't you mean her fundraising? Well? No, the fact that
Speaker 1: that Jeffrey Epstein that I mean that he was he
Speaker 1: was running the network at a time when this story
Speaker 1: was was quashed. I realized that. But what does that
Speaker 1: have to do? I mean, talk about distracting from the
Speaker 1: point it is. And it's so Washington Insider, because people
Speaker 1: are not going to be paying attention to who cut
Speaker 1: the videos. Um, you know, was it you know, in
Speaker 1: former ABC president or somebody else? They you know, the
Speaker 1: real question here and there are real questions, will anybody
Speaker 1: watch these hearings, Will it change any minds? Will it
Speaker 1: set the historical record straight? Will it be seen as
Speaker 1: non political? Will we learn anything new? So there's a
Speaker 1: whole host of real questions to be asked about what
Speaker 1: they're doing. But involvement of you know, somebody at ABC
Speaker 1: and Jeffrey Epstein is a far cry. And you know,
Speaker 1: but this is where least dephonic is as she fights
Speaker 1: to take control of this party, probably away from Kevin McCarthy,
Speaker 1: but he doesn't see it coming yet. Just in a
Speaker 1: few seconds we have left. Rick, If it looks pre produced,
Speaker 1: like like mainstream media, is that a risk that people
Speaker 1: won't trust it? I think people are used to wanting
Speaker 1: to be given their news, you know, by sweet uh
Speaker 1: sweetwater in their drink, and so if they can make
Speaker 1: it a better way to communicate. Look, most hearings are boring.
Speaker 1: This one can't be sweetwater in the panel, Rick and
Speaker 1: Jennie with us as ever, we'll meet back here. We'll
Speaker 1: get you ready tomorrow night. On the fastest hour in politics,
Speaker 1: I'm Joe Matthew in Washington. This is Bloomberg