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Inside Politics
This Week: Progressive-Moderate Battle Enters Next Phase; Top GOP Senator Bullish On Expanding Races In Play This Fall. With 86 Days to Go, Trump and GOP Split on Priorities; Hunter Biden Says Joe Biden's Prostate Cancer Getting Worse; Vance Spends Week at Center of Burrito Jabs and 2028 Chatter; Hemp and College Sports Hold Up Congress' Race to Exits. Aired 8-9a ET
Aired August 09, 2026 - 08:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
[08:00:22]
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
(MUSIC)
MANU RAJU, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Midwest mayhem.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It's pissing me off.
RAJU: Democrats' path to power gets complicated.
ABDUL EL-SAYED (D), MICHIGAN SENATE CANDIDATE: In the words of Muhammad Ali, we shook up the world.
RAJU: Can they figure it out as they start to turn to 2028?
PETE BUTTIGIEG, FORMER TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: It is good to be home in Michigan.
RAJU: Plus, all over the map. President Trump scrambles his party's agenda.
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: They're not angry at me, but they are angry at Republicans.
RAJU: So why does the senator running GOP campaign operations feel optimistic? My one on one with Tim Scott, next.
SEN. TIM SCOTT (R-SC): I think we could have a 54-seat majority.
RAJU: And way too early?
TRUMP: I think he's great, but we're way too early.
RAJU: 2028 chatter centers on the vice president. So why is he posting about burritos?
INSIDE POLITICS, the best reporting from inside the corridors of power, starts now. (MUSIC)
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RAJU (on camera): Good morning. And welcome to INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY. I'm Manu Raju.
It's been less than a week after a bitter Democratic Senate primary battle in Michigan that saw progressives squeak out a win over the party establishment and gave Republicans new hope in an otherwise grim midterm environment. And now, Democrats get to relive that battle all over again this Tuesday, this time in Wisconsin and Minnesota.
In battleground Wisconsin, one of the most closely divided states in the nation, Democratic socialist front runner Francesca Hong has stumbled in a race for governor over resurfaced posts about Thanksgiving, abolishing the police and more. She and her leading Democratic opponent, Milwaukee County Executive David Crowley, were on the campaign trail days ahead of Tuesday's gubernatorial primary.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FRANCESCA HONG (D), WISCONSIN GOVERNOR CANDIDATE: And I think central Wisconsin, especially, you all are in a very, very powerful position to show the rest of the country that rural Wisconsin you're not going to be defined just by red or blue, left or right.
DAVID CROWLEY (D), WISCONSIN GOVERNOR CANDIDATE: What I've learned is it's not to give up, you know, continue to fight back and fight for the, for, for the little folks on the ground, especially our rural communities, especially those who feel like they haven't had a seat at the table.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: And in South Carolina, the gloves are off, as the late Senator Lindsey Graham's sister runs to replace him.
So, let's all break this down with my excellent group of political insiders. Zolan Kanno-Youngs from "The New York Times", Margaret Talev from "Axios", and Burgess Everett from "Semafor".
Happy Sunday morning to you all. Great -- great to see you guys.
Margaret, on the Wisconsin race, the reason why this is so significant -- I mean, Wisconsin is the bellwether of bellwether, pivotal swing state of pretty much all the ones that we talk about. I mean, just look at the election margins from the past election cycles. Trump squeaked one out in 2016. He squeaked it out in 2024. Biden did the same in 2020.
Tony Evers, the governor, has won very narrowly, repeatedly. Tammy Baldwin won very narrowly last year, the Democratic senator. And now we have this really fascinating primary playing out on the Democratic side. And there's real fear among Democratic circles that this could cost them a critical governor's race. MARGARET TALEV, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Not just generalized fear from
random people who aren't saying anything out loud, but fear from the outgoing governor who's like, hey guys, I'm not sure that this candidate is going to work in a general election. So, I do -- it's part of this phenomenon that you're seeing right now within the Democratic Party, where you have younger voters and progressive voters really energized around elevating candidates who reflect some of these policies and principles, and taking a stand and taking the fight. And then you've got a state where the margins are really thin. And there's a big question mark about whether someone who is a super progressive candidate with a nontraditional background and some controversial positions can prevail in November.
