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Inside Politics
Trump Endorses Rep. Andy Ogles In Competitive GOP House Primary; Trump: Economy Is "Greatest" Ever; Most Disagree; Johnson Called Iran War Price Shocks "Blip" In March; Sanders, AOC Don't Endorse Fellow Dem Socialist Francesca Hong; Hong Shifts Thanksgiving Stance: "Don't Want To Cancel, I Love It"; Murkowski, Cassidy Still Won't Say If They'll Confirm Blanche; Gov. Josh Shapiro Appears In New Meek Mill Music Video. Aired 12:30-1p ET
Aired August 06, 2026 - 12:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[12:30:00]
NIA-MALIKA HENDERSON, CNN SENIOR POLITICAL ANALYST: -- it's just another reminder of Trump's imprint on the party and the ways in which people are presenting themselves around these issues. Trump obviously has made China and America's relationship with China key to his brand, and so we'll see what happens in this race.
EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: I think it's something that as we head into the next presidential election, we're going to actually see some agreement about taking on China more between Democrats and Republicans. It's one of those places where you're seeing horseshoe along with like data centers --
MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR: So more fortune cookies that's --
DOVERE: Maybe.
RAJU: -- perhaps heading into 2028. So there's also a big primary that's actually watched very closely in this town in Tennessee. The -- in Tennessee, the fifth congressional district, the Republican primary there, the incumbent Republican Andy Ogles, Trump has endorsed him. But there's a split.
Charlie Hatcher, the former state agriculture commissioner, he's been endorsed by the outgoing Republican Governor Bill Lee in the state. And Ogles is a very hard-right, controversial figure. And he said a lot of very offensive things over the past several months including in January -- in June of 2026 saying, "Homosexuality has no place in America. Happy Nuclear Family Month."
He got so much backlash for that. He later deleted it. He claimed a staffer posted it. And then he has said things about Muslims saying they don't belong in American society. Zohran -- he said that multiple times calling for Muslims not to be here in the U.S. But Trump is endorsing him. He just actually put out a statement Trump did saying that he has his complete and total endorsement. BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: That's right, complete and total endorsement telling people to get out and vote. But I think this, like many other races across the country, is really going to be a test for how much juice President Trump has with his base.
RAJU: Yes. No question about it and we'll see what ultimately happens. We'll listen to him there. And will he give a late endorsement in the gubernatorial race? We shall see.
All right, greatest economy ever or economic con job. Do voters buy the economic message President Trump tried to sell in Las Vegas? We'll have more when we come back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:36:39]
RAJU: President Trump pitched his economy in a swing state yesterday. His message is roaring.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DONALD TRUMP (R), PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: I saw polls today on television say Donald Trump polls on the economy aren't good. The economy is the greatest economy we've ever had by far.
When oil goes down and it's going to go down very rapidly and it's happening very soon, already happening. If you look today, it's $75 down to $75. It's dropping. And we may have to send it up again. We may have to. You know what happens when we send it up, but we hope we don't have to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: Trump keeps saying the economy has never been better. But how many Americans actually believe him or agree with him? In a poll out just yesterday, 72 percent say that the economy is not so good or poor.
Our reporters are here at the table. This feels very familiar. We've seen presidents pass, do the same thing. It doesn't quite work when the American public doesn't believe what you're trying to tell them.
DOVERE: And they don't believe it because they go to the grocery store and they're paying more for their groceries. They go to the gas station, they're paying more for gas. They get their electric bills at home, they're paying more for that. And people know that they are paying more. They know that they -- those checks that they're sending away are bigger, that there's less money in their bank accounts.
And to tell them that they just have to go through it, or even more problematically often to say, as Joe Biden tried before Donald Trump did, that actually things are great, or, you know, the old John McCain, the fundamentals of the economy are strong, that doesn't really work for people. And when you think about the way these next 12, 13 weeks of the midterms are going to play out, the Democrats are really looking to hammer Donald Trump on this, not just because the economy is bad, but because he made so many promises that it was going to get better.
And to go back to what we were talking about earlier in the program in Michigan, they are very excited, the Democrats there --
RAJU: Yes.
