Why Trump's Presidency is All But Over: James Carville | The Daily Beast Podcast

have to understand that Trump care about anything but himself. Trump loves humiliating I think he likes to get Mike. Johnson and Lindsey Graham and then just slap them around. I think he enjoys it. And maybe they enjoy to fall under. I'm Joanna Coles. This is the Daily Beast podcast. And today we are back with James Carville. There is almost nobody who has a better turn of phrase. And he comes up with two fantastic ones. In this interview, he wrote last week, an excellent column for The New York Times.

And I'm going to just read three lines from it. The era of performative woke politics from 2020. to 2024 has left a lasting stain on our brand, particularly with rural voters and male voters. And then, he says, we can no longer be the party. with a whiff of moral absolutism. We can correct this only by looking toward the future, always in every situation. possible, and pivoting to a form of economic rage as our response.

This offers Democrats the greatest gift you can have in American politics. as second chance. So let's find out exactly what he meant by that. James Carville, let's get into it. James, you are. predicting a whiff of the French Revolution. in America in an excellent column that you wrote in the New York Times, in the last couple of days. What do you mean? What do you mean? How bad is it?

Well, what's happening is we have not just inequality, the discrepancies or whatever you want to call it. And about 40, 45% of the country can't pay your bills. Young people see no future. They can't imagine ourselves ever buying a house. They can't imagine themselves that go forward. An education. Meanwhile, savings. You know, people have just run off with the whole stack. and look at what we just did. We just added another $4 trillion in debt. We just gave more tax cuts to more rich people.

We cut subsidies. The things that matter to people. all over the country, like rural hospitals, small town hospitals, what are we doing? And the young people are going to see us and they're going to figure out that, hey, these people stole everything from us, so let's go get our fair share. And that's that's how you that's how unrest starts. And the best thing to do is get ahead of it and try to deepen. this thing out a little bit. Do you sense that Donald Trump having won,

you know, every single swing state. is actually somewhat more vulnerable. than we might have anticipated this early into his administration? Well, let's look at the election that was held. I guess we're still in November. No, it's the 1st of December. James Walker AP went out a less than a month ago. There was an election that was beyond conclusive. It was it was stunning. It was stunning, not just in the depth but the breadth of it.

I mean, well, it was if it was Mississippi of Virginia. or New Jersey or Georgia, it was almost same thing. And, you know, as we speak now, there's this, Tennessee district up special, that are going to be the second. and, trump card that was about. 22 points in his polling is now at an all time low. I just saw Gallup. He's at 36, Robert Mercer.

Or you can go I think his presidency. in terms of like getting anything significantly done is over. I mean, you know, he's got to definitely deal with a Democratic House. I think it's more likely to be dealing with a Democratic Senate. So today is the first day when people can enroll in Obamacare, and they will see their health premiums going up. substantially, often double, in some cases trebled. Do you think that is going to be a new tipping point for people?

I mean, it impacts 23 million people. Of course it is. And was also going up as electricity costs going up. It's to like 21% higher than the inflation rate. I mean, you got to deal with that insurance cost. and in God doesn't have anything. We're not going to be able to afford it. Yeah. Yeah. The black Brown exchange. I mean. you hear real life horror stories from people like I was paying four. and $50 a year, and you want me to pay $2,200 a year, and I just can't afford it.

And that's very common. And these notices are going out as. we speak, and, and, and it's going to we haven't begun to see the real effect of this. So you mentioned the idea. of, of economic rage, and the Oxford dictionary. has just released its word of the year, which is rage bait. as usual, you're right on the money.

What? What exactly did you mean by that? And how can people. how can people display it? Well, what what would it mean? It's lit up a lot. There's been a tremendous amount of generational theft from people of. my generation, even generation after me, to the current young people. And they're going to figure it out. And the rage is what what? It is so desperate now, like $38 trillion, $39 trillion. And they got nothing.

They got nothing. They got they can't buy a house. I mean, and in everything our entire tax code is, is tilted towards. savers, is tilted toward, you know, the way I described is there's. two kinds of people in the world. Those that have it made, they have savings account there on the house. They have money in a bank, and they have health insurance, and they have all will do accouterments. And she think I've got a part of good life. And then you have a people that would like to have some power.

And if the people with power block out. everybody else but themselves, people. are gonna find a way to get around it, if you will. I mean, Lloyd Blankfein, this was back in the last decade. He was the chairman of Goldman Sachs. He said, we know how to create wealth. We just don't know how to distribute it. And as we go to get it much more stratified, it is, you know, 7 or 8 companies that make up. x percent of the S&P or whatever it is, it's going to get worse.