RAJU: Yeah. And just to that point of what Tony Evers, the governor, said, who is backing David Crowley, who is Francesca Hong's Democratic opponent? He was on the trail in the last several days, and he made it very clear about whether he thinks Hong could win if she's the nominee.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GOV. TONY EVERS (D), WISCONSIN: I think she's in a tough place. She has spent her entire campaign dealing with not with the issues, but what what's on the Twitter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: And speaking of Twitter, there were a lot of these tweets from the past that she has had to deal with over the last several weeks, including, I support defunding the police as a first step towards abolishing the police.
[08:05:07]
She, of course, the very infamous one now about canceling Thanksgiving. She said this should have done in 1621. She's been kind of been pressed about that repeatedly over the last several days.
And, you know, said that she doesn't hate Thanksgiving now. She loves Thanksgiving. But those are the kind of things that could stick among voters' minds right now.
ZOLAN KANNO-YOUNGS, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: A hundred percent. And it represents something a bit broader of the Democratic Party, really, since I would say like 2020, trying to navigate internally just how far left they're going to go on certain issues, does that come away as not being in touch with voters more broadly?
And, you know, we've talked about this with numerous candidates where you see them sort of having to answer for past social media posts on polarizing issues like divesting and defunding from the police or something. That's going to be more fodder for your political opponents, like talking about the holiday Thanksgiving.
RAJU: Yeah, right. Right, right. KANNO-YOUNGS: Both of those, I think, connect to that broader theme,
though, of trying to sort of navigate just how far to go as you have this progressive flank that you were talking about, younger voters that you're trying to appease and trying to build a broader coalition.
RAJU: And she's been fighting back against the Democratic establishment, Democratic consultant class that she says because David Axelrod, our friend and colleague and fellow cubs fan, of course, was tweeted about how about calling her, you know, sort of a font of zany liberal faculty lounge exotica.
He, Axelrod, tweeted. and Francesca Hong responded, saying that this tweet is a perfect example of why the consultant class keeps losing elections. She called them totally clueless. They're hell bent on keeping working class people out of politics. But just part of the issue, too, is just like how much this Democratic primary has depleted things on the -- on their side.
Just look at this money that they have that Hong and Crowley have compared to Tom Tiffany, the Republican candidate and likely Republican nominee, $6.6 million for Tiffany. And they have a fraction less than 100,000 bucks that they have in their -- less than a million bucks, I should say they have in their war chest right now.
BURGESS EVERETT, SEMAFOR CONGRESSIONAL BUREAU CHIEF: Yeah.
RAJU: That is a concern.
EVERETT: And she'll need the establishment if she wins the nomination so that she can compete with that. But I think what you're seeing is when you saw the Michigan primary and you saw all these folks, these progressive, well-known progressives, Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, coming into Michigan and campaigning for Abdul El-Sayed. You're not seeing that for Francesca Hong.
And I'm also -- you mentioned Tammy Baldwin. You know a lot about Wisconsin politics. She's a fairly progressive senator. The way that she has won these elections is not by talking about Thanksgiving. It's by being pretty pragmatic on these issues and keeping a low profile on some of these political issues.
And so, I think that that's the contrast. That's the playbook to win in Wisconsin. We've seen Mandela Barnes lose a Senate race for similar statements like defunding the police and things like that.
RAJU: But I want to ask you about the Michigan Senate primary as well, because we're seeing Angie Craig and the Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan battle it out. There's a real split on the Democratic side as well. Really, look at the endorsements among the Democrats. And there really you're seeing the Bernie Sanders and the more progressive some of the more progressive members get behind Peggy Flanagan, some of the more establishment figures within the Democratic Party, including Pelosi getting behind Angie Craig. Also, you know, she's a House member as well. How do you see that playing out and who's got the edge heading into Tuesday? EVERETT: I mean, the polls seem pretty deadlocked. I think the one
thing that Democrats can tell themselves and feel better about this division is that they are favored to win this race, no matter who is nominated for this position. Angie Craig has been arguing that she's more electable than Peggy Flanagan. And that's because Republicans, as we'll probably get to like Tim Scott, have been saying, that they can compete in Minnesota.
