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i think that's the big story in 2024 in the primaries.

moderates showing influence in the state. trump has still a very high approval among the general, you know,um 60, 70% of republican voters. on the democratic side, the president running for reelection. 86 at the end of the second term. look at the polling. there is concern even among democrats that that is one of the big challenges he has to overcome both in convincing voters that he's able to serve out the second term and he can really drive home a message, energetic and has charisma to run a full-pledged campaign against donald trump who is starting on the campaign trail where he gave speech about democracy, january 6th, the stakes of the upcoming election. is this going to be i am not

donald trump or issues on the second term? >> expect the bidden message to be donald trump, republican nominee as it is about biden's own accomplishments. you hear a lot about bidenomics. the public feeling the pain from the inflation over the last couple of years. still uncertain about whereop te future is especially the wars going on in ukraine and russia and between ukraine and russia and what's going on in the middle east right now. there's a lot of malaise in the country and job approval is low for incumbent president. they have a lot of material. january 6th -- is a still major issue. there's questions about the economy when it comes to biden's record,ab border security, crim.

when it comes to issues of democracy and what happened on january 6th, 2021, that is still one of the stronger issues the democrats have. >> how does that -- the legal issues and the time he's going to spend in court compared what he will do campaign wise? >> where do we start. the big question is when did the trial, obstruction over january 6th charges. when did that begin, the primary, does he get in trouble

by then. do republican voters who defend trump, may be worried what happens if you have a convicted former president, how does he run for president. those are hypotheticals down the road. >> if you want to ask questions related to campaign 2024 on the issues and events involve ed the 027-48-8000 for democrats. independents (202)748-8002. you can text us your thoughts at 202-74-8003. >> let's start with theth challengers. we will see if there's a real challenge that can emerge. >> nikki haley seems to be the

most formidable challenge erg. ron desantis is the candidate who has put the most money in iowa. the chips on the table hoping he can win over conservative voters. he has the endorsement most important religious leaders by conservative leaders. it hasn't translated into a momentum. he's hoping to finish strong second. if she can finish in second place in iowa and translate that in trump against in new hampshire that would set up a fascinating super tuesday and south carolina to come. it haven't been covering new

hampshire. it's an open primary. democrats can switch beth affiliation and join in on the republican side. an election that's more moderate, tailored to hailey. it's new hampshire. a lot of money between hailey and trump camps are being spent right now in the state of new hampshire. >> traffickers, rapists. nikki haley refused to call illegals criminals. >> we don't need to talk about them as criminals. illegals are criminals, nikki, that's what illegals mean. >> we don't need to talk to them

about criminals, they are not. >> what's the messaging there from the super pacs? >> that's a negative for nikki haley. democratic mayors are concerned about undocumented immigrants coming to their city and straining social services. that's an issue where trump and the super pac feels hailey is vulnerable. trump has spent most of his campaign focusing his fire on ron desantis. he views ron desantis as biggest threat to nomination. now they are spending -- the money is on nikki haley. the attack ads on nikki haley. shows she's emerging final and

formidable challenger to trump. >> our guest is with us and we will take some calls. karen in virginia, you're on with our guest, good morning. >> hi, good morning, thanks for taking my call. my concern is with how divided america is right now. whomever is chosen to be our next president, opposition globally with all that's going on around the world and opposition in the global market so i'm just wondering, how are they going to bring america back to its position, how we were so strong and dominant prior to, right after world war ii and where we are now as far as global positions? >> that's a good. aan malaise sense of they want o remove themselves from the world. you saw with the trump movement. trump was president, wanted to get out of nato.

the democratic party has always had a hefty strain of isolationism and the very least awareness of wars and sort of the hawkish tendency in american politics. lack, i think we talk about nikki haley and mainstream middle in american politics. she's trying to bring that back and talk about republican internationalism, they need to have a strong america as the caller was suggesting and the need to win the war, israel win the war against hamas and ukraine win war against russia. that's sort of middle position. theia moderate position even though in recent months you're seeing a lot manufacture isolationism on the right and you're seeing a lot, you know, questions about the future frankly of funding for ukraine. >> charlie in california, republican line, hi.

