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i am michael steele in for my good friend ali velshi. it's the summer of grievance for donald trump. he's already been indicted twice this year. and the former president is still facing the possibility of being indicted with even more criminal charges in multiple ongoing investigations over the coming months. but rather than focus his efforts on his legal defense and actually finding lawyers willing to represent him, he has chosen to litigate his case on the campaign trail instead. and as we have witnessed in recent months, trump's third presidential bid well, it is unlike anything we've seen before in american politics. this independence day weekend, trump took over to pickens, south korea caroline, a small sleepy town near the blue ridge mountains, population of about 3000 people. he was supposedly there to campaign, but mostly, he was there to complain. for most of his speech that is what he did. he complained about his legal situation and vowed to protect his supporters from the

imaginary threats of the deep state. >> our enemies want to stop me because i am the only one who can stop them. if these corrupt persecutions of our people succeed, they will complete the takeover of this country. this country will be taken over by these lunatics and destroy your way of life forever. they want to take away my freedom because i will never let them take away your freedom, i would never let that happen. [applause] they want to silence me because i will never let them silence you. and in the end, they are not after me, they are after you. and i just happen to be standing in their way. >> blah, blah, blah -- this has become the central reason of donald trump's third presidential bid. that defenses he has charted out to try to excuse his criminal indictments had been

falling flat, especially as more evidence comes out. instead, he has resorted to waging a campaign on political persecution, portraying himself as the only person who can save his supporters from an enemy he is convinced them exist. but in reality, it is just a bid to save himself from the legal repercussions that he alone, he alone is facing. joining me now is jennifer reuben, opinion writer for the washington post, host of the podcast, jen reuben's green room, and author of the book, resistance, how women save democracy from donald trump. also with us is mark sanford, the former governor of south carolina, a former member of congress, and author of the book, two roads diverged, the second chance for the republican party, the concerted movement, the nation, and ourselves. welcome to you both. jennifer let's start with you. so, you've got the blah blah blah, the trump rhetoric about how things are going, how bad it is, how he is the only one standing in the way between his

supporters and the so-called deep state. it's nothing new. we have heard it before. but what does the fact that he is now criminally indicted twice, how does that play? how does it change the stakes in this conversation? >> i think this makes him even more self centered, if that's possible for a narcissist. and it makes them completely uninterested in the country's problems. he doesn't talk about inflation. he doesn't talk about jobs. he doesn't talk about education. he talks about himself because that's the only thing that matters. and you do wonder at one point voters get bored with it, and at what point the other candidates say, i am tired of hearing you whine, mr. trump? why don't you talk about something else? and i think that's maybe his biggest problem, not that his hard-core supporters would ever leave him, but people kind of get bored of the act. and the fact that he has to go to some little hamlet in south

carolina, which i am sure is beautiful, suggest that he can't really fill that bigger venues at this point. and he's not gonna get on the debate stage because he fears someone will take a punch at him. so, we will have to see if he wears thin. and if voters, and quite frankly, donors decide that they have had enough. >> mark, it's interesting to watch trump, as jennifer lays out the story there, you know, try to find the space where he is the most comfortable. but regardless whether this is a small hamlet in south carolina or a larger venue, he is still drawing crowds of thousands to his rallies. he's still getting big responses, and a lot of coping around the hot rhetoric. why do you think he remains such an effective messenger and his messages are so effective enjoying people in after all of the legal woes he's been going through? i mean, going back to the

access hollywood tape, you would think, as you and i know, that would kill any other politician. i mean, you just don't get up and admit to sexually assaulting women, and going, yay! everybody is going, okay, we will give you a pass. that's not how things work. but somehow, he changes that, what is in that sauce that he is working with his supporters that allows him to get away with so much of that? >> well, i think part of the secret sauce is -- it's a phenomenon that i can't figure it out in any way, completely understand based on congressional politics and reason. that's a whole different question. but what i would say is, is it -- if you look at his base and a lot of people that support him, they feel reflected. and so, the idea that here is somebody else that deflected with all, i want to be -- but they relate to that.

if you go to suburban affluent women, you look at a lot of suburbs, they don't cut the same way toward him that folks of, frankly, more modest economic means do. and so, i think part of it is you are deflected, disesteem is against us. the system is against us. i think there is a great reservoir of relatedness if you want to call it that in the way that he pulls that off. he's the one who said, look, i can go shoot somebody on fifth avenue and my base would still love me. and this seems to be the case with these folks. i think pickens county voted for him, 75, 80% of the voters voted for him. so those folks have long supported him. these folks are not gonna leave him. the question is that where he can go from here? but that base is not gonna leave him because they haven't left them yet. i don't think they will.