And if you don't do something and correct it and try to balance it out. And this is all happening, by the way, in 4% unemployment, could you imagine what is going to look like in 6.5% unemployment? So the people should be outraged at. what we've done and our tax code. We should be outraged about. how how we don't give opportunity. And, you know, how we build more prisons in the bill classrooms or any other stuff.

You ought to go so that there's a lot to be outraged about. A lot. So what is the solution for Democrats? You've always maintained it's the economy, stupid. That was your sort of brilliant catch phrase. And yet the Democrats seemed to move away from that. What happened and how did they get it back? Well, I think it did start moving back in the last election. I think Spanberger I think all of them. And I mean, that's all he talked about. So.

Well, you're right. The reporting got it. I don't know what happened. People lost their minds and it just generally walks off. I wish somebody would explain it to me one day. I mean, it was so. it was so stupid and it was so sticky. And the language just kind of. He dumped you no matter how you couldn't. Washed a still job. But what we're going to ask him do. when we talk about cost issues, affordability, inflation, cost of living, whatever you want to call it.

Now let's talk about it. How do we what can we do to get the price down? Well, there's also another way that you can do this. There's another tool in the toolkit. And let's try to get wages up. right. We have our show. You could you could raise the minimum wage just like it's been done in. I don't know, 15 years or more than that maybe. And people say well I don't know how many people get it. Well okay. But you're telling people we see you.

who who's going to live on $8 an hour. And then a lot of people, a lot of companies. take pride of fact, but we pay 4 or $5 above minimum wage. Well, great. Minimum wage was eight and you pay them 13. Rudman wage is 15 and you pay it 19. People need a rate. that they need low prices, but they need a raise. Also. You know, prices are not going to come down. if inflation, the inflation rate goes to zero. The price is still baked. Yeah.

You see what I'm saying. Yeah. It doesn't cause a dollar cost $1.50 and you stop all inflation. Well still $0.50 more. More than was before. in deep. got to deal with that through paying people more. you're calling for a minimum wage of $20. that manageable? I mean, I can already hear the mom and pop businesses saying, we can't do that. If we have to go to $20 an hour, we're going to have to lose people. where our margins are so thin we can't do that.

The margins are thin because everybody around here. is making $8 an hour and you rise, you pay $20 an hour. That would that would go on to your bottom line. Okay. But you'd be paying people every right. And by where other people would be getting paid $20 an hour, so other people would come in and buy more of your product. I mean, what you're trying to do is say, I can't pay anybody because I'm. right here and I'm living with the margin I have in the system I have, which is a very low, low wage system that we're living in.

Well, I understand that, but I think it is possible. What would my Henry for if all of his folks. sit here and tell you they weren't multitudinous? He was the first person to figure out if you pay people a product. Right. Okay, fine. Yeah, very good point. If you work for Ford, you could actually afford a Ford. What? What a drastic idea in this world it's going to cost, you know, Seattle, raise every dollar $20 an hour or something.

And it was going to cost all jobs. And it was a doomsday and everything else. Of course, no such goddamn thing happened. California raised. You can't he can't get him in and out. Burger. Every time I go and I've been driving picks me up in L.A. and there's one I guess I was about and I said, well, let's stop it in and out. I want to get a burger now. No, mine lives too long, all right. I've never seen that place where they weren't. bringing up the cash register and they have a higher minimum wage. It's always an excuse. We can't raise taxes on rich people because they might leave.

Well, you know what? If you can't pay 40%, carry on. Get out of here. All right. You think of the people sacrifice in this country and marched and. chanted, machine gun. Now said, you know, a Revolutionary war. And I. And you can't pay that well. Carry your ass, man. Carry your ass, man. I love that expression. Okay, that's a good expression for a Monday. So. So, James, what do you think the tariffs have done to the economy?

I mean some days or tariffs other days. We're not sure if there are times it's. making very difficult for businesses to manage. What are your thoughts on the tariffs? know I think tariffs I think they're right for things. that they're not don't work very well. Some people claim that if you limited you, they can have some some value. The economy is really big okay. And the amount that the tariffs affect is probably not a big benefit.

Yeah. You know for certain products and certain things in a lot of it. that they're trying to adjust to the higher taxes. So for the often ahead inventory. But it's going to kick in more and more. And it doesn't produce the kind of revenue the cost of produce usually produces. Some but not not a great deal. And and you know, Democrats have never been a pro tariff party. and you great end up hurting there over a long period of time are very industries.

because American agriculture is very much a worldwide product. Okay. So you mentioned Zoran Mamdani earlier he's been utterly. focused on the word affordability. We saw him last week or ten days ago now meeting Donald Trump. What was your impression of the meeting? Because I think it surprised a lot of people. Yeah, I, I didn't hear it. This is my first you have to understand. that Trump you know, everyone get to my point.

