IHIP News: MAGA Joe Rogan Keeps FLIPPING On Trump!! When Will HE LEARN?!
As a shock to no one, Donald Trump is. the most unpopular president since Nixon. during Watergate, abysmally low. But, I. think we can do better. I think it can. go even lower. Pop this up. Absolute disaster for the White House. Gallup data confirms Donald Trump's. disapproval has collapsed to a. staggering 63%. He officially tied. Richard Nixon's Watergate era for the. highest disapproval in history. The. Trump administration faces total. rejection. And here to discuss said.
rejection with me is Sawyer Hackett. He. is a political strategist turned content. creator with more than 15 years of. experience advising campaigns and. political organizations. Today, you can. find him on Instagram, TikTok, and. YouTube breaking down the biggest. stories and combining cooking and. politics to reach new audiences. Sawyer, welcome to I Hit News. >> Great to be with you, Jennifer. >> All right, what do you think about the. disapproval rating of Donald Trump? I. think we can do better.
>> I think we can definitely do better. I. think, honestly, it feels like the Iran. war was really the catalyst for a lot of. people coming out of the woodwork with. Trump. I mean, it seems like that has. kind of coupled with a story about. corruption that's really actually. starting to to reach people for the. first time. I mean, it seems like, you. know, people like us have been kind of. pulling our hair out for the first year. of this administration, you know, trying. to figure out why voters aren't as. pissed off as we are, aren't as, you. know, glued into the news, paying. attention to what's going on, but it. does seem like the Iran war really.
kind of shook people. about where what Trump is up to, what. he's doing, kind of taking his. corruption on the road. in the Middle East. And really, it. started to bring a lot more people into. into the fold for for Democrats, for. progressives to kind of win some of. these special elections around the. country. So, I think people are starting. to wake up, but I agree we can. definitely we can definitely bring those. numbers down even more. >> We can definitely do better, but I'm. really starting to get a tad bit worried. about some of these centrist slash.
corporate Democrats. And I want to play. a video for you from former Andrew Cuomo. chief of staff, Melissa DeRosa. Play the. clip. >> No, absolutely. I mean this the Maine. race really demonstrates the civil war. that's happening within the Democratic. Party. And there are a lot of Democrats, moderate Democrats like myself, who will. not cry tears should we lose Maine. I. mean that would be a pick up to begin. with, but.
>> I don't know about you, Sawyer, but I'm. from a state called Oklahoma. And a lot. of humans, women in particular, are. crying a lot of tears. over Susan Collins' vote. uh to confirm Brett Kavanaugh. And then. of course we know it overturned Roe. If. you're raped in Oklahoma, you have no. rights. If you're molested, you have no. rights. If you have a debilitating uh. life-threatening situation with your. pregnancy, you have zero rights. You are. subhuman as a woman in the state of. Oklahoma. This is so offensive to me.
that I'm sure she sits in a blue state. somewhere and talks like this about. Susan Collins, because that's the other. option there. It's Susan Collins. So she. might not be crying about it because. Grand Platner isn't all synced up with. all of the pimps that she wants to. prostitute the Democratic Party out to. But I can tell you in the state of. Oklahoma, education is 50th because of. policies just like this. >> I mean this is insane. I you know, Melissa DeRosa is is fairly irrelevant.
I mean her opinion I think is is pretty. dismissible. I mean she This is somebody. who's worked for Andrew Cuomo most of. her life and now she wants to lecture us. about a candidate with baggage. I mean. it's kind of it's kind of hilarious to. hear that [laughter] coming out of. someone like her. But honestly, this is like this is very. reminiscent I think of of a lot of the. vote blue no matter who crowd. Who you know, they expect progressives. and folks on the left to to get in line. and vote for any kind of centrist. Democrat that they nominate in in any. given state. But then when a progressive. wins in an open primary and defeats, you.
know, a more establishment Democrat, that they can they can go on Fox News. and write op-eds and gripe about how. they won't shed a tear when we lose this. election. I mean, it's it's so it's so. shallow and vapid, these people. They. They're They're just after kind of. protecting those contracts, protecting. their their connections and their access. to these politi- these centrist. politicians who have kind of lined their. pockets over decades. But But really it's just pathetic. I. mean, like this is happening across the.
