Thursday on the RealClearPolitics podcast, Carl Cannon, Tom Bevan, and Andrew Walworth discuss President Trump’s immigration policies leading to the first possible annual decline in the total U.S. population, and challenges facing House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries inside the caucus. Washington Post columnist Henry Olsen joins the show to talk about whether President Trump is a help or hindrance to GOP candidates in the midterms, the overall effects of redistricting, and the 2028 Democratic presidential field. Plus, the legacy of recently deceased feminist icon Gloria Steinem, and a CNN report connecting the Trump administration’s funding cuts for a research program that could have one day predicted the recent landslide in Nepal. Listen live weekdays at 11:00 a.m. Eastern on SiriusXM’s Megyn Kelly Channel 111, or on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, or other platforms.

00:00 – Opening: U.S. Population Could Decrease This Year Walworth, Cannon, and Bevan discuss the implications of President Trump’s immigration policies, which may have led to, for the first time, a decline in the total U.S. population this year. “Is Trump a victim of his success, in that he’s deported so many people that people don’t think it’s an issue anymore?” Walworth asks. Center For Immigration Studies: Total Foreign-Born Population Down 2.9 Million Washington Post: Trump Set to Mark a Dangerous First For Labor Force “I’m exceedingly skeptical that what Trump’s done has hurt the U.S. labor market,” Cannon said. “This idea that America doesn’t have enough people seems so counterintuitive as to be specious.” *** 10:55 – Jeffries Puts Defectors on Notice The panel turns to challenges facing House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries, after Jared Golden and Marie Gluesenkamp Perez broke with Democrats on a procedural House vote. What would an expanded DSA-aligned bloc in the House mean for the party? “He can’t be bowing to the extremists in the caucus if he wants to run that place,” Bevan said. *** 19:23 – 2026 Harder Than It Looks for Dems Washington Post columnist Henry Olsen joins the show to talk about whether President Trump is a help or hindrance to GOP candidates in the midterms. He says he expects Democrats to retake the House majority, but redistricting has made that much more difficult than the simple generic ballot polling average would suggest. RCP Average: 2026 Generic Congressional Vote | Democrats +5.7 As for the Senate, Olsen predicts a coin flip. “Democrats really need everything to go their way to get more than a one-seat majority right now,” he said. “If the Republicans improve their standing by even a couple of points, you know, like Trump goes from 40% to 43% in job approval, or the generic ballot shrinks to five points, then I think the Senate is going to be a really hard pull for Democrats.” RCP Average: Battle for the Senate 2026 46 Democrats | 7 Toss Ups | 47 Republicans They also break down whether Donald Trump is a net positive or negative for GOP candidates on the campaign trail, what affirmative case Republicans can make beyond attacking Democratic candidates as too radical, and whether aggressive partisan gerrymandering is reaching the point where district lines predetermine too many election outcomes. Henry Olsen, Washington Post: Dems’ Path to House Majority Narrower Than It Looks “If it weren’t for redistricting, Republicans would be dead in the House,” Olsen said. “What we’re getting to is a situation where the votes don’t matter because the redistricting has already set that stage, and I think that’s a very bad development for democracy.” *** 35:18 – AOC in 2028? The group also handicaps the 2028 Democratic presidential primary field. Olsen sees the party divided between an increasingly assertive left and a more conventional center-left establishment, with neither side showing an obvious advantage. He predicts AOC is positioning herself for a presidential run in what will become an unusually intense ideological primary. RCP Average: 2028 Democratic Presidential Nomination “This battle’s going to be like nothing we’ve seen since 1972,” Olsen said. “There is no strong, obvious candidate for the center-left, and there is no clear strategy for defanging the left that strikes me as persuasive.” *** 37:38 – Gloria Steinem’s Legacy The episode ends with a reflection on the legacy of feminist icon Gloria Steinem, who passed away this week at 92, emphasizing her role in transforming women’s political participation, journalism, and popular culture. *** 44:00 – Tom Bevan Media Rant Plus, Bevan criticizes a CNN story linking Trump administration funding cuts to a natural-disaster monitoring program-even though it wouldn’t have done anything to prevent the disaster. CNN: Trump Administration Cut Funds For Natural Hazards Monitoring in Nepal “The reflex of the media is to take every story and filter it through this tedious ‘Get Trump’ lens narrative. It is never-ending,” Bevan said. “And so every natural disaster that happens around the world, every disaster that happens around the world is somehow linked to Donald Trump and his administration, and it’s his fault.” “My point is you don’t hate the media enough,” he said.

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