I'm not using this just for a wider attack. Trump and he doesn't care about anything but himself right. Yeah. That's you brought the Republican House majority of my Johnson. And Johnson is. trying to stay in the Donald Trump. Mike Johnson is a transvestite. Oh, fantastic. you're full of very vibrant images this morning. so then you have the whole Fox air, a fox, the whole Newsmax, a whole New York Post operation.

Yeah, it was some amount of urban myth. Not everything was going down. These are structures. What are you going to do? You got to. So yeah, every time you go yeah. And Trump just took the sugar okay. Because now if any demand goes on Fox now we got to ask Trump. after Trump to break a family. And I am. But you know you can apparently he saves a lot nominee and he likes. I mean he just he just simply took the oxygen out of.

that talking point. Election night. You know the never knowing it was new Jersey or Virginia. or anything like that was all, you know, the socialists of the world, workers in the world unite or anything. And yeah, I hey, it is what it was really. It was amazing. And it was a. Amazing to see how little about the kind of people that stick with him. and how willing he has to die from if you get when. I think they'll probably learn one day, but on a whim.

So in the election that you've just referenced, we had two moderate candidates. and Mikie Sherrill in New Jersey and Abigail Spanberger in Virginia. You had Zoran Mamdani speaking a much more. Well, he would say he's a democratic socialist, although he frantically seems to be moving to the middle. Now. What do you think is the future of the actual Democratic Party? So rescue unwrapping here? We we.

it's not just done we have to ask about nowadays. Okay, let's start with something. The man in New York has never been a figure in national politics. Let me repeat, the mayor of New York, who's never been much of a figure in Denver public. I'm not sure they would all agree with you with that. The Any more that went anywhere a couple tried, they went nowhere. That John Lindsay, Rudy Giuliani was a disgrace person in America. Are you kidding me? LaGuardia? No, I think so.

So So I think new York clocks in about 8 million people. Okay. All right. Between new Jersey and Virginia, you're looking, I don't know, probably 17, 19 million people. So why does you get session with one city in Delaware? What about the Georgia Public Service Commission, the Mississippi State Senate, the Pennsylvania retention, the California. dollar ballot initiative? All of them do in upstate New York, too.

Huge. Yes, it is county commissions. But we must talk about Montgomery, because York is the center. of the universe, that nothing else exists in the United States but New York, when in fact the city, New York is. not a very it's a big player in finance. It's a big play. And the day there's a big play and advertises and they play, it is great. It is one of my favorite cities in the entire world. I'm going there tomorrow. I can't wait.

But we're not the center of the political universe. You're just not. You're not even in swing. Not even a swing place, if you want, wouldn't pay for your money. Politicians wouldn't much care about you. deducting from that that you're saying the future of the Democratic Party. is going to be moderate? right now, the Democratic Party does not have a message. It can't have a message. It doesn't have to not make it has an argument. These people have to be stopped. We need somebody in the Congress to stand up to that argument. It's going to win you a lot of elections.

The only way that you're going to have a message is Democratic. voters are going to pick their presidential nominee. That way. The Madonna people can the Socialist can have somebody. I'm just going to have somebody to somebody else can have somebody. You said it all right. And then the commentariat does not pick who's going to lead the. The actual people who vote in the party. I'm going to pick to take personally. I'm going to lead the party. Who should be the most important people and party the most important.

Now, what we do know for a fact that in this. century now I may be 72, but maybe not. even if the Democrats never picked the most left candidate ever. Right now that gets in the way of the story, right? Because New York has to be central to the story, right? It has to be central to the story. But I'm not tuned in. Change.

Madame in New York got 50% 50. I think it's 50.5. The fact. of 58, the 50%. But the Democratic nominee is not a you know, why not? But at all. No, but but Mamdani was up against, an establishment. Democrat and Andrew Cuomo, who fought as an independent right. So he still couldn't get much above 50. that. James. It was the biggest voter turnout since the late 60s.

this point, just going is New York City. It's not anything else. Okay. Okay. Yeah. You get you're not the center of the political universe. in the United States, That's very disappointing to me. This is a brew. So Monday morning, disappointing. it because this is the story we want to report on. This is not the story. We don't want to talk about the minimum wage. We don't want to talk about excessive prices. We don't want to talk about Spanberger Sherrod.