country that that incumbent Democrats. are losing or or coming up short to to. progressive candidates who are running. these kind of insurgent campaigns, who. are who are not insiders, who are coming. from spaces outside of politics. And. they're winning these races with the. help of voters. It's not with huge. corporate PACs or or or tons of insiders. writing op-eds or endorsing them. These. candidates are doing it the hard way. They're working hard. And then then you. have these centrist strategists who go. on TV the next day and just kind of.
completely [ __ ] on the nominee. in an effort to. lower enthusiasm for candidates like. Grant Pflugradt. and really it's just to the detriment of. the Democratic success. in November. I mean, we we have a chance. in November to not just take back the. house but take the Senate and it will be. on the heels of candidates like Grant. Pflugradt. We won't be able to do that. without candidates like Grant Pflugradt. And so really I think this just. demonstrates how how irrelevant some of. these centrist strategists who have kind. of staffed the Democratic Party over so.
many years. >> And not to mention how dismissive it is. of main voters. >> And their concerns, yeah. >> Yeah, I mean, they have they have this. is who they want. This guy's worked his. ass off. He's speaking to them. and going against the record of Susan. Collins. But let me ask you this. We don't talk about this enough. What is a centrist in your opinion? What. is it? What does that mean? What is a. moderate? What is a centrist? >> It's kind of become irrelevant because. it used to mean, you know, it was it.
used to be tied to ideology. It used to. be something that was. you know, on a breadth of different. issues, you could kind of find them. right in the middle of the spectrum. between the poles on the left and the. poles on the right. Now today it just. doesn't really it's completely hollowed. out its meaning and really I think. centrist today just means corporate. corporate Democrat or corporate. candidate. Because really these candidates. don't have any kind of through line. through their ideology. They don't. believe in, you know, the Democratic. Party should represent this or that as. much as they represent they think that. the Democratic Party should represent.
their interests and the interests that. have lined their pockets over many. decades. And so, you know, I've had a. always had a hard time with the term. centrist, with the term moderate because. really they don't really make sense in. our politics anymore. I mean, where. where does Donald Trump fall on this on. the spectrum? Like [laughter] it makes. no sense to to label these people this. way, but I do think for people within. the Democratic coalition. this term this term is helpful to to. kind of signify that it is it tends to. be the more ideologically. you know, centrist candidates that that.
are the corporate packed Democrats. I. think that we have to start making those. connections for voters within our own. coalition because you know, too often we. get tricked. I mean, like you look at. what's happening in Virginia right now. with Abigail Spanberger. I mean, this is. a person who has always been a kind of a. centrist candidate. You know, she gets elected kind of on a. centrist message, promises all these big. progressive things and and and pushes. forward on a lot of them and then. immediately decides to stick it in the. eye of the progressive movement as soon. as she gets into office. To me that's. not and it's not necessarily on. ideological grounds, right? It's just to.
stick it to the left. It's just to punch. down in an effort to appease the kind of. like corporate class that has guided our. politics. And so, yeah, you're right. I. I centrist doesn't really mean much. these days, but I think corporate. America is like. >> it as it's in inherently dismissive of. the left. It by saying, "Well, I'm a. moderate or I'm a centrist." Then you're. saying, "They're crazy over here, and. then they're also crazy here on the. left." So, let's talk about what these. people would define as crazy on the.
left. And to me, it always boils down to. empowering people. Zoran, per the. centrist, is a radical leftist. That MFer has gone in to office, all gas, no brakes, overcome a huge. deficit, is delivering for New Yorkers. every single day, and I don't really see. anything radical that he's doing. I. mean, this is what government is. supposed to do. This is an FDR who.
should be a champion in our party. Per. the centrist, FDR was a radical leftist. So, will you speak to anything that you. know of on the left that is a radical. position that a centrist would need to. extract themselves from and separate. themselves from in a pick-me kind of. way. It's like a risk-averse political. position, in my opinion. >> Yeah, I mean, they're they're never. they're never truly picking one. distinctive policy or another to. separate themselves from the Democratic. Party. It's more I think it's more about.