I think there's some longer-term ramifications from this race. What does it look like in six years? Who can hold the seat easily for a long time? And also, how are people going to vote in this leadership race?
Peggy Flanagan seems like she would vote against Chuck Schumer in the leadership race. Angie Craig hasn't been as strident about that. So --
RAJU: How do you see it?
TALEV: Yeah, actually, I think the consequences are more interesting looking forward past the election for exactly those reasons. I do think like if Democrats recapture the House, it is going to change like the definition of how you triangulate inside the party, like how you reach consensus on issues. Senate, it may be like sense a little bit different because Democrats, I think if Democrats won the majority in the Senate, these sort of issues would have massive implications. If Democrats remain in the minority, it's just going to remain a food fight.
RAJU: But speaking of food fights, another one happening on Tuesday, the South Carolina Republican primary, of course, the late Senator Lindsey Graham, died just a few weeks ago, and now there's a race to replace him.
[08:10:00]
In the Republican side, Senator, the appointed senator, his younger sister, Darline Graham, among the five candidates in this race.
Now, initially there was not -- you know, she was obviously going through Darline Graham was a very difficult period. And a lot of the candidates, you know, they gave her some space. Not anymore. This is getting pretty intense. Watch some of the attack ads.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AD NARRATOR: You can't spell Darline without DEI. As a government bureaucrat, Darline Graham ballooned the size of a state agency, doubled its spending, and led a culture of diversity and inclusion.
AD NARRATOR: Career politician Russell Fry rejected by President Trump. Fry selfishly put himself before President Trump and the MAGA movement. His empty seat could hand AOC and the woke liberals in D.C. power.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
KANNO-YOUNGS: Those are a temporary period for niceties, for being cordial there.
Yeah, I mean, it will be interesting to see look, we saw President Trump go out and embrace Graham early, just how much he gets involved in this race moving forward, especially as she tries to ingratiate himself more for calling for things like abolishing the filibuster, which we know President Trump values.
RAJU: Yah. No question.
And then this is a Tuesday primary. If no candidate gets a majority of the vote, a runoff will be on August 25th. So, we'll get to replay this for another couple of weeks. We'll see who gets becomes the top two heading into what is very likely going to be a runoff.
All right. Coming up next, I go one on one with Senator Tim Scott, who has said little publicly about up until now about the midterm map. He reveals his bullish projection and provides new details about the fight for the majority.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: Are you going to pick up seats?
SEN. TIM SCOTT (R-SC): I think we could have a 54-seat majority.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:16:03]
RAJU: Republican Senator Tim Scott has said little publicly about his difficult job. He's in charge of the Republican effort to hang on to the narrow Senate majority. The map favors the GOP, since Democrats have to pick up a net of four seats to win back power, meaning holding seats in battlegrounds Michigan and Georgia and then winning in red states.
With the environment souring for the GOP, many see Democrats with a packed path to pick up some seats, if not flip the Senate altogether. But not Scott, who now sees the map expanding and is eyeing GOP pickup opportunities that few in Washington have their sights on.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
RAJU: Thanks for talking to me.
SCOTT: Yes, sir. Of course.
RAJU: So, let's talk first of all about the overall map.
SCOTT: Yeah.
RAJU: Because, you know, this is a no doubt about the map is tough for Democrats to win in some very deeply conservative states. States that Donald Trump carried by double digits. Those include, of course, Iowa, Ohio, Alaska and Texas. Trump carried those by double digits, but they are really in play this cycle. What do you think explains why they're in play?
SCOTT: Well, I don't think they're in play. Frankly.
RAJU: You don't think they're in play.
SCOTT: Not really. No.
Listen, Texas is going to be red to the roots. There's no doubt that Paxton will be victorious. In my opinion. All polls say the race is close. I think the polls are fairly accurate. But at the end of the day, the more you learn about Talarico, the less you like him.
The truth is that here's a guy who is as close to a socialist as Texas has seen in my lifetime. If you turn your attention to Ohio, Sherrod Brown's has 100 percent name saturation and they don't like him. He is stuck in the 40s with his ceiling. And why is that the case? Well, here's a guy who was raised your taxes in Ohio by over 300 bucks a month. Someone who has suggested that the working families tax cut bill was a mistake, which means that he's actually voting against speaking poorly of funding rural hospitals at $50 billion.