We don't want to talk about the Georgia, but we want to talk about New York City. And we won't talk about New York City and nothing else, because that is all about interest jobs it's a great point, except that Donald Trump didn't invite or perhaps Abigail Spanberger and, Mike Sherrill were turned down, but they didn't go and talk to him. And that's what was interesting about the development of I thought. was very interesting. Idea. And I thought that, again, what I said earlier, Trump is he just you just stand.

Have you ever every right wing person who was going to be a billionaire, but. now we spent 60% of the show talking about Monami. you have said that the Democratic Party has a fantastic. bench of potential future leaders. You analyzed very early on that Bill. Clinton was an early leader and was going to to win. And you hitched your wagon to him.

Who would you hit your wagon to with the current bench? But, first column, if I do that, I was to get somebody I don't know. Everybody wants me dead. And I've just come to realize if you just look around. and when you see it, you're going to see a talent level, the likes of which I've never seen in my life in a single party, in some of them not even going to run for president. I mean, let me get you to. I probably will run for president one day.

I don't know, I don't know about 2028. We don't guy, though. And this a slot. But and these are so people are so talented. or completely different level than you can imagine. But there's all kinds we got terrific. people are going to run for president I hope you all right. I've talked to a lot of interesting man. For God sakes get out there and run. The more people we have run in, Vice President. Harris wants to get in, get it beat.

Everybody's going to hand it to you. That was the stupidest thing we ever did, was not try. to get some kind of a contested process underway in 2024. Yeah. Thank you. The mistakes we made over the summer of 2024. with some of the worst, any political party that ever made in the history of the United States. And you mean because Joe Biden didn't step down early enough? Do you mean because he just anointed Kamala? Okay, let's go through the timeline.

I myself and to be fair, some other people were the only one. But I've got a few people kept saying we shouldn't be doing this. We shouldn't be doing this. Biden is too. Oh probably. No, I was going to do it. Then there was a fundraiser financially in early. June 2024, George Clooney. said, okay, I've seen the right. Rob Reiner, who was one about good friends, good big credit more. Clooney said, okay, I've seen the right. Rob Reiner, who was one about good friends, good big credit more.

I've seen the like. Okay. And then so on June 27th, And so the heat comes out. and Pelosi Schumer go to see him. And then on the 21st, the good part of going through this agony. from July 27th now reset on August 31st. He says I'm getting out and I want it to be half. And to have this thing contested. They were bragging to Harris people, but I think we shut down and it is contested convention shit.

Yeah. You did. You shut down any chance I was winning the election? And what? I said, I'll stick with it if They were bragging to Harris people, but I think we shut down and it is contested convention shit. Yeah. You did. You shut down any chance I was winning the election? And what? I said, I'll stick with it if you this. We don't want my five points. that President Obama and President Clinton should pick six, seven, eight cabinet and hold four town halls around the country.

And you know, Chicago and had an open convention and have some drama. We could have done that. You could have done that. But they shut down any opportunity that the Democrats. had to pick somebody that they wanted. And you ran. And given that voting loss, about 1.7%. Yeah. I actually picked up a house in the press. over reaction to the death of the Democratic Party.

Oh my God, what's going to happen? This you're like a comic. And now that everybody's trying to figure out what to do because, well, maybe the Hispanics are not gone. What happened? Oh my God. Wait. Reported that the Democrats lost all Hispanics. Then it comes back. Well, they really did. And then the Democrats lost all the young people, but they really did. And so now everybody has got to cover up every asinine thing they said. Post the 2024 election and. we're going to win big.

We're winning everything like really big. And we're going to continue to do that. and trump the power is growing out of Trump but bottom. But you can just feel it losing out now. The last people. sometimes the last people to know to have the people that are closest to him. But here's his numbers, right. They had a catastrophic position. Remember, we still have his health care subsidies coming.

And it's still going to have a vote on Jan. where the 31st, who knows what's going to happen. And. You know he might just have an eight. Can't do anything I mean he's pathetic to begin. What. And Trump just you know Trump loves humiliating I think he likes to get Mike. Johnson and Lindsey Graham and then just slap them around. I think he enjoys it. And maybe they enjoy to fall under. did you think about the, resignation of Marjorie Taylor Greene from Georgia?

