Friday on the RealClearPolitics podcast, RCP contributor Richard Porter joins Tom Bevan and Carl Cannon to discuss a new poll on President Trump’s approval ratings and how he should campaign for Republicans in the midterms. After that, Jay Nordlinger from The New Criterion joins the show to talk about U.S. policy toward Venezuela and the first couple of weeks of the Mamdani administration in New York. Plus, a discussion about a new Gallup poll, which shows a sharp rise in how many Americans see big business as a “threat.” You can listen to the show live each day at 11:00 a.m. on SiriusXM’s Megyn Kelly Channel 111 and then on Apple, Spotify, YouTube, and here on our website. *** The show opens with a new CNN poll where 58% of respondents call Trump’s first year back in office “a failure.” Bevan asks: “If you look at the details of the CNN poll, he still has really strong support among Republicans, but his approval rating among independents is low-and obviously Democrats hate him. If he just kind of stops stirring the pot a little bit, will that win back some of these independents?” “That’s just not who Donald Trump is,” Cannon said. “When he’s up against Harris or Biden in this Manichean politics of today, he does better. But now a year into it, he’s being compared to himself.” *** After that, around minute 18:30, Jay Nordlinger joins the discussion. He writes a Substack called Onward and Upward and is the author of a book on the Nobel Peace Prize titled, “Peace They Say.” He talks about the novel political tactic of Venezuela opposition leader Maria Corina Machado giving her prize medal to President Donald Trump. “She has a problem — the president is now cozy with the acting president of Venezuela, a woman named Dulce Rodriguez, who was just an old chavista and was deputy to Maduro,” he explained. “Trump referred to Rodriguez as, quote, a terrific person. So what’s Machado going to do?” “Every Nobel laureate gets three things: a certificate, which you can frame and hang; this medal, which has Alfred Nobel’s visage on it; and plenty of cash. She could give the U.S. president the medal,” he explained. “Will it be worth it? Will it prove effective? I’m sure she was advised to do it.” *** Next, 33 minutes into the show, the gang talks more with Nordlinger about the first two weeks of the Mamdani administration, and the New York Times’ complaint that none of his deputy mayors are black. “I am an old-fashioned mid–20th century advocate of colorblindness-there are about 11 of us left-but these racial politics are extremely important in New York and other cities,” Nordlinger said. “I remember 1980s Mayor Ed Koch, someone asked him whether appointing Ray Kelly the deputy police commissioner was ‘perpetuating the stereotype that cops need to be Irish,’ and he said, ‘Ray, you told me you were Jewish!'” *** Finally, around minute 37, the group reviews a new Gallup poll saying more Americans -now 37%- see big business as a “threat.” “Gallup has been tracking this for a number of years, and the question is which one is more of a threat in the future to the country,” Bevan explained. “Big government is still seen as the larger threat by a majority -57%- but big business is now at 37%. Just a few years ago, that number was about 21%.” “Trump has been running against the swamp for 10 years now -that’s big government- but he’s really expanded his target set to include insurance companies and banks in the last weeks,” Porter said. “He is increasing his populist scope. It isn’t just the government he’s there to fight. He’s there to fight big business, too. I think he sees the same thing Gallup is highlighting.” *** Plus, at minute 43, the group gives their picks for the weekly “You Cannot Be Serious?!” roundup of entertaining headlines. *** Don’t miss a single episode of the RealClearPolitics weeknight radio show – subscribe at Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts.
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