He's against increasing the child tax credit. That's just out of step with Ohio. In Iowa, Ashley Hinson has done such a good job doing what we call the full Grassley which is hitting 99 counties in a very short period of time. She's running in a state where her name recognition, the way she's done her job as a congresswoman is fantastic.
RAJU: And you don't think Alaska is in play?
SCOTT: Yeah, Alaska -- listen, if the real Dan Sullivan just stands up, you're too young to know what that means. But there's a whole show that was on TV. Here's what we know without any question. Dan Sullivan versus Dan Sullivan. We now have the resources and the information to get our incumbent, Dan Sullivan, across the finish line.
And Peltola, running close, without any question. Dan Sullivan, a marine, served the state very long for a long time. We feel he's in good position. Peltola, very liberal, out of step with Alaska. Good shape there. Troy Jackson socialist who's mean to women, who has a very interesting and fascinating past, but also as a legislator that ran the education system to a large part into the ground.
Susan Collins, strong, reliable, consistent, you turn your attention to New Hampshire, where we have a shot at a pickup there. John Sununu is doing really well. He's down by about two right now in an environment that you've suggested is not productive for Republicans, that will get better and better as we head into Labor Day.
RAJU: Now let's just drill down into Michigan --
SCOTT: Let's drill down.
RAJU: -- this week.
Haley Stevens, if she had won the Democratic nomination, would this have made your race harder?
SCOTT: Listen, I call -- this is the truth, Manu. I know I called Mike Rogers on election night 2024 and said, I'm hoping that you're going to run again. And he said, Tim, can I -- can I get a couple days to think about it? I'm like, absolutely not. Let's do the Dave McCormick run two times in a row.
I thought then, November 2024, that Mike Rogers, with a clear Republican primary, would be the next senator, the first Republican senator in 30 years out of Michigan.
[08:20:08]
RAJU: Would Haley Stevens made that harder?
SCOTT: Well, we know for certain is that Abdul El-Sayed is making -- El-Sayed is making it easier. Why? Because he is inconsistent with Michiganders of either side of the aisle, by the way, someone who wants to defund the police, defund ICE, who wants to abolish our concept of a border. He's just -- he's just wrong for Michigan.
RAJU: Yeah. And I saw your early attack ads against him. You're using his full name in these attack ads, which has gotten some attention. Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed, he goes by Abdul El-Sayed.
Are you trying to say hint, hint to voters, he's Muslim?
SCOTT: Not at all. What we're saying. What we're only saying to voters is a simple thing. He says he's the most dangerous -- he says he's the most dangerous candidate you can find. He's right. We should trust his words, not ours.
RAJU: But why not just use his name, Abdul El-Sayed, which he goes by?
SCOTT: Well, listen, I go by Timothy Jean and so I get called that all the time. Here's what I know for that question. It's about what he stands for. And we're going to focus and bring attention to the fact that not only is he sympathetic for Hamas, not only does he run around with Hasan Piker, someone who said that Americans deserve 9/11. He should be held account for exactly where he stands and what he's for?
RAJU: So you talked about Texas.
SCOTT: Yes.
RAJU: There are a lot of the outside groups have not spent much in Texas. Does the NRSC plan to step in here and spend a lot of money?
SCOTT: Yeah, the strategy in Texas is strong. It's going to be very well funded. We have no actual reason to be concerned about Texas. Paxton is working hard. They will work harder.
RAJU: Should the Trump Organization spend money there? They haven't --
(CROSSTALK)
SCOTT: We anticipate that the -- we had presentations just yesterday. As you probably know, MAGA Inc. coming over and talking to the polling data. We know that there are going to be fully engaged. President Trump is already on the campaign trail talking about affordability, which in my opinion, is a breath of fresh air, because the more he talks about the exact issues that confronting the American people, the easier it is for us to talk about the fact that every single Democrat in the Senate voted to raise your taxes, voted to reduce the $50 billion funding for rural hospitals, voted against the child tax credit, voted for open borders.
RAJU: You know, you obviously supported Cornyn and you went after -- the NRSC went after Ken Paxton --
SCOTT: Sure.