You know, I think that first of all, that of those survivors of that. Maxwell and Epstein, which I was women Congressman, I think, in effect, you I mean, I even have really kind of weird politics, but but that is that. I mean, I think, I think she was affected by it. And I think she figured out that. Trump and she was some of the first one, maybe she lost more of that.

or better antenna. He doesn't care about me. What am I doing here? I've given my my whole sense of loyalty my whole life. I've given myself respect. I've given everything in service. to this person, and he doesn't give a shit about me. And the other thing was, I know that congressional district is like. northwest Georgia, and it's a lot of people like me. Health insurance subsidies to get involved. It's not a it's not it's not a particularly it's not particularly.

diverse is not particularly assault, part of the country. And probably the combination of that is. to be an affected by these survivors. of realizing that this Trump left. is a one way street and seeing real damage come to and not have any doubt. And she'd like to be given a congressional district. And what do you think about the Epstein files? Do you think that's had a serious impact on Donald Trump? mean, yeah, it because there's a.

the reason is, is a belief. about my dad pretty correct. that there's a different set of rules for powerful people. when they get away with stuff and they get away with sexual exploits. or tax avoidance or things like that, or, you know, they cut the line and there's no way that they have a world. the rest of us have a world in this story fit perfectly into that narrative, and then furthermore, fit perfectly into the a right wing narrative.

where they had been telling people that there was this cabal. of sex traffickers that were trafficking and young women, you know, it was going to end up being one last part in the middle of it. But they're not the let to go, and no one's going to let it go because the story is too book. your old boss, Bill Clinton, and, the former first lady, Hillary. Clinton, have have been subpoenaed by by Donald Trump or by his DOJ. Do you think they're going to show up?

And you have to ask David Kendall. Okay, we want me to be talking about it, but, it, I'm not really a lawyer, and he's a good. Okay. All right. So finally, James, where do you think the next year finds us? I mean, we seem to have Trump distancing himself from his head of the. Department of War, Pete Hegseth, over what's happening in, in the Caribbean with the the Department of War.

bombing little boats, and saying that, you know, he'd only want. he only thought it was going to be bombed once and, you know, blah, blah, blah. Do you see this all imploding for Donald Trump at this point? People at the end of the day, people look at things. People like corner. They don't want to like beat people up on the streets. They don't mind. They like having a lot of immigration. Right? But when they see disorder, they bring in troops.

It is so dominant, reminds you so much that he's in charge. Okay. So they think they're going to bring him in. Look look around the world. Look at Ukraine. And at least the Caribbean. Look at what's happening on city streets in Washington DC. And these young guardsmen tragically, being shot down, in every way you look, there's disorder. You know, you have the volatility in the stock.

market and people are just like, who's in charge out there. in that world, in that will sort of brand with that. Hey, the outgoing army may have been a little extreme in doing it, but that wasn't part is just massive confusion, massive disorder. And the public has And the public has turned out. And you know, you see. this this this just, you know, the f thing, right now,

it's all the shooting of these survivors and the gunned down. That's the oldest law of the sea that exists in you. Don't talk to people who clinging on for dear life. I mean, so many times you see a World War Two movie. where the Germans would, you know, surface and then, you know, machine. gunned down the sailors on these cargo ships that were coming over. You were outraged, like, oh, my God, you let them freeze to death, but don't shoot them. I it so and it's something that people can understand. This is not, abstract use of military power at nighttime, right?

These innocent people clinging to a board in the middle of the ocean. that we just got out and shot again. And the same thing with the Epstein found. He's caught in some pretty human dramas. And then you have the whole. FBI. Kash Patel taking a 757. to see his girlfriend take his girlfriend to concert. I mean, I don't see how this gets better for them.

I really doubt that I, I maybe there's a way, but it is very difficult for me to see it. Well, James, I think you're bringing order to the Democratic Party. Well, you can't bring it up. People are going to bring order to the Democratic Party. or the people who vote in the Democratic primaries in 2028. And I think if history is any guide, and I suspect it. will be right, southern blacks will return to the party. They always do. We in 92 do. We?

The people that really nominated us, we did win New Hampshire. Same thing. We should be in the Clinton Obama. Same thing was true because Biden it all came down to to the South. And, you know, in the Democratic Party, most a lot of our votes in the South are black. And they very wisely pick candidates and they don't vote for a shiny object. There's an expression. and they said they're looking for a candidate. that's walk the walk, not one that talks at all. And so take a look at who's walk the walk.

And that's what I do pretty good. All right. Well James, thank you very much for joining us. always good to hear your point of view and your phrases. Mike Johnson a trouser stay and Thank you very much. We will see you soon. Right. So there you have it. Mike Johnson a trouser stain I don't know whose trousers. he was a stain on, but but what an image to leave you with. And of course, James Carville at 81 is ahead of the pack.

Oxford says that the word of the year is rage, mate. And James says it's actually economic rage, economic rage. for the Democratic Party. That is the solution to the midterms. If you have been. Thank you for joining us. Please subscribe to the Daily Beast podcast. And let us know what you think. Leave us a comment. Leave us a review. We love to hear from you. Don't forget very important to beast and don't forget to subscribe. to the Daily Beast podcast,

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