>> i agree with that a lot, mark. and i think that's a lot of what pushes and pulls at this narrative, jennifer. you have these federal indictments. and ever since trump has been federally indicted indicted in the classified documents case, he has been trying out a few different defenses in response to that recording from bedminster, where he said, you know, that was bravado, right? it wasn't anything serious, it was bravado. i was looking at underwear, boxes, and shorts. it wasn't a big deal. he wasn't really showing anyone classified documents. no, i wasn't doing what they said i did. but yesterday, he was back claiming he could declassify anything as president. let's take a listen. >> what i do i do legally. in other words, whatever documents a president decides to take with him, he has that absolute right to do so. that is the law. and it couldn't be more clear. i don't think it could be more clear than that.

>> what do you make of the ever-changing legal defenses that he is coming up with? i almost get the sense that he is trying to see which one will stick. how do you assess it? >> to begin with, that statement you made, he made is absolutely, categorically false. he doesn't have the right to take anything he wants with him, which is part of the problem. i think we need to divide this into two universes, one is the legal universe, and which he has no defense. and he keeps making his situation worse by these confessions in effect, when he keeps bragging or he keeps misinterpreting the law and affirming his own conduct. that's just gonna get him in deeper legal water. the other side of that is simply to feed his own ego, soothe his own jagged nerves, and bolster his supporters. again, to reinforce this idea that he is the victim, his persecutors are the bad guys. the bad guys are the fbi. he is that good guy.

and this is kind of typical behavior for a narcissist. i am perfect. everyone else is a lie. everyone else is out to get me. and you can't really do isn't with people who believe this. you simply have to improve, move forward with the legal process, if the legal process is gonna run on its own. and you have to remind everybody of that this is really psychotic behavior. and it's very, very dangerous to have someone like this have access to any kind of power. >> mark, the republican primary field is, you know, stacked, racked, and ready to roll, except not over trump, because no one seems to be willing to really challenge him or take him on. a few of them have even gone as far to say that, you know, they would pardon trump if elected president. what's going on here? what is it -- again, talking about that sauce, you talk about the base, let's talk about the effect on the men and women who are supposedly trying to prevent him from becoming the next president of the united states.

why are they so reluctant to go after the front runner? i have never seen it before, you know, his files on these candidates must be an interesting thing for them to be so afraid of him. >> i don't believe that. i just think they want to appeal to his base. desantis, a bud light version of trump, playing to social issues, which is amazing to me, there is a complete lack of economic discussion in this presidential primary, though that used to be a big part with the republican party, and what it said it was about. i went to the tim scott kickoff here in charleston. and what i felt was interesting was that rock hard base has adhered to him, it's like glue, they are not going anywhere. but a lot of the folks i saw in that room actually voted for him. and it was telling to me that you would have a little bit of

a peel off with folks saying, that's just absolute fatigue here. i like him. i voted for him last time. but i want something newer, i want something fresher. but asked your question why nobody is going after him? because of the fear of alienating the base, and that's part of the republican party. >> all right, jennifer reuben and mark sanford, stay where you are for a moment. we have more to discuss. but we're gonna take a quick break. we will be back right after this. this xeljanz is for adults with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. it can help relieve joint pain and swelling, stiffness, and helps stop further joint damage. some saw improvement within two weeks. xeljanz helps some feel less ra fatigue. xeljanz can lower your ability to fight infections. before and during treatment, your doctor should check for infections like tb and do blood tests. tell your doctor if you've had hepatitis b or c, have flu-like symptoms, or are prone to infections. serious, sometimes fatal infections, cancers including lymphoma and lung cancer, blood clots, and serious heart-related events have happened.