the labels. They're afraid of terms like. democratic socialist. They're afraid of, you know, maybe maybe they're afraid of. a universal healthcare system, Medicare. for all type system. Maybe they're maybe. there's specific things that they're. running against. Maybe it's kind of the. wokeism. of of LGBTQ politics or or anything like. that. But really, it's not it's not. connected to ideology. These are These. are not people who are actually uh. you know, afraid of a leftist agenda as. much as they're just afraid of leftist. politics because they themselves have.
not been able to defend the Democratic. Party. >> [laughter]. >> for many decades, for many years. And. so, I just find it uh I find it more so. that these these people are using window. dressing, right? Like they're not. actually trying to go after Democratic. Party's policy agenda. They're not. trying to go after leftists. policies. They're they're trying to go. after the status quo. They are status. quo politicians and anything that kind. of defies that is something that they're. going to be in opposition to. And I. think they kind of play off the the. establishment media, the kind of. corporate media,
you know, the way that they use terms to. kind of push off leftists, whether it's. Democratic Socialist terms or universal. health care. They find ways to frame. these policies as extreme when really. they're reactions to an extreme status. quo of not taking care of people. And. that's what the Democratic Party has. failed to do. >> I completely agree with everything you. just said. Joe Rogan tends to come out every 2 to 3. weeks and. engages in some very Captain Obvious. observations, in my opinion. And then of.
course Trump will humiliate him and. march his little ass back over to the. White House for a humiliation ritual in. the Oval while Trump is hitting REM. But. listen to Rogan here on the slush fund. >> According to New York Times, the in the. US is forever barred and precluded from. examining or prosecuting Trump, his. sons, and the Trump organization's. current tax filings, according to. one-page document released Tuesday. That. is so crazy. Imagine like somebody. accused you of murder. >> Yeah. >> And it turns out you weren't guilty of.
that murder, and then you sue them and. you go, "You can never prosecute me for. murder again." And then you just go. straight Uday Hussein. >> Yeah. >> And they're like, "It's cool.". >> Yeah. >> It's fine. >> Oh, that's not the only. >> Sawyer. >> [snorts]. >> I mean, I think people forget that Joe. Rogan is just a low-information voter. And I know we're not supposed to use. that that phrase anymore. Like I know. that's kind of like. right, it's kind of like gone to the. dustbin. of political terms, but really that's. what he is. I mean, this is a guy who he.
wants to get together with his friends. and just talk. He's a yapper. He wants. to hear himself talk. He wants to bring. up whatever kind of AI slop or. misinformation story that he read on the. internet and talk through it with with. his buddies. But really, he has no. intellectual curiosity. He's not reading. up on the news. He's not staying. informed. He's just coming across. whatever's on his algorithm and deciding. to talk about it. But really, you know, as much as I I I love talking [ __ ] about. Joe Rogan, I mean, I think he embodies I. think what a lot of voters are.
experiencing this day these days where, you know, they'll be on their feed. scrolling through whatever kind of. nonsense AI slop or or whatever garbage. that they're they're taking in on their. feed. And then they'll come across. something that's a traditional news. story like Donald Trump is is setting. himself a two setting up a $2 billion. political slush fund to pay out his. criminal allies and they're like. their mind is boggling cuz it it doesn't. comport with what they've been reading. on their feeds. And and it just. demonstrates to me that like. this the algorithmic ways in which we've.
kind of been segmented into our own. little bubbles, it's evident not only in in everyday. voters who who are trying to kind of. understand the news, but it's evident in. people like Joe Rogan who hosts one of. the biggest platforms in the country for. not only just media, but political. media. This man had the president of the. United States on his platform, has had. the vice president many times. I mean, it's it's truly absurd that these people. feel no sense of responsibility to like, you know, read up the basic facts on. something before they start talking. about it. And I think that's what you're. seeing in that reaction to the slush.
fund. >> Yeah, do you think that this slush fund. is kind of like the. primer for what will eventually be an. Epstein victim slush fund? And I'm not. talking about the actual victims of. sexual abuse. I'm talking about Trump. and his friends like Howard Lutnick and. others that are mentioned in the Epstein. files. >> I'm not really sure. I mean, I I I think. the fact that the the slush fund will.
