Today on Mea Culpa, I’m joined by Michael Steele, former RNC chairman, former lieutenant governor of Maryland, political analyst, and outspoken Trump critic. We break down the impact of the Wisconsin Supreme Court race after a Democratic victory, Trump’s reckless tariff policies and their economic fallout, and Senator Cory Booker’s record-breaking 25-hour speech on the Senate floor. Steele and I also discuss the state of the Republican Party, from its deep internal fractures to its ongoing struggle to define itself beyond Trump.
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Democratic governors are quietly sharing worries that President Donald Trump intends to disrupt next year's congressional elections, according to a political insider.
The president told U.S. troops this week that he was prepared to send "more than the National Guard" into American cities as he escalates a confrontation with Democratic-led local governments, and MSNBC's John Heilemann told "Morning Joe" that high-ranking officials are growing concerned about whether free and fair elections would take place in 2026.
"Trump has essentially taken theattitude and pursued policiesin line with the attitude of, 'I'm the president, I can dowhatever I want," Heilemann said. "You know, we've talked foryears about the expandingpurview of executive power in America, but Trump is so far atthe extreme of that.This is clearly one of the largest areas where that's the case."
"Youknow, when Trump decided tonationalize the National Guard, to federalizethe National Guard in California, in Los Angeles, thefirst of these moves, it was the first time that a president had overridden the wishes of a governor ofa state since back in the civil rights era, when troops were federalized totry to integrate some of theschools in Alabama and otherstates in the South. So there is a not in our lifetimes precedent for this, and Trump has not just done it once, but is now doing it pretty much everywhere."
Those aggressive moves against Democratic-led states and cities have provoked some dark fears among the president's political opponents, Heilemann said.
"That is raising the specter you're talkingabout, which is, in the medium term, is this part of a strategyto try to steal, effectively,or at least put your thumb very,very firmly on the scale of the 2026 midtermelections, but also with thenormalization project," Heilemann said. "We're not even a year in, andwe've had multiple cities wherewe've seen this happen.
"In thecourse of the next three years, is the longer term objective to getto a place where troops on American streets havebecome so normalized that not only have the 2026 midterms been affected, butthat the 2028 presidentialelection could be affected,with Trump basically saying, 'Thewhole country is in a state ofemergency and I'm going todeclare martial law and nothave the 2028 presidentialelection.'"
"That is the fear of alot of people in theprogressive camp, that this is where it's going," he added, "and I don't mean just wild-eyedprogressives, I mean a lot of Democratic governors arealready starting to whisperthat and say that to reporters,that that's where they thinkthis is really headed over thecourse of the next three years."
Host Jonathan Lemire said he's been hearing the same concerns in his own reporting.
"That sentiment is outthere, a terrifying one, and onethat will be worth obviouslykeeping an eye on in the months and years ahead," Lemire said.