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mistakes on occasion even lindsay down here, lindsey graham -- we are gonna love her. we are gonna love. i know it's half and half, but i need some of those liberal votes, he's always there to help me get them. [crowd chanting] >> that thing after all those back clips for donald trump, lindsey graham still can't land

a ten. it's amazing. back with me now, jennifer reuben, opinion writer for the washington post. and mark sanford, former governor of south carolina, and congressman from the great state of south carolina. welcome again. mark, let's pick up on lindsey graham there. just from that clip that we played of lindsay getting booed, and it was much worse than we could show with the time we had. as a fellow south carolinian, explain to us what's going on here. i don't understand why lindsey graham who has been one of the most sycophantic members of trump's entourage is getting such a negative reaction at home. >> thank you very much -- >> i don't know. the best sort of long-standing -- the base has always had a love hate relationship with lindsey based on, you know, immigration reform, things like that.

but at the end of the day, they're gonna be there for him based on this trump aligns. but look, i'm gonna go back for one second because it bugged me so much throughout the break. jennifer was exactly right when she said, what he says about the documents was crazy and not true. and it is this continuation of fake news, which is just cancerous to the democratic system. and it needs to be eradicated. people need to speak up against trump and say this is wrong. this is not true. they need to do it in the political playing field. but right now, i go back to what is bugging these people, the american dream is premised on an ever rising level of opportunity and fairness. and the people that are in that crowd are genuinely questioning that. and they questioning it, i saw it happening back in 2008 when the financial crisis happened. and he plugged into that and with great effect -- >> i hear that a lot. i gotta put a pin on that point. i've heard so much, but looking

at all the other groups of people in this country, 400 years of racism, jim crow, all of this stuff that the african-american community has gone through, talk about grievance. if anyone is going to be aggrieved, yet, they didn't storm the capitol when they marched on washington to break buildings and crack over the desk of nancy pelosi. they did not kill police officers and beat them with flagpoles. so this is a grievance argument has some limitations for me because it makes no sense that that is how your gun express your -- what are you aggrieved about? you know, just lay your argument out. elect the people who can address the agreements without undermining or destroy that democracy. but i just want to put a pin in that because i just think that's becoming more and more of an excuse for just undemocratic behavior. >> i totally agree -- and let me be clear, i am not justifying it.

sanctioning it even. i am just observing it. and i have been observing it since 2008 with the beginning of the tea party and the way many people showed up to the capital then you back then, a precursor to the tea party phenomenon. and you go talk to these people, one would be a truck driver married to a clerk, and they are struggling to get their kids to school and do other things in life. and they really tipped off the fact that while their cousin's pizza shop did not get a subsidy some money center bank was bailed out. and the folks got to do all what they do. and it's morphed into something more dangerous, more cancerous. but i want to be clear, i am not sanctioning it. but the root of the cause here is the grievance that bottled up and turn cancerous -- >> jennifer, weigh in, jennifer. >> yes, i don't think it's

economically -- the average trump voter was richer than the average hillary voter. many of the people who are following him are quite affluent, who have done very well, why the people who got that ppp loans. this is about cultural a grievance. this is about a group of people who feel like they were on top, that white christian people, frankly, dominated this country for a very long time. and that's why you hear this noxious voice from another cable network that says, we are being replaced. i don't recognize america. that's not an economic grievance. that's a racial grievance. it's a cultural grievance. so, i think we have to be clear that what these people are aggrieved about cannot be solved. we are not gonna go back to a white dominated country. we are not gonna on brown they united states because of immigration. we're not gonna become a non pluralistic democracy. that is really what they want. and the beauty for that is because it is insoluble, it's a

constant grievance. if you could solve it, then it stops being a grievance, then he stops having utility. a lot of these people are aggrieved about something that cannot be solved. you cannot make white christians a majority in america anymore. then they will continue to have anger. he will continue to stoke it, and you will continue to have them event it. those people who stormed the capitol were not carrying signs that said, ppp loans for me. they were carrying confederate flags. they were wearing t-shirts that said auschwitz. we have to be very clear about what is underline in this. and although there are people who have economic grievances, people who have suffered, frankly, that's not the motivating force. the biggest coalition for donald trump is people who think white people have been victims. that's the biggest identification with trump. you watch fox news. you think whites are victims. and, oh, by the way, we don't know they replace anymore. and that's how you become a trump for. >> we're gonna have to put a pin on it there.

we'll leave it there. thank you very much, jennifer reuben and former south carolina governor, mark sanford, we appreciate you. still ahead, highly restrictive access to abortion, and ruthless attacks on lgbtq community, losing issues for republicans, according to poll after poll. so, why are they pounding the table for such popular, unpopular, rather, cultural issues? we'll discuss, next. ♪ ♪ ♪ fiber gels to trap and remove the waste that weighs you down and also helps lower cholesterol and slows sugar absorption to promote healthy blood sugar levels. so you can feel lighter and more energetic. lighten every day the metamucil way. and for a delicious way to promote digestive health try metamucil fiber thins.