have zero parameters on it to to ensure. that we can see what happens, to and see. where these payments go, who are getting. them, what's the oversight approval. We. have no idea. So, you know, these. payments could be going out to to allies. of Trump who have or allies of of. Jeffrey Epstein who who have committed. crimes, uh who, you know, the DOJ never. brought charges against, never indicted. Uh but I also think it's for setting up, uh you know, a system in which he can. compensate people for committing crimes. on his behalf in the past while also. incentivizing people to commit crimes on.
his behalf in the future. I mean, this. is. this is not just a a slush fund to to. pay out criminals for doing things. It's. it's to say, "Hey, look, like if you. want to commit crimes in the future on. my behalf, and hey, there's going to be. lots of opportunities uh looking ahead. to 2028, there's there's a pot of money. there for you. There's a there's. something for you to compensate for you. uh uh when you do commit those crimes, and I will have your back." I think the. same can be said for the Epstein. victims. I mean, he still has not ruled. out giving a giving a a pardon to. Ghislaine Maxwell, for example. Uh.
can you imagine if if she if she's. someone who who throws her name in to. apply for this slush fund uh once she's. released? I mean, I can't imagine that uh all of this is. going to be hidden from the public. I. think there's going to be a lot of. reporting. I think there's going to be a. lot of leaks that come out of this. But, the fact that we don't even have the. ability to see uh where these payments. are going and who's making them and. who's requesting them is just absurd. And I think most voters find that. insane. >> I agree. Okay, Trump says prediction. markets must be protected. Pop this up.
He says, "It's critically important that. the CFTC's exclusive authority over. prediction markets is maintained and. that they will thrive under my. leadership. We are setting rules of the. road that are the gold standard for the. states. We cannot have scum scum is all. cap logs like Chris Christie, Letitia. James, Tim Walls, and J.B. Pritzker. setting the rules, other countries are. after this new form of financial market, and we want to remain at the top. likewise, and even more importantly,
where we are currently the crypto, Bitcoin, etc. capital of the world, other countries are trying diligently to. replace us in that capacity. It goes on. and on. Thank you for your attention. You know, just all this [ __ ] And I. think that Don Jr., who I refer to as. Dumb, the son Dumb and Dumber. So, I. think Dumb is a paid advisor to Calshi. So, can you break down the scale of this. corruption that we are seeing from the. Trump administration? And then just.
morally, this all of these betting. markets, gambling is a is a huge. addiction, much like drug addiction. So, can you break all of that down for us? >> Yeah, and and Dumb isn't just a an. advisor to Calshi, he's also an advisor. to Polymarket, and his firm uh 1787 is. an investor in Polymarket. I mean, this. man has has competitor uh prediction. markets uh paying him out dividends for. for his work advocating for these. markets. I think one of the more. uncovered elements of of uh the Trump. presidency, I think probably due to you.
know, Steve Bannon's muzzle velocity. strategy, has been the their complete. dismantling of the regulatory uh system. uh to to to monitor these emerging. markets, things like AI, things like. crypto, and things like these betting. markets. Uh and. it's it's plainly obvious why they're. doing this. I mean, behind the scenes, you've seen Trump allies making billions. of dollars on these markets, trading on. his tariffs, trading on the Iran war, trading on, you know, what color tie.
he's going to wear in a press. conference. I mean, we have no insight. into how these trades are being. conducted, who's making them, if there's. any regulator on the beat like watching. this stuff, I doubt that there is. One. of the more important things about. taking back Congress is is that there's. going to be mountains of work to do to. to investigate the trading around the. Trump presidency. And and not just the. trading, right? The the stuff going on. with AI and crypto, too, is just as. nefarious because it's just as opaque. It's just as hidden from the public. Uh.
and so, you know, the the level of. corruption is astounding. I mean, this. is a man who's made $4 billion. in the first year of the presidency. That's more money than every president. in history combined uh in terms of net. worth uh. in just 1 year in office. It's truly. insane. I mean, we thought it was crazy. when he was handed a $400 million jumbo. jet from the Qataris. Now, he's just. setting up slush funds, just backing up. the truck to the IRS and dumping in. money into his own account. Uh and, you. know, I think. this this this element of the regulatory.