>> hi, this isrn charlie. >> you're on, go ahead, sir, yes. >> i have a comment and a question. and the question is i'm wonder if the democrats are already putting together their first plan impeachments of trump in ficase he wins and my comment ii wish desantis would get his wife more involved in his campaign because she's a -- >> yeah. well, let's take the desantis question. one of the big frustrations with among people in the desantis circle if you will is that the guide started out as really formidable challenger, some polls showed him neck and neck, nation's most important states and part of the challenges is he just --co not only was trump attacking him but didn't respond but he also didn't project the

most charismatic. and, look, his wife has been one of the biggest assets. i've heard her speak. she is -- she's a real ally, you know, in many ways, but the challenge i think with desantis he's done some of the public appearances, he comes across as knowledgeable. he's a fighter. he certainly has taken some of thege left-wing in both campaign trail and in florida but he doesn't have the -- hasn't show cased empathy and connecting --one-on-one as politics necessitates. >> well, look, his campaign, we will see what happens after iowa. we will see what the results are. his campaign has put all the eggs in the basket in iowa. if hee finishes third place say behind trump or nikki haley, if

that happens, it's hard to to see how he would have the money, he would have the resources and new hampshire is a state where he's pulling in fourth place in some polls right now. he doesn't seem like he would have a path if he finished in third place. >> speaking in new hampshire, promised there's an ad, supporting nikki haley and here is the ad. >> of all the republicans running if the president, why is donald trump only attacking nikki haley because trump knows haley is the only one that can beat him as governor nikki haley cut taxes for small businesses by 40% and you know limb nate nogas tax. wanting an 80-year-old name from the past or new generation of conservative leadership. >> go ahead. >> that's a clear part of her,

that is the generational contrast that she's trying to draw. she's been taking hits and we saw earlier on the show about immigration issue, border security. she's also takingng hits from trump on her record on taxes in south carolina she tries to offer her side of the story in that ad. she's responding. playing defense for the first time but also trying to play offense. >> this is from georgia, this is kevin. democrats line. >> hey, how are you doing? i'm democrat. i think your goers and people got things a little bit -- a lot of the thousands of us by the way because we have brain kemp for governor reelected. we voted for him instead of

stacey abrams same thing with joe biden. we willwe not vote for joe bide. we won't vote for anybody, there's thousands of us. i think y'all better wake up, take israel out of palestine and free palestine. thank you. >> one of the worries of the biden campaign dealing in 2024 whether some of the supporters, some of the base voters, progressive voters, whether some of them stay home, whether some of them vote for a third-party candidate. you need a score card to keep track of third-party candidates that are talking about running for president. whether it's robert f. kennedy, jr., cornell west. the challenge that they could face is whether some voters on the left especially stay home or whether some of them lack at

third-party candidates most of them on the left and support from those candidates. >> in reference to polls, if the economy does improve they may see a reflection of this come polls as we progress in the year. what's the -- the possibility but the expectation of that happening? >>well, there's a big disconnect between the macroeconomic outlook. recession, the good news it looks like the economy if anything is growing against a lot of early expectations. unemployment is low. inflation is contained. the stock market if you look in 401k's, those who have 401k are doing quite well. inflation is still higher, the price you pay for goods is still significantly higher than it was 4 years ago. it's contained but till elevated from where a lot of people were expecting or hoping for. that's the challenge and that's the question coming into 2024. the big date that i will circle on the calendar, the second

quarter of 2024 is when economic perception get baked in. what i'm looking at closely is whether consumer confidence, glook at some of the polls. little bit of momentum. i'm still concerned about finances. >> our next not only serves as political analyst, editor-in-chief of the jewish insider, what isfo that? >> a publication that covers a lot of issues in the news right now with the war between israel and hamas and the middle east. the growing scourge of anti-semitism across the country. also a lot of americans worried about what is happening in the-s country and the rising of hate that are taking place in campuses and country's streets in the u.s. >> how are people reacting to president biden's management of