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justice fonyo sotomayor herself thought about this issue in her powerful dissenting opinion. she emphasized the importance of diversity in medical schools noting that increasing the number of students from underrepresented backgrounds improves quote health care access and health outcomes in medically underserved communities. and, you know what? decades of research supports her stance. studies have consistently shown that health outcomes for black and latino patients tend to be better when they are treated by doctors who share their race or ethnicity. this isn't just some theory. it is actually a fact. the association of american medical colleges underscores this point in a statement, saying, the court's decision, quote, demonstrates a lack of understanding of the critical benefits of racial and ethnic diversity in educational settings and a failure to recognize the urgent need to address health inequities in our country. so, when we talk about the

supreme court's decision and its potential consequences, we are talking about real lives and at stake. joining me now, dr. blackstone, she is founder and ceo of the group advancing health equity. and also msnbc medical contributor, and author of the upcoming book, legacy, a black physician reckons with racism in medicine. also with me is doctor david scorching, president and ceo of the association of the american medical college. welcome to you both. dr. blackstone, let's start with you. you've been very vocal about supreme court decision there are vacations for the people of color and their health care system -- tell us about your work -- >> thank you so much for having me. here, i speak today as a second generation black immigrant which is being able to say -- we only have 5% of american physicians who are black. where if you represent 13% of

the population, and as you mentioned in that intro, we have copious amounts of data and research that shows that outcomes improve for black patients when we have a diverse health care workforce. and so, when i wrote on social media a few days ago was that this ruling is gonna have detrimental consequences, meaning life or death for black communities. we already have the shortest life expectancy's of any demographic groups. we are more likely to die of pregnancy related complication. black infants are twice as likely to die as white infants in the first year of death. so, we are in a crisis right now. and this ruling is going to exacerbate that crisis. and it is going to happen for generations and generations to come. we need people to connect the dots. this is not about just individuals successive one person getting into medical school. this is a ripple effect of what happens when we admit a diverse

medical student body. and that has serious implications for the health of communities of color in particular. >> dr. year-end association of medical colleges. so, if you can give us a sense of what your organization has learned through its research and studies about diversity in medicine? >> first of all, thanks for having me. and i want to say that doctor blackstock, as so often, is completely on target. she's right on in which he is saying. and research backs that up. and i would only add a couple of things to what she has said. number one the educational experience itself, with all difference to professors like me and like dr. blackstock, students learn a lot from professors but they also learn a lot from each other, so called peer to peer learning. and the more diverse or a college class for that sense the more they are going to have a broad range of peer to peer

learning. so that is one thing. the second research that you want to state is that in the area of biomedical research, separate from patient care, there's also a lot of data that suggests like many other areas of endeavor, that diverse teams make better decisions and make progress. so, anyway you want to look at it, medical school experience, research teams, and as well dr. blackstock said, health care, we need more diverse health care workforce, that represents the growing diversity of our country. it is critical. and i want to say one thing since i've gone on the microphone. if i want to say something, michael, to the folks out there, the families, the students, the guidance counselors, who are looking at that supreme court decision and hanging their heads and saying, you know what? we might as well just give up on this. to all of you, don't give up. we have your back within the law and within the dictates of the court, we are gonna work to make sure that we can diversify the health care workforce, because lives are at stake. >> dr. blackstock, expanding

out a bit on but what both you and dr. skorton have referenced, what do you say to people who say, what, we shouldn't care about the race of our doctors. i mean, how is being treated by a black doctor different than being treated by a white doctor. they went to the same medical schools and they had the same professional training. should not they be capable of just treating a patient without any regard to race and ethnicity and background? >> michael, yes, the answer is they should be. yes, we should ideally have physicians in all different places who can take care of a diverse patient population. that is the ideal, and that is what we are working for. but the fact is, and we have the data that shows it, it doesn't matter what the race of the health care professional is. and that impacts care. so, yes, of course you want to qualify a physician, and every physician is going to be qualified per se.