system is just as corrupt as anything. else that he's doing. I mean, you saw. the the report last week that nearly 400. trades he made in the first year in in. the first quarter, sorry, of 2026. Uh. $750 million in profits. I mean, the. level of corruption is truly staggering. Again, I do think people are starting to. wake up to that, but like we have to do. a better job of telling that story. because it's been happening in the. background of all of these other. catastrophes, whether it's ice, you. know, in the streets of our communities, whether it's the Iran war, whether his.
it's his terror agenda. Behind the. scenes, the the thing he's actually. competent in, the thing he's actually. delivering on, is, you know, tons, billions of dollars into his own pockets. and the pockets of his allies. >> Yeah, the uh the guy who just beat. Victor Orban ran on an anti-corruption. campaign with absolutely no media. amplification. He went town-to-town and. spoke about corruption, and I agree that. the Democrats need to speak about. corruption more, but again, we go back. to the centrist issue where they're.
somewhat complicit in the corruption, but I also want to say that I think a. Democrat needs to be bold enough to not. only say we're going to investigate. every single one of these things, hold. everyone accountable for it, but every. single thing that this guy builds, if. it's an arch, if he dyes the reflecting. pool blue, the whatever he builds, we're. tearing every bit of it down. Every. single bit of it down. I mean, I I want. to hear somebody with that kind of fight. in them. I want that type of uh.
erasure from all of the uh his efforts. to put his thumb prints and finger. prints all over our country. What are. your thoughts on that? Do you think. that's petty or do you think that that's. a real thing that Democrats should run. on? >> I think it's absolutely a real thing. Democrats should run on and I think that. there's an open there's an open platform. right now for a 2028 candidate to come. out and say that directly. I mean, they're they're going to be saying it. very soon. Uh but, you know, somebody. who comes out there right now is helping. set the terms for that uh that debate. And you know,
so to to to the AI crypto prediction. market uh conversation, I think that. like you would also like to see a 2028. candidate come out and say, "Hey, we're. going to. we're going to regulate these companies. into oblivion. I mean, we're going to. absolutely put guardrails on these. companies um. and even, you know, ban them in certain. respects. I I I think a 2028 candidate. running on uh banning these prediction. markets or reigning in crypto uh or AI, like you're seeing it right now in. states across the country that are that. are pushing these uh bans on on data.
centers in their communities. I mean, there is a there is a mass organic. effort to push back on these markets uh. and I think a 2028 candidate would be. smart to get out in front of it. Uh. but to the question of of these kind of. vanity projects that are that are. costing billions of dollars, I. absolutely think that they should do. they should make that promise. And they. should make that promise that that it's. going to happen on day one. They're. going to tear down the arch, they're. going to tear down the ballroom, they're. going to strike his name off of. everything uh and, you know, it zero. questions asked, done and dusted. We're. not even going to put this through.
Congress, we're not going to talk about. the funding, it's just going to. disappear. Like, if there's one element. of Trumpism that we can recreate, it's. just bulldozer over you want to bulldoze. when it comes to Trump's legacy because. I don't think there's going to be a. constituency fighting for that once he's. gone. >> I completely agree with you and I will. go watch. Like I want his name I I want. to watch the Trump taken off of the. Kennedy Center. >> tickets. >> Yes, totally could sell tickets for it. Okay, I'm going to do something. absolutely horrible to you and so I. apologize from the outset. Let's talk. about who you like for 2028. Okay,
obviously a year ago we all would have. had Gavin Newsom as kind of the point. guy in the number one position. My opinion he peaked too soon and has. been uh. a flip-flopper. on some issues and kind of played. patty-cake and seated ground to some. like Ben Shapiro, Charlie Kirk, Steve. Bannon that was really off-putting to. me. What's your take on where Gavin. stands right now? >> I do feel like his last, you know, 6 to.
8 months have not been as strong as as. the first, you know, 6 to 8 months of. the Trump presidency. I think some of his kind of. communications tactics. were were extremely successful and I. would continue to push Democrats to like. find creative ways to get their voice. out there, to find creative ways to push. back on Trump. You know, obviously you can't do the. exact same thing that that that Newsom. did. But I think, you know, it's still very. early. I think Newsom can recalibrate. I. do think that he's made a lot of kind of. weird pivots into, you know, hosting.