RAJU: -- even suggesting he was corrupt. Do you regret those attacks against Paxton?
SCOTT: Listen, what I can tell you is that without question and with great clarity, Texas will vote for Paxton, and we will continue to expose the insanity of Talarico. The contrast could not be more clear and more in our favor. So, the more resources that we spend, the better off Texas will be. And as a result, America will be better off because the Senate will remain the firewall for the country.
RAJU: North Carolina and Georgia.
SCOTT: Yeah, good news.
RAJU: But are you concerned about the Republican candidates there? The polls don't look great for them.
SCOTT: Oh, listen --
RAJU: Would you consider diverting resources away from those states?
SCOTT: Of course not. Listen, Michael Whatley had a 15-point deficit. He worked really hard. Got it down to ten. Now it's down to four. Roy Cooper has never had the kind of resources spent exposing his record.
RAJU: What keeps you up at night when you look at these red states, particularly that, you know, you say they're not in play, but they're all close. Do any of them keep you up at night?
SCOTT: No. I tell you what, not much keeps me up at night, to be honest with you, Manu. The one thing that gets me excited when I think about this, this election cycle on the map is Minnesota. I think Minnesota. We have a real shot with Michele Tafoya. She has done a really good job on fundraising.
RAJU: Are you spending money there?
SCOTT: She's -- we just did an event for her. We've done two events for her recently, one in the state and one in national call for our -- for the donors. Well, we know without question is she is within a point of the lieutenant governor right now. So, if we can continue to let her show the contrast between the two candidates, I think Michele Tafoya is the only Republican that can win.
RAJU: Do you think you can pick up seats?
SCOTT: I think we could have a 54-seat majority.
RAJU: OK.
SCOTT: Not 46, not -- not 53.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
RAJU: All right. My excellent panel is back.
Fifty-four seats, Burgess. Look, he sees an expanding map. And, Schumer, you talked to Chuck Schumer who also sees an expanding map more much bigger than the narrow playing field that we often talk about in a handful of states.
Is that realistic?
EVERETT: I think some of these are reach states. I think Minnesota is a reach state for Republicans. You heard him right there, which I think is revealing, say that Michele Tafoya is close to Peggy Flanagan. So, it's pretty clear Republicans would like Peggy Flanagan to win the nomination next week.
And yes, Chuck Schumer is talking about Democrats competing in Kansas, for sure, and maybe Mississippi, because there are so many Black voters there, they think they might be able to get over the top with Scott Colom. So I did the math. We're at about 12 states. If you listen to Tim Scott and you listen to Chuck Schumer, Montana's a little bit unsettled, and we're not even talking about Nebraska yet.
So I definitely started off this cycle thinking the battleground would be pretty small, six-ish states. It's almost double that right now. We'll see if the parties actually spend money there, because that's what tells you how confident they are.
[08:25:03]
RAJU: Yeah.
EVERETT: Where do they put the money?
RAJU: It was -- I mean, because I asked him, are you going to spend money in Minnesota? He didn't exactly say. And also Texas, too. It's really unclear if they're going to spend money there and whether the Trump organization will come in in Texas. And that's a big concern. Of course, Ken Paxton, Ken Paxton actually win in that state.
I do want to talk about this ad from the NRSC, which I asked Tim Scott about, about Michigan, about Abdul El-Sayed.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
AD NARRATOR: Abdulrahman Mohamed El-Sayed, the most radical Senate candidate in America.
EL-SAYED: I'm pretty (EXPLETIVE DELETED) dangerous.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: So when I asked him about that, as you just heard, Tim Scott, you know, he sort of shrugged it off and said, you know, people call me by my full name too.
KANNO-YOUNGS: Yeah. What did he say? People call him Senator Timothy. I -- that's news to me.
TALEV: I've never heard that. Yes.
RAJU: What do you make of that strategy by using the name?
KANNO-YOUNGS: Well, I mean, we have seen Republicans continue to come out and use that full name. And I think the context here is that we have seen in recent years that, frankly, islamophobia is getting more normalized.