but we do see in the data, for example, we see that there is a recent study that showed in counties with a black primary care physicians, the outcomes and life expectancies for black patients improved. okay, we have data that shows that black patients are more likely to be spoken over during medical interactions than white patients. can you imagine that? going to seek care, having a problem, and being spoken over? we are seeing these patterns. and the fact is that we live in a country that has systemic racism, that has bias. and unfortunately, very unfortunately, that filters into patient's health professional patient physician interactions. so, yes, it doesn't matter. and it is a very privileged thing to be able to say that it doesn't matter, because we have the data that says it does, and it impacts the lives of black patients and other patients of color. -- >> if i could just jump in -- >> please, go ahead.

>> a very important study that dr. blackstock cited about those counties, that black folks live longer even if they didn't see a black physician, because just a more diverse workforce in the county has a salutary effect on health care. so that when she's making is critically important. >> let's talk about that in the context of, you know, we already mentioned about 5% of practicing physicians are black, despite the fact that 14% of the american population is african american. does that alone indicate that the country still needs that affirmative action in the health care space to make sure that we grow that population of doctors to address exactly what dr. blackstock was just referencing. >> we need to keep diversifying the health care classes. we need to keep diversifying the biomedical research training classes. we need to diversify the health care workforce. the supreme court of the united states has taken a tool away

from us. and of course, we have to work within the law, within the dictates of the court. but we are going to do things. and we are already starting. i'll give you one quick example. we are going to move into recruitment earlier in the education pathway, maybe as early as middle school, so that families, underrepresented groups, marginalized groups, we don't see themselves in the medical profession, can begin to dream about this early on. and therefore, half more people from those groups applying and thinking about medical schools and careers in general. so, we need more, work and we need to do it within the law. but, yes, the your answer to your question is yes, yes, yes. >> that's a plan i highly endorse, dr. what skorton. i love the idea of bringing it to the middle schools and working it up to the system, getting young african americans and latino kids thinking about seeing themselves in those professions. dr. uché blackstock, and dr.

david skorton. thank you so much. coming up, very publican party is unrecognizable from even a decade ago. even despite that fact, president biden put a claim in a exclusive interview with msnbc's nicole wallace thursday. >> it is not your father's republican party. ican party and encouraging messages of hope to help support nearly three hundred thousand patients facing cancer nationwide. we call it “the subaru love promise.” and we're proud to be the largest automotive donor to the leukemia and lymphoma society. subaru. more than a car company.

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tourists that turn into scientists. tourists taking photos that are analyzed by ai. ♪ ♪ ♪ so researchers can help life underwater flourish. ♪ >> it may be difficult to remember but our political debates were not always characterized by personal attacks on candidates or specific groups of the american public. >> the political tactics of division and slander are not our values. -- [applause] they are corrupting influences on religion and politics, and those who practice in the name of religion or in the name of

the republican party or in the name of america shame our faith, our party, and our country. [applause] >> it will be easy to let a healthy competition give way to the personal feud. but personally, we don't care care about the burden -- the president had some very fine moments. don't tell anyone i said so. but our 44th president have many gifts and a beautiful family that would make any man proud. >> it is surprising, refreshing even, to hear candidates calmly respectfully, expressing disagreements in the words of the late senator john cain, the political tactics of division and slander are not our values. but after mitt romney lost to then incumbent president barack obama in 2012, the republican party had at that point lost five of the previous six popular votes for president.

and so, the rnc released a report which they called an autopsy, looking at the winds in the house, the gop has falling on hard luck. that report recommended that the party modernize its messaging and pivot its strategy to appeal to minority groups. quote, if our party is not welcoming and inclusive, young people and increasingly other voters will continue to tunis out when it comes to social issues that the party must in fact indeed be inclusive and welcoming. but there was another, a lesser known autopsy report released around the same time. it was developed by the american principles project, a socially conservative think tank. and it called for exactly the opposite strategy. it says that the d o gop should dig in on social issues. and of course, the next presidential election, that rhetoric of the gop with one particular candidate leading the way, took a sharp turn from the collegiality of john mccain