Steve Bannon on his on his podcast to. then turning around and being the kind. of anti-MAGA fighter that that that I. think Democrats are looking for. He's. kind of throwing stuff at the wall right. now and seeing what sticks. I have not I. have not been. even remotely swayed by any of these. 2028 candidates. into being, you know, in their camp or. pushing for them. I have zero. frontrunners right now and I think that. that's a good thing, right? Like I want. to hear a Democratic candidate who can. articulate, you know, both like a policy. vision for what we want in the future,
who is going to push both account. accountability measures for everything. that's happening in this administration. both you know tearing down those vanity. projects holding them accountable for. all of the corruption and crime that. they've committed but then also like I. think that this is a real chance in 2028. to run a candidate who has who's got a. bigger vision for. you know ethically what this country. stands for I mean if if we have a. candidate who who's able to marshal kind. of public support for banning. gerrymandering nationwide for getting. money out of politics for expanding the.
Supreme Court doing things that will. safeguard our democracy to prevent. anybody like Donald Trump from ever. taking office those are the candidates. that I'm interested in right now. that being said they also have to. articulate an economic vision a populist. economic vision for the country. that combination I have not seen any. candidate who is who is able to kind of. articulate that perfectly the way I. would want to but it's still very early. I think candidates I'm liking right now. I I think Ossoff has been very good at. kind of articulating that corruption and. accountability message of course he's. running in a Senate race and so it's.
it's kind of tailored specific to. specifically to his campaign but. you know I think he in the in the near. future you're going to start to see. candidates pop up and giving some of. these big speeches at these big forums. articulating what they're standing for. but I I love the fact that I don't even. have a even close to a front runner I. want to be completely wooed by these. candidates and right now they're not. doing the wooing yet. >> I agree as it pertains to the midterms I. have this really like really bad feeling. about states like Georgia states like. Texas red states that like Tele Rico.
might might win Texas. but they will take votes ballots trash. them and cheat and I think that these. red state governors are so obsequious to. Donald Trump and everything they do is. for a party of one and I'm gravely. concerned that. election integrity is already. compromised and. further piling on, we talked about the.
slush fund. I think that is a signal to. people who want to go, you know, rough up ballot places, polling places, that they that you. there's a financial incentive to do it. At the same time, I don't want to talk. about this too much because I don't want. to participate in suppressing the vote. Because we've always known that we have. free, fair, and safe elections. Until, you know, the Republicans are always. beating, you know, about all of these. imaginary dead people that are voting. and all of this stuff. How concerned are. you. when you get to red states that need.
these house seats, that need these. Senate seats? I mean, do you think Greg. Abbott do you do you think he's going to. be. good on this thing? Do you think his. attorney general's going to be pure on. this thing? Or do you think they're. going to cook the books? >> You know, I. I I would say I'm more concerned about. about what you're articulating than I am. about say, you know, them sending the. National Guard or ICE into the polling. places. I think some of those kind of. intimidation tactics. are going to backfire. I mean, I truly.
think that like the public is is ready. to send a protest vote against against. this specific administration. And. Republican candidates will will kind of. be the proxies for for that fight. But I. am I am very concerned about, you know, ballot boxes essentially being tampered. with, voting results not not being. delivered, you know, or being tampered with before. they're delivered. I think the way the way our elections. are structured, the fact that states. administer these elections and local. officials administer these elections. more so than anybody, tens of thousands.
of local officials administer elections. around the country. There are a lot of eyes. on the results. There are a lot of eyes. on the process. And it's going to be. very hard for for them to outright cheat. without us noticing at the very least. And so I think Democrats right now have. to be doing an immense amount of leg. work to like prepare the legal ease for. for these major fights that are going to. come immediately after the election. He. is going to try to tamper with the. election. Uh he is going to try uh to. force Republicans like Greg Abbott to to. to to [ __ ] around with with uh.