And, you know, yes, there are Republicans that are trying to portray candidates as being out of touch and even extremists. But you also then have some members in the party. And I'm not even saying this was Senator Scott and reflecting that interview, but you do have some members of the Republican Party, particularly comments about Mamdani and El-Sayed who have embraced Islamophobia as particularly --
RAJU: I mean, Trump has let's be honest.
KANNO-YOUNGS: We have a president also -- it's top down, right? Who ran very much and, you know, launched his sort of political career on a Muslim ban and making sweeping comments about Muslims in his second term in office, has made gone on these xenophobic rants about Somalis as well, and Somali-American citizens, too.
So that context, I think, is surrounding some of the ads that you're seeing.
RAJU: Very quickly. He also thinks that El-Sayed has made their job easier to pick up Michigan.
TALEV: Well, the policy positions may have, but when you see the grainy video in the words like dangerous, what's happening on the other end is that El-Sayed, setting aside policy issues just as a candidate, has a ton of political charisma and is inspiring to young people.
So I think we don't really know what's going to happen. But Tim Scott certainly put his best foot forward. In Texas, two or three polls actually show Talarico ahead, inside the margin of error. You can't take any of that to the bank. I think that Texas race might be a little closer than senator -- RAJU: That's why they went after Paxton. The NRSC did, because they
were concerned about this exact situation. And he attacked. They went after Paxton and asked if he regretted those attacks. Didn't quite say that.
All right. Coming up, how did a Trump-backed candidate lose to a guy who is not even running anymore? And just how bad are things between the president and the GOP? That's next.
Plus, politicians. They say the darndest things.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: Leader Schumer, Leader Schumer!
SCHUMER: Quiet! You can't yell that loud. You're out loud, even yelling than you used to.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[08:32:27]
MANU RAJU, CNN HOST: For the past decade, President Trump's grip on the GOP has seemed nearly absolute. But in the past week, some stark reminders of the limits of his power in his own party.
His top legislative priority, the so-called Save America Act, to impose new voting restrictions, went nowhere in the Senate ahead of the summer recess.
Twice last week, voters rejected Trump's choice in GOP primaries. And in Ohio, Trump refused to use his bully pulpit to demand embattled Congressman Max Miller drop what many Republicans fear is a doomed reelection bid.
My political insiders are back. So, Burgess, you must have been in the Capitol at 4:00 a.m. on Saturday morning.
No, you were not. Ok. Well, this is where they got out of town without passing what Trump has been demanding, which is a Save America Act. That is his top legislative priority even though the economy is what the Republicans are begging for him to focus on.
BURGESS EVERETT, SEMAFOR CONGRESSIONAL BUREAU CHIEF: Yes. And I mean, I think that the timing of when that happened is intentional. I think both parties were probably happy that not everyone was paying attention to what the Senate was doing when they got out of town.
I mean, they did fund the government, but yes, Save America Act is not going anywhere. A vote on a Voter I.D. bill from Jon Husted, a senator who's up in Ohio failed. College Sports Bill kicked to September. Clarity Act kicked to September.
So it was -- it was not like a great moment for President Trump's priorities because Save, College Sports, and Clarity are three things that we've been hearing him in the White House talking about for a long time. And I don't necessarily think any of those things have great chances in September, either, but we'll see what happens.
RAJU: I mean, Trump will be on the campaign trail in the days ahead. But, you know, can he focus on what they want him to focus on?
You just look at some of the moves in this past week. We talked about the Voting Restriction Bill. There's an anti-weaponization fund that created so much drama in the Capitol. Ultimately they had to kill it to get Todd Blanche confirmed as the next attorney general.
He made some comments to our friend Jake Sherman at Punchbowl News about data centers that perhaps didn't -- rubbed some members the wrong way.
And the Reflecting Pool and White House ballroom is his obsession.
MARGARET TALEV, AXIOS SENIOR CONTRIBUTOR: Yes. So the polling shows two things that are really important. And one is something like two- thirds of Americans think that President Trump is focused on the wrong stuff and not focused on the stuff that is of key importance to them. And that his approval numbers that are around 1 in 3 now -- really, really low.
[08:34:45]
TALEV: But the reason they were there until 4:00 in the morning, right, wasn't just so they could not pass key things he wanted and then duck out, but because they were confirming Todd Blanche as the next attorney general.