DOVERE: -- to say, hey, he promised all these prices were going to go down, and somebody like Mike Rogers is saying, actually, coffee is not as expensive as it was.
RAJU: Yes. It's a complicated message --
DOVERE: Right.
RAJU: -- especially when the President is saying something opposite --
DOVERE: Yes.
RAJU: -- when you're campaigning alongside him. So you talk about one of the things that they did do, is the no tax on tips, which is what Trump campaigned on. It was included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act that became law last year.
Now, Betsy, you had an interesting reporting assignment in Las Vegas where you explored this issue.
KLEIN: Yes, so the last time that President Trump traveled to Las Vegas was April. This was right at the beginning of the war with Iran, and I wanted to hear how no tax on tips was actually going in people's lived experience. So I went on a work-sanctioned trip to a local strip club to talk to the workers, the bartenders, the dancers, the servers, about what they were experiencing.
And yes, no tax on tips certainly was a welcome development for them. They live in a tip-based economy. However, the price of gas, the price of groceries --
HENDERSON: Yes.
KLEIN: -- inflation writ large, was a very serious problem for people whose livelihoods are dependent on Americans having disposable income.
RAJU: Yes, that's the thing, because inflation is still higher now, and the President promised to control that initially, and a lot of it, of course, has to do with the Iran war. It's dragging on, and what lawmakers are saying. Republicans had hoped it had been said at the beginning of this war, which began, remember, at the end of February.
This will end up just a few weeks. It would be temporary. There'd be a temporary blip in gas prices. That's what the Speaker of the House said back then. I asked him back in -- when they were in Florida for a House Republican retreat about whether the American public can actually sustain this. And the message has been consistent even though the war has dragged on. [12:40:08]
REP. MIKE JOHNSON (R), HOUSE SPEAKER: So, this is a temporary blip in an extraordinary trend of return to American energy dominance.
RAJU: Are you all being straight with the American public about how much pain they have to endure for this war?
JOHNSON: Yes, of course, we're being straight with the American people. We always are. The President's working earnestly to resolve the situation in the Strait of Hormuz.
In the first quarter, the economy was beginning to take off like a rock, and then we got into this skirmish with Iran. OK, so, clearly that's unfortunate --
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're calling it a skirmish?
JOHNSON: -- war, whatever you want to call it. It's a serious situation. I think we're getting close to resolution.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: I mean, he's been consistent, because that was today, and we saw his comments from back in March. It's going to be short term, not going to last long, everything will be better.
JEFF ZELENY, CNN CHIEF NATIONAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: And forever wars don't start out that way, and that is the central challenge here. But just driving across, as I was in Michigan this week, or regardless of the state, the one campaign ad that everyone sees, regardless of sign, are gas prices. And that is something that is going to be a huge weight around the necks of the Republicans in this --
RAJU: Yes.
ZELENY: -- respect. And it's just a huge challenge. And I think people would be slightly forgiving about it, but the President is saying it's the greatest economy ever.
RAJU: Yes.
ZELENY: There's just this disconnect.
RAJU: And just to dive deeper into the numbers, Nia, look at this. Tariffs, approval rating on issues, Trump just had 33 percent on tariffs, 30 percent on the economy, 24 percent on inflation and cost of living, and 21 percent on gas prices. Those are voting issues.
HENDERSON: Yes. And listen, and to -- the Democrats are in a pickle because of some of these nominees in some of these states like Michigan and possibly Wisconsin. You know, this is what they have going for them. The fact that Americans are experiencing these high prices, and the fact that Donald Trump's policies have made prices higher. Tariffs have made prices higher, and Americans know this. Obviously, the Iran war had meant that gasoline prices are much higher. And so, listen, if you're Mike Rogers, it is going to be tough to sort of explain that.
RAJU: Yes, no question about it.
All right, we have more up next, including, how did costumes, candy, and trick-or-treating become part of the high-stakes governor's race? And will it haunt this candidate?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:46:38]
RAJU: Fresh off their Michigan victory, many progressives are hoping that success can cross state lines to Wisconsin. But with just five days until Badger State voters choose their nominees for governor, the leading candidate on the left, Democratic Socialist Francesca Hong, is still without the backing of one of the movement's biggest names -- Bernie Sanders and also Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.