>> [clears throat]. >> election results. Thankfully, uh governors don't really have much. power when it comes to elections. It's, you know, secretaries of state uh and. county administrators who who deal with. those. But, I do think Democrats would. be very wise right now to have a game. plan in every single state in the. country uh to to to rapid fire uh you. know, issue lawsuits the second uh. something looks fishy uh to be, you. know, tabulating results at a. county-based level and and tracking. those uh as they come in statewide to. make sure that those numbers are.
aligning, um you know, to safeguard. election machinery uh and and who owns. that machinery, who you know, uh if. federal officials try to show up and. take it, uh what what happens in that. scenario. I think they need to be laying. all of this out right now because it is. going to happen. He is going to try, uh. and I think there's going to be plenty. of officials who who fight back against. him, but we definitely cannot count on. people like Greg Abbott to uh to fight. back against Trump or do what's right. >> Nor the Supreme Court because if you. remember in uh 2000, George W. Bush.
lost, but um. George H.W. Bush had some friends at the. Supreme Court and got his son That's. another Dumb and Dumber. >> [laughter]. >> Yeah, they're the the OG Dumb and. Dumber. >> They're the OG, and he got his son, you. know, they threw out those votes. Florida Secretary of State was in the. tank. You know, that was like the. precursor for MAGA, and I just when I. start thinking about all that stuff, I. have PTSD. Remember they were like the. counting chads and all that stuff went. on. >> Counting chads, yeah. >> Oh my god, it was so terrible. All.
right, final thoughts, Sawyer. What's. what's keeping you up at night right now. politically or what's exciting you? >> I mean, I I I spent a lot of time in. Texas politics, and so I'm very excited. about what's happening in Texas right. now. I think we kind of have a perfect. storm starting to align uh in the state. where you have an extremely unpopular. president who who's driving away. independents, who's driving away Latino. voters, who's driving away black voters. and women and young voters. I mean, the. exact constituencies that you need to. hold on to a state like Texas.
>> [laughter]. >> Right. Right. And then you have Ken Paxton who who. doubles down on on all of those failures. of. Trump. I mean, Trump has a 17% approval. rating among independents in Texas. He's. extremely unpopular. And Ken Paxton. doesn't do anything to shore up any of. those voters. You know, I I think James Talarico is a. strong candidate. I think he does appeal. to to some of those kind of independent. swing voters. I think he can win some of. those over. I like that he's leading. with a populist kind of progressive. economic message.
You know, but more so than that, I think. the national environment is is leading. is going to lead us to a potential wave. election that I think can include Texas. if we make the right investments, if. we're doing the organizing right now. But but it seems to me like Trump's. coalition from 2024 has completely. dissolved. And not only that, he's. pushing away the kinds of voters that he. would need to hold on to states like. Texas. I think we have a chance to win there. I. think we have a chance to win in Alaska. I think we have a chance to win in Iowa.
I think the Senate is more gettable than. people have been talking about. I think. the redistricting games that they're. playing in the house will hurt us. certainly, but I think we can easily win. the house by 20-30 seats still. The real. fight is going to be 2028. And I think. that's that leads me to the thing that. I'm scared of the most is that I don't. think Democrats are taking seriously. this redistricting fight heading into. 2028. I think we we were pushing strong. in 20 ahead of 2026. We came up short obviously with with the. help of some of these court court. decisions, but if we're not leading that. fight heading into 2028, we're going to.
get absolutely bulldozed. And so I want to see Democrats I want to. see Democrats running on it. I mean, not just like abandoning. a redistricting, but saying we're. absolutely going to do this. Start to. lay the groundwork for it right now so. that when it comes when we leave the. midterms when we're outside of the. midterms we can say to voters like look. this is something I've run on this is a. priority for me and we're going to push. it because Republicans are trying to. steal another election and in 2028 they. will be more successful in stealing an. election than they would have been in. 2026 because they have so much more.
ground to steal when it comes to. redistricting. >> I completely agree. Sawyer Hackett, thank you so much for joining me. Listener go follow @SawyerHackett on all. of the places that you follow. I think. you'll learn a lot of insightful things. about politics and it's my understanding. you cook it up too which the only thing. I know how to make is reservations so I. admire your culinary skills Sawyer. >> Well, I'm going to I'm going to have a. I'm going to have a new cooking and and. politics show on YouTube soon and and. you will be getting an invite so you'll. have to pick a dish and we can cook it. together. We'll figure it out.
>> Okay, we'll do something really complex. like a grilled cheese sandwich. >> Love that. >> [laughter]. >> Love a grilled cheese. Grilled cheese. and tomato soup there's nothing better. >> my faves. I know I can't wait to do it. Thank you so much Sawyer. >> Thanks for having me. >> [music].