And so you've got this situation where President Trump is dragging down Republicans' prospects nationally in November in some of these elections, but he still has tremendous power over the base and tremendous power to destroy Republicans who get in his way inside these party battles. And I think those are the two levers you see him exercising.
RAJU: Yes. It's interesting. What about the power with the base? Yes, he does win most of his endorsements. Candidates, they generally win.
But we saw this last week. A couple more added to the list of people who lost Trump endorsements who lost.
We saw Randy Feenstra in Iowa. He was the gubernatorial candidate earlier this cycle and he lost.
Burt Jones in Georgia, running in that gubernatorial race and lost.
And then he had a split endorsement in South Carolina. So there's a little asterisk there as you see. He endorsed Pam and then endorsed both candidates in the runoff. And then -- I guess he didn't lose there.
But then this week, not only Andy Ogles, a conservative congressman from Tennessee, controversial member loss, but then Amir Hassan, who was -- Trump endorsed him and his opponent, Thomas Smith, dropped out because of that endorsement.
EVERETT: Yes.
RAJU: Smith's name was still on the ballot, and he won over Trump- backed candidate.
ZOLAN KANNO-YOUNGS, NEW YORK TIMES WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: That was something. That was something. And you saw President Trump even last week in one of his public appearances, talking about that candidate as well and Amir Hassan Khan.
And sort of throwing -- sort of using the bully pulpit to boost him up. And he still lost, even though this candidate previously had dropped out.
I mean, yes, you are still seeing like a tight grip on the base. I think for the most part, up until recently, we've seen him really win these primaries.
At the same time, there's a split screen here, right? We've seen President Trump notch all these wins in primary season, but that anti- Trump sentiment, the economic anxiety that we've seen, the break between how much he posts about the ballroom versus gas prices and the policies that many Republicans want him to talk about, to try to address the daily needs of voters. Like that's going to matter in the general as we continue to move forward and get closer to November.
RAJU: You know, there's going to be a big -- there's another gubernatorial primary this Tuesday. Mike Lindell, the MyPillow guy who, of course, sowed a lot of, conspiracy theories about the 2020 election.
He's backed by Trump. And we'll see if he pulls it out and wins that primary. There's a lot of the members of the Minnesota GOP who don't want Mike Lindell to win that race, a big test for Trump.
But then also the Max Miller situation. Why is -- Max Miller is going to be a candidate? He's not dropped out.
You know, there's this August 10th deadline. He had to really get out by yesterday if they wanted to replace him.
He's making it very clear he's running. Why won't Trump just tell him to get out of the race?
TALEV: He didn't. And now he's in a situation where the Democrat who happens to be lined up against Miller actually, like, has a lot of the hallmarks of somebody who actually could beat Miller in that district.
KANNO-YOUNGS: Right. Poindexter.
TALEV: -- which isn't a runaway Republican district. It went strong for Trump at a time when Trump was more popular. But, Miller versus Mr. Poindexter, like the union guy, he's got Sanders' support. RAJU: Yes.
TALEV: But he's like a dude, you know, like, I actually like, I'm pretty surprised.
I think President Trump did, like, walked right up to the line, called Miller, is telling him like this does not look good, son. Yes, but Miller dug in and used the Trump playbook and said, if you could survive what you survived, I can survive this.
RAJU: And because Trump won that district by 11 points in 2024. But Miller wanted -- he had 51 percent of the vote. But just 51 percent of the vote when he won reelection.
EVERETT: Yes.
RAJU: And there were two candidates. So he won comfortably on the Democrat and Independent.
EVERETT: Right.
RAJU: Now, it's a head-to-head matchup. Why? You know, we heard Bernie Moreno make so many -- raise so many concerns. Bernie Moreno is close to Trump, too. Why isn't Trump listening to Bernie Moreno?
EVERETT: I think Trump likes Max Miller. Max Miller worked in the White House. I think he sees maybe something of himself in the way that Max Miller is fighting this.
I know he wants him to get out, but I think that there's a long going -- long running connection that goes back further than that.
And I think you're hearing Bernie Moreno, who's probably the next NRSC chairman, talking about this, because I think this could be a big problem for the governor's race for Republicans and for the Senate race and Jon Husted. So Max Miller could drag down the whole ticket by staying in the race.