the situation? >> he's in a no-win situation. he's gotten -- among a lot of people who care about israel and voters who want to see hamas defeated, his numbers are quite -- his numbers on foreign policy are better than economic policy. maybe stream coalition in the democratic party together at the same time he's had to deal with the progressive left from him, concerned about the casualty, humanitarian situation and gaza and you're seeing like protestors including that you showed the footage of pedro earlier of his speech mother emanuel church where you had a bunch of protestors disrupting what was a solemn occasion at the church and that, that's the kind of unrest within the party that the white house is worried about. they've got the majority of public opinion on their side in terms of how they've handled the middle east, how they've been supportive of israel and fight against hamas but the left has been very vocal.

they want a ceasefire. are very outspoken of humanitarian issues they are and that's the challenge that the ouwhite house has to face and trying to urge israel to get into the next phase and have a lower intensity phase of the conflict. >> what about certain sectors, they look at to what is going on, particularly their support for president biden? >> michigan, it's interesting when you look at the battleground map. michigan is the state that the white house is more concerned about than they were a year ago because of the arab american vote which brings up a significant part of not just the base but the swing state and even movements can make a big difference. they also look at the battleground map and look at states like pennsylvania and states like georgia, ohio, florida. o not such your battleground states anymore. if they tried to put measure on israel you have a much more, you

know, much more concern from the overall swing voters and independent voters there. >> let's hear from marilyn, connecticut, independent line, you're on with our guest, good morning. >> good morning, thank you for taking my call. as an independent voter in the blue state i'm not affiliated with a party but i do have a lot of questions about the republican party's stance on border security and i'm confused as to why that's such a concern for them they vote against every package that includes border security and are even now calling for shutdown of government. don't they realize ass they call for shut do you know of government that includes the border patrol? it's very disconcerting that they don't seem to realize that or they're trying to gaslight people and as a woman voter it's concerning the stance they take

about removing rights from women. they -- they vote to cover viagra as a medical thing with insurances but yet remove healthcare for women, birth control in some states and abortion in other states. >> okay, caller thank you for that. i want to start that. abortion as an issue particularly amongst the candidates involved. what's -- how much of that issue is going to be. >> look, we talk about the issues, abortion is one of the frankly the few issues where democrats have significant advantage. you look at the localized elections, referenda on certain protections for abortione righ, the pro-choice side, the abortion rights position has gotten the majority even in redder states, even in states that republicans have an enginee in. it's not the number one certainly among groups and demographic groups that is a top issue but, you know, the economy, even the border, those

are rivalling abortion as top issue. so that is going to be acknowledgment that the larger presidential electorate is going to be more concerned about the economy but as an issue that drives voters to the polls, democrat that is considering staying home because they are not totally satisfied with biden's record abortion is certainly an issue and get folks to the polls. >> and part of that messaging too and making sure that's an issue too. >> that's a big part of the vice president kamala harris portfolio. she certainly been more comfortable talking toward the progressive side of the party and that's an issue where she's been effective in getting out the message. >> from mike, mike joins us from pennsylvania, republican line. >> hey, good morning, guys, how are you doing? >> good. >> josh, my question, actually two questions, if you would, one is on the supreme court pending

supreme court ruling with respect to colorado. how much of a boost do you think that that's going to give to assuming thaty it's going to go his way and then secondly, the gaza conflict, israel-gaza conflict. how much is politics going to get involved in that in terms of, you know, it harming, it's harming biden's radical base? do you see politics integrating in that sense to recapture the radical base there? thank you. >> so two separate issues but they are both issues that divide the democratic party in political ways. you have the colorado supreme court 5 to 4 ruling that trump can't be on the ballot and courts taking up the case.