and mitt romney. >> when mexico sends its people, they are not sending their best, they are not sending you, they are not sending you. they are sending people that have lots of problems. and they are bringing those problems to us. they are bringing drugs. they are bringing crime. they are rapists -- >> do you believe in punishment for abortion? yes, or no, is it principle? >> the answer is that there has to be some form of punishment -- >> for the woman? >> yeah. >> that somehow worked the first time in 2016. but never since then a national election, and even so, the american principles project released another report after trump's loss in 2020, concluding that the gop only hope is to embrace maga and fight wokeism. focusing on declaring a war with the so-called woke left and saving traditional american

values. it is overtly directly a culture war strategy. and that's exactly what is playing out, folks, the slate of republican candidates for 2024 looks more maga and more willing to lean into this culture war tactic than ever before. after a quick break, we will talk to some folks who know the republican party for better or for worse. lina shaw and tara setmayer. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ and give you one of the latest 5g smart phones free! free your phone now at t-mobile! needles. essential for sewing bear-bear, but maybe not for people with rheumatoid arthritis. because there are options. like an “unjection™.” xeljanz. a pill, not an injection. xeljanz is for adults with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis. it can help relieve joint pain and swelling, stiffness, and helps stop further joint damage. some saw improvement within two weeks. xeljanz helps some feel less ra fatigue. xeljanz can lower your ability to fight infections. before and during treatment, your doctor should check

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a republican strategist and advisor for the new democracy initiative. and tara setmayer, senior adviser to the lincoln project, and former gop communications director. she now identifies as an independent and a publicly left the gop in november 2020 after trump refused to concede the election to joe biden. welcome, ladies. good to have you both. tara, i'm gonna start with you because many of these candidates that are competing for the republican nomination in this cycle seem to actually be pushing out harder this culture war language. just last week a top advisor for that desantis campaign said this to axios. quote, the fight for the soul of the republican party is not about tax cuts or trade deals. it is this cultural combat that we have as a country. these people know that desantis is a culture warrior for this

time. these voters are more angry than they were in 2016. that, to me, is just the party. and i got a bit with governor mark sanford in the last segment or so about this sort of grievance politics that animates this culture or. does that strike you as an legitimate path for this party to take, given that diversity of culture in this country and the desire to want to be a part of it apparently? >> i saw that and i applaud you because you are 100% right with this idea that it's just about economics. you and i have both had long discussions about this. and i have evolved. initially, i thought the attraction to trump was the economic aspect of it, the economic grievance. but it has become clear based on the way the republican party has embraced all of the cruelty and hypocrisy and the blatant racism of donald trump that it is far beyond economics at this point. i remember the autopsy in 2012 and thought, yes, finally, okay,

the party gets it. and they are going to course correct and recognize that the pluralistic society and the multi racial society that is america, the melting pot that republicans claim that they indoors, that is a way to engage with politics. we saw that went right out the window. and i look at this as i reflect on the fact, it was 160 years ago, the battle of gettysburg was going on right now in a civil war, which is a turning point in this country. and after the north won the civil war, it was republicans for fighting for a multiracial pluralistic democracy where freedom and the rights of the constitution were to apply to everyone. and i look at where we are now and how far the republican party has become, and they are now the party of other rising. anyone who isn't a white christian nationalists at this point. what are we doing? that is not the path of this country. that is not with our democracy stands for. that is what not what lincoln

talked about in his gettysburg address. and here we have a party that is embracing someone as despicable as donald trump who was antithetical to anything that republicans claim to believe. everything they claim to despise, they have become. and they continue to if -- it is not trump, then it is desantis who is a fascist wannabe. so this seems to be this idea of wokeism culture wars because they don't have anything else to run on. they have to have a villain. they have to create this cruelty and extremism and otherize people because the economic message and the message of democracy, freedom, and pluralistic society that doesn't apply to the rabid base of republicans anymore. and that's what concerns me. that's why we have to continue to fight to explain why democracy matters and why freedoms and rights for everyone in this country, that's what we're here for. >> reena, taking those points that tara has laid out there, the social issues that have animated the sort of