Senator Sanders was asked about that just yesterday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I noticed you haven't yet endorsed in the Wisconsin governor's race. What's your thinking there and might you endorse, sir?
SEN. BERNIE SANDERS (I), VERMONT: I don't think so. I met Francesca a couple of years ago. I was in Wisconsin, and she seems very, very nice. But again, this is a race I just am not that familiar with.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: I mean, not that familiar with? I mean --
ZELENY: That's a choice.
RAJU: That is a choice.
HENDERSON: Yes, yes, yes, yes.
RAJU: I mean, he's involved in every soul (ph) in the country.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
RAJU: And this is one of the biggest.
ZELENY: Sure. I mean, he's definitely more involved in Senate races. I mean, there's no doubt about that. But that is a choice right there. He could have easily said something else than I met her once and she's very nice. I mean, so the --
HENDERSON: Right. ZELENY: -- the challenge there, I think, is -- I mean, but as I have my eye on Wisconsin, it's fascinating to talk to Democrats who are kind of wondering if the race in Michigan, which was much more competitive, if that's going to sort of bleed over across Lake Michigan and over there and make Democrats kind of have a second look at this governor's race.
And as David Crowley, who's running against her, he's the Milwaukee County Executive. And this race has been all over the map with candidates dropping out and things. Is this race going to be tighter than it seems?
RAJU: Yes.
ZELENY: We'll see.
RAJU: And this is why Wisconsin is such a pivotal -- one of the swingiest of all swing states. Just a reminder of past election results here. Trump carried Wisconsin in 2016. Of course, he carried it in 2024. Very, very narrowly. And you see how the Democrats have done very, very narrowly as well.
The Democratic Governor, Tony Evers, is backing David Crowley in this race in the Democratic primary here. But one of the things that's gotten so much attention is this deleted tweet of Hong's from 2020 about Thanksgiving when she said, "Cancel Thanksgiving. Should have done this in 1621. If it takes a worldwide pandemic for us to realize we should stop celebrating colonialism and the original super spreader event that killed indigenous folks and women so be it."
So she's had a bit of an evolution, shall we say, when she's been asked about this issue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR, THE SOURCE: Do you still believe that Thanksgiving should be canceled?
FRANCESCA HONG (D), WISCONSIN GOVERNOR CANDIDATE: I'm a chef, and one of the first meals that I made that was for the community when I was 16 was a Thanksgiving meal. But Thanksgiving is also a time that's incredibly painful for many people in our communities.
My favorite holiday is Thanksgiving. Because I love Thanksgiving.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There you have it.
HONG: Yes. I don't want to cancel it. I actually love it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: OK, so cancel to I love Thanksgiving --
HENDERSON: Yes.
RAJU: -- in a couple of days. But as, you know, silly as this sounds, is this something that actually could stick and voters could remember?
HENDERSON: Yes, yes. And listen, you know, I think this is sort of Exhibit A, B, C, whatever, of why Bernie Sanders and AOC haven't endorsed her.
[12:50:01]
She's not a very strong candidate. There's sort of a wacky approach, I think, that she takes to this. You know, she's sort of a caricature of wokeism. And I think, you know, Democrats are hysterical in Wisconsin about the prospect of her winning.
They're trying to see if over the next couple of days they can make magic happen for David Crowley. There's obviously a big population in Wisconsin, in Milwaukee. Can they somehow stop her momentum? Because she will lose the general. You know --
RAJU: Yes, that's --
HENDERSON: -- I'm not here to make predictions, but it's very hard to see her point.
RAJU: You think she could win?
DOVERE: We'll see. Politics has been kind of weird the last decade. Who knows what can happen? But I would say, in addition to the substance of that post that you put up, pay attention to the X at the end of folks.
HENDERSON: Yes.
DOVERE: I mean, that is the -- where you see that, as Nia pointed out, she's just swimming in this wokeism, this language of academia that can be weird, very lefty type of words like Latinx, and saying everything that's good, you should see the bad. And that turns off people, whether they're thinking about voting or not.