democrats don't want to get near that. that's not a popular -- it's hard for democrats to say we are for democracy and the average voter to say you are taking off the ballot and not letting him compete in the primary. that's not where they want to go. israel, you have the squad, you have outspoken left-wing lawmakers that are calling for ceasefire, not speaking or condemning hamas for what you might expect. those are folks that the biden white house is trying to the marginalized. they have a large mega phone. they dominate a lot of the news cycles. the white house is keeping fringers cross that you don't

hear from the aoc's from the world ahead of 2024 and the party can remain as united as possible despite real divisions. it's tied to border security. republicans have put conditions on giving money to ukraine, an issue, by the way, a year ago, strong bipartisan support for ukraine. now you have a growing share of conservatives and isolationist wing within the republican party that's growing that it wants not -- they want to condition it to get border security and immigration passed. israel aid is much more popular but they are trying to pile that together and get some wide range legislation and funding passed. in today's congress it's hard to get anything done on a bipartisan basis and we are seeing how challenging it's become. >> independent line, hi.

>> how are you doing. good morning, pedro, good morning, josh. hope everything is fine in washington. i have a question concerning the third rail that most journalists don't want to attack and that's the fact that during the 70's andt 70's there was a push by evangelicals to come out of the pews and come into politics and since 19 -- 2018 the representation of the evangelicals in congress has gone from 13% to -- in 2023 to 168 or 31% of the congress is now occupying by evangelical christians that are primary gop members and i am wondering why no one wants to talk about that. thank you. >> i don't think it's something that no one wants to talk about.

in fact, in iowa, one of the most important constituencies in iowa caucus is evangelical christians. big issues of our day. major factor and discussion point. >> the family leader came out -- support for ron desantis. >> that's right. key, key leader. leader don't always get their flock tode join them. you do have some prominent evangelical leaders who have desantis or critical of trump or trying to move on from donald trump but you're not seeing the voters, you'reri not seeing folw suit if you believe the polls.

let's talk the about the states to watch as we go through 2024. i know there's always the toss-up states, what changed the dynamic? things that you find interesting? >> we have a frozen map, the fewer battleground states. i remember when i first started covering politics, seemed lake a long time ago, ohio was a battleground. barack obama won ohio twice. pennsylvania is probably is going to be the most important state, a maryland rate state too where you don't have as many, you know, left-wing voters, you have a lot of moderates that make up the difference in the competitive state, big senate race there too.. a lot of big house races.

pennsylvania is a state to watch. michigan, we talked about that earlier, big state to watch, georgia, arizona, those were the two emerging battlegrounds where democrats have made inroads in the sun belt states. if i were to pick four those would be the four. pennsylvania, wisconsin, michigan, arizona and georgia. >> happy new year to everyone, thank you for taking my call. i was wondering if you could sort of describe the typical supporter of donald trump in terms of character, education and just normal mental state, thank you. >> well, i think probably the simplest way to put it the average republican supporting donald trump think that things

were really good and supported policies four years and thought the economy was in good shape, they thought we weren't seeing wars taking place in hot spots across the globe. some people overthink how people view politics. look, there's a lot of, you know, nonsense out there. you can see a lot of outlandish opinions. it was better four years ago. we liked the president's policy record. there's a big divide in the republican party between i would working class, blue-collar voters who are overwhelmingly supportive of donald trump and, you know, more affluent voters, white-collar voters who look at ron desantis and nikki haley, other candidates.

>> willy in florida, go ahead. hello. let's try betty in pennsylvania. democrats line, hi. >> good morning. >> morning. >> i kind of had a follow-up to the gentleman who asked, you know, why are these people supporting trump.ma that is my question, what kind of a spell does this man cast on these people? he has such disdain for our military, the people that are keeping us safe.