anti-wokeism inside of the gop whether it's lgbtq rights, abortion bans, now the civil rights of people of color. what is your take on that? and how do they see this -- how is this a winning strategy? i mean, all three of us had been in the political trenches inside this party. we know what it takes to win an election. i could never even fathom how i make the case, until the american people that you can win, you know, demonizing their lgbtq child. >> well, simply put, the agenda of fear and divisiveness just doesn't play well. with younger republicans, with republicans who come from communities of color, but at the end of the day is republicans touting this record of america going more right. recently, i heard from our and see chairman ronna mcdaniel about how the republican party

made massive gains with asian voters at this past midterm election. she said by nearly 20 points we won asians. and i'm thinking to myself, what does it mean to talk about numbers in an era where being a republican frankly as a person under 40 just isn't cool. it makes you seem like somebody who hates themself, and hates america, because all you hear coming from the mouths of federal elected republicans is the biden crime nonsense, and they push those conspiracy theories every day and they never talk about the stuff that really seems to matter to younger americans who want to own a home perhaps, and that's out of reach, and who want to do better than their parents. and that seems like it's possible. where does the republican party goes? the culture wars, and i think the wind on this message, continuing to tout these micro winds. what i call them, essentially, truly played into a tiny fraction of americans.

the shrinking maga group, and then also evangelicals who are not gonna turn out and deliver a win for any republican in the white house. so in essence what i see ronna mcdaniel doing is expressing frustration expressing frustration at the fact that you've got people wanting to become celebrities overnight. look at matt gaetz, marjorie taylor greene, lauren boebert -- these people are not there for policy. they have no interest in legislating. pulling the levers of power to govern is just not simply in their wheel house. so i think to the republican party between now and election day 2024, you need to have and all of the about strategy which means telling your candidates to stop with the hate. and to start talking responsibly about what it means to live in america today and care about the inter erica, because guess what? russia, china, india, they are all laughing at our students. the minute we use woke and continue to use it in a sentence five times, you know,

you are talking about losing strategy, is shrinking party, and republicans alike me saying, what the heck are you doing? you can't move forward and win elections this way. and i am hoping that rod out of daniel we'll continue to propagate this message that i just heard from mar-a-lago -- saying let's put the nonsense, let's focus on the facts and figures and talk about what's practical she said that about abortion. and i very much like that. she said when somebody is trying to be extreme. talk about what you are for. lead them where you can and then express your message i know this is a long term play she's talking about. i know there is political issues. but it all matters because i don't want to see the party die. i want to see two healthy parties in this democracy. >> so tara, we've got a minute left. rina has a message for the republicans. last week, you tweeted a message to the democrats up there. you told them to spend the summer doubting biden's

accomplishments. why is that so important in their view at this point? >> my dear friend rina still have hope that the party can be saved, and i feel the complete opposite at this point, demonstrated on their behavior. i mean, ronna mcdaniel can say whatever she wants. but when she goes back to using her name romney, like she used to, and then you have people in the party who are insane and who are all over the place in the republican party. but maybe i believe what she has to say. she is just looking up the numbers, understanding they are going to do is considerably nationally which is why she's trying to change or tune a bit but good luck with that, sweetheart, you late -- listen, i was very clear to my democratic friends because i feel like as republicans manual to state and it didn't matter what that person did and what the message was what the message was the message, lockstep, stay on that message because you know that a political communications, repetitions weight reality and

the perceptions what matters, not necessarily facts, which is scary in and of itself with us another conversation. joe biden has been a study competent leader. he's actually been an excellent president. country is in much better shape than it was when we came out of the horror of trump. but he's not getting the credit for it. why? because democrats continue to invite. they keep talking about, biden is too old, what about this over there, progressives do this -- they've got to stop that. this is the reality of the situation you have to play the game that you are in. and the game that you are in is joe biden is going to be the nominee. and he actually has a lot of policy winds that the american people are benefiting from and will benefit from from a study competent leadership. guess what? we don't have to worry about him being a national security threat or setting our country out to russia, china, iran, or any, saudis, or any of our other enemies out there. we have someone who actually believes in restoring eight sole america. it understands the importance

of democracy freedom and rights for everyone versus trump and where that republicans are going. again, democratic friends of mine, with a love of god, spent this summer promoting joe biden 's accomplishments, and the positive for america, and contrast that with what the republicans we're not only saying, but what they have done. and what they will do again. >> all right, we are gonna leave it there. good messages to both sides. rina shah, and tara setmayer, thank you both so very much. we've got a lot more velshi right after this quick commercial break. stay tuned. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪

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