It obviously, though, connects with a lot of people that have been supporting her. You know, we talk about Democrats who are trying to stop her. Well, they're trying to stop her because a lot of other voters in Wisconsin and Democratic primary voters seem like they're going to vote for her.
RAJU: Yes.
DOVERE: Whether that can go forward. I mean, remember, you showed the presidential results in Wisconsin, but go back to Scott Walker and the recall.
RAJU: Yes.
DOVERE: It's so much.
RAJU: It's such a combustible, very swingy state. A battle between Milwaukee and Madison, between the two Democratic primaries. I have a view of Madison, as people much know. A very positive view, just for the -- of course for the record. Extremely positive.
So, what about Halloween? OK, we're talking about holidays here, Halloween. She was asked about this as well on Politico's podcast.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HONG: I don't have anything against it. I just don't feel the need to have to participate. And it's fine for kids, but like we're promoting like unhealthy tights and candy. And like, I don't know. It just doesn't seem very healthy. But I guess dressing up and going out is fun for -- I'm -- generally, this is not a like, I dislike. I'm just -- I'm not a super fun person.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: And that was from yesterday.
HENDERSON: Yes.
DOVERE: One of the things that was very important for El-Sayed winning in Michigan is the fun that he had --
HENDERSON: Yes.
DOVERE: -- on the campaign trail. And how joyous it was for him.
RAJU: Yes.
DOVERE: And he's very good about that.
RAJU: It is infectious.
DOVERE: And it is infectious. And you see that for candidates all around the country.
RAJU: Yes.
KLEIN: People want to elect a candidate that they could see themselves having a beer with. It is remarkably self-aware to admit that you are not a very fun person.
RAJU: Yes. And Tom Tiffany, the Republican candidate, who's very likely going to be the nominee here, he's jumping all over this.
HENDERSON: Yes.
RAJU: He's got a bunch of tweets he put out. "Just so everyone knows where I stand, I won't cancel Thanksgiving as governor." He says, "I won't vote abolish or defund the police." And went on to talk about he won't cancel Christmas. And he also had this post, "Come and take it," showing the turkey. There you go.
And as we go to break, the money race, too. Look at this. I mean, Tiffany has $6.6 million in the bank. And both Crowley and Hong, just a fraction of that money. So it just shows you the challenges Democrats have in this very, very swing state. All right, coming up, a surprise political remix. You'll see which sitting governor is making a cameo in rapper Meek Mill's latest music video.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[12:58:15]
RAJU: Topping our political radar, we're still waiting for Senators Lisa Murkowski and Bill Cassidy to reveal whether they'll vote to confirm Todd Blanche as attorney general. Senate Republicans are hoping to confirm him before leaving for summer recess tomorrow. But his nomination is hanging by a thread.
He could lose Cassidy's vote or Murkowski's vote, but not both. He did meet with the two holdouts just yesterday at the Capitol, and here's what Cassidy said he needs to hear.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. BILL CASSIDY (R), LOUISIANA: I've got to be convinced that he is an attorney general who just happens to have once been President Trump's personal attorney as opposed to President Trump's personal attorney who is now the Attorney General.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: Senator Susan Collins already announced that she'll vote against Blanche, the only definite GOP no-vote so far.
And a big change of plans for the Trump Presidential Library. The President's son Eric told NBC News that he won't take the new Qatar- donated plane with him when he leaves office, which was the plan when he accepted the jet initially.
Instead, he's likely to take one of the older Air Force One jets to display at his library. President Trump has begun using the new jet, which had been repainted to his desired color scheme, but it still needs more security upgrades.
And a very different kind of campaign video for Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro. That's Shapiro with rapper and Philadelphia native Meek Mill in a music video for his new song "Nightmares to Dreams." Shapiro and the hip-hop star have collaborated before on criminal justice reform. Shapiro signed a probation reform bill in 2023 with Meek Mill looking on. Shapiro is up for re-election this year.
Thanks for joining Inside Politics CNN News Central starts right now.