he's back on calling john mccain, you know, not a hero, he wants to execute joint chief of staff, he doesn't want to visit graves because he will get wet. he makes fun of the disable, he wants our economy to crash in 12 months, he hides constantly, he has divided this country like no other and yet these people still want to support him. i mean, if you have children or grandchildren, why won't these people wake up and see what this man is doing to our country and -- and god help us if he should ever get near that white house again. >> that's betty in pennsylvania. >> there's certainly a cult of personality if you will, around trump, some of the points that the caller makes. just this past week, a hideous

comment about john mccain again. years after he's passed. he's talked about the january 6th prisoners, stormed the capitol on january 6th as hostages being held in prison. if any other republican candidate said the same thing, anyone in the race, something about trump, sort of a personality where he people, it's priced into his brand and he was a former president and seen as incumbent has a lot of -- scandals that would take any other republicans. >> he's got to win over the vast share of people that they have

wigotten a raw deal economicall. that's the big difference. joe biden was able to win as candidate. look at the chaos. look at the nuttiness. we need to restore the soul of america as he's put it in 2020. joe biden is now the incumbent. he's the person in charge and easier to throw spit balls and easier but he does need to win over people. >> let's hear from tony in kentucky, independent line.

>> yes. i am not for trump at all. i am disabled. i didn't like when he mocked the reporter that time. i never have liked him as a person and i know he's not -- i'm not very smart. i'm not a bit smart but i know one thing, trump is not the way this country needs to go. stay far away from him. >> got your point, caller, thanks. >> we are in the middle of campaign, the iowa caucus take place. the first test to see if there's an ability for a challenge e to at least build the opposition against donald trump. we will see what happens in iowa. maybe ron desantis, all the

stakeholders that have supported him. maybe he overperformses in iowa and show some of trump's vulnerabilities, trump can lose new hampshire. he's currently leading but you can see if you add up the hailey and christy vote, the anti-trump vote, you can see a pathway to trump losing an important state like new hampshire. there's a lot of twists and turns to come. there are big spots of vulnerability. >> when it comes to nikkiho hal, how would you characterize he's recovered since her statements of the civil war? >> that was one of the big mistakes. he got scrutiny. got a voter asking about cause of civil war. she didn't say slavery and she's been doing cleanup ever seen. i don't think republican voters are going to hold that against

her. he's been hitting her pretty hard. in his own town halls he's been hitting of her flub on the civil war. chris christie could be a big factor. >> robert f. kennedy, jr., cornell west, still players in this that they could impact the president.an >> oh, yeah. one of the big questions in 2024 i'm looking at is ballot access. you can run as third-party candidate but not all of them are going to be on the ballots. does he affect trump more? you have to look at the dynamics with the candidates? it's already on the left side especially falling apart and

you know, has the base with him and, you know, he -- i think it's a greater chance that bidenn -- >> i'm about tired of him. he gets up there and says white supremacy all of the time. he's the one that caused all of the stuff between the black and white people. we never had problems with them. we got along until he got in office. i'm tired of him calling -- i feel offended when i hear that. >> okay. >> i think he needs to go on something else besides that. >> okay. got your point. before we let you know, what are you watching out closest? tell us what you're watching

from there specifically where we go as the future? >> new hampshire is a key state in the nominating process. i'm looking to see if hailey can consolidate the trump skeptical votete whether there's upset special in the granite state. if she does well, she wins new hampshire and what state is next, south carolina. home state. all of a i sudden we could be talking a horse race. right now trump though is till the solid front runner. >> thanks for your time today. >> thanks, pedro. >> c-span washington journal live forum involving you to discuss the latest issues in government, politics the and public policy, from washington, d.c. and across the country

coming up wedsday morning, adriano discuss impeachment proceeding against homeland homd secretary mayorkas. >> tomorrow's impeachment hearing and contempt of congress proceedings against hunter biden. c-span washington journal join the conversation live at 7:00 eastern wednesday morning on c-span, c-span now or online at c-span.org. wednesday the first formal hearing of the impeachment of homeland security alejandro mayorkas live coverage of the homeland security committee begins at 10:00 a.m. on c-span 3

c-span now our free mobile video app or online at c-span.org. c-span unfiltered view of government, we are funded by these television companies and more including cox. >> georgia republican representative spoke in iowa at a campaign event for gop candidate and former president donald trump. this is about an hour and 20