RAJU: Yes. We'll see if that ultimately happens. And he looks like he is staying in the race.
All right. Just ahead J.D. Vance's beef with burritos. Why a fat joke has made online -- he made online has entered the 2028 conversation.
[08:39:25]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
RAJU: New this weekend, President Biden's prostate cancer has worsened. That's according to his son Hunter, who said this of his father in an interview with the BBC.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HUNTER BIDEN, SON OF JOE BIDEN: The cancer has spread, metastasized into his bones and further. It's very painful. And it's very debilitating in many respects.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: My panel is back.
Zolan, you covered the White House. You covered Biden. He's been out on the trail a fair amount.
KANNO-YOUNGS: Yes.
RAJU: But obviously, according to his son, things have gotten a lot worse.
KANNO-YOUNGS: Yes. And I mean, first off, before getting into the politics, this is awful news. And you obviously wish the Biden family the best.
He has been out there more. He gave a speech in Maryland the other day as well. And it's worth noting also, when in office, he did -- he focused a lot on dedicating research to cancer funding as well.
[08:44:43]
KANNO-YOUNGS: It does also come at a time and once again puts a spotlight on the fact that the Biden White House did want to run President Biden again, even amid concerns broadly over the age of candidates and the age of elected officials.
Now, with Mitch McConnell also taking this absence from Congress, those questions have resurfaced, right?
So those questions are going to continue to be asked not just by reporters, but by the public of the age and the fitness of elected officials.
RAJU: No question about it. All right.
Let's turn to one other discussion from this past week.
J.D. Vance, the vice president, of course, and Trump. There was a report in the "Washington Post" that Trump was encouraging donors to move towards J.D. Vance in 2028, but Trump didn't seem to agree with the news there. This is what he said about Vance.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There is a report that you told donors that they need to get J.D. Vance elected in 2028. Is that your official endorsement?
DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: No, it's -- I heard about it a little while ago. I think he's great. But we're way too early to even be thinking about that.
(END VIDEO CLIP) TALEV: Of course, what the report said was he's privately telling donors to back Vance and publicly telling people he hasn't made up his mind. So that comment was perfectly --
RAJU: It may have confirmed the news --
TALEV: -- it's perfectly in keeping with the story.
But yes, I think the president sort of keeping this guessing game going, keeping his options over, making his, you know, internal guys compete or whatever, all -- you know, the storyline.
But what we're seeing with Vance sort of testing the waters is trying to stake out his personality is can he, should he, adapt -- adopt or adapt the Trump playbook?
President Trump trolls people all the time, but he's a very powerful communicator. And so you can't look away.
RAJU: Yes.
TALEV: And his base loves it. And even the people who hate it love to hate it. And Vance is trying to figure out whether he can do that.
RAJU: Speaking of trolling, this is what J.D. Vance said about the conservative "Washington Post" columnist Marc Thiessen after Thiessen made some comments of his own on social media.
J.D. Vance says, "I'm surprised to hear Marc say this. If you've ever met him in person, it's quite obvious the man has never missed a burrito."
That has caused a lot of reaction. Was he making a crack at his weight, or perhaps responding to what Thiessen wrote a few days earlier about Trump's Iran, saying, "Trump's Iran strategy is working, his vice president isn't."
Burgess, what do you make of Vance's social media tendencies?
EVERETT: I'm a pupusa guy, so.
TALEV: $20 pupusas?
EVERETT: I think that when Vance tries to be like Trump, it doesn't necessarily work for him. And that's the kind of thing that you see from President Trump a lot.
And people that have tried to mimic President Trump in the past are generally unsuccessful with that.
That's not to say J.D. Vance is not a talented politician in his own right, but I don't think this played super well because essentially, Marc Thiessen was defending the administration and kind of dismissing these affordability concerns from other folks. And instead he got called fat by the vice president, basically.
RAJU: Yes. Very quickly.
KANNO-YOUNGS: Yes, no, absolutely. J.D. Vance might be the most online vice president we have seen in like modern American history.
Earlier last year, he was responding to people with minimal followers as well criticizing him. We're going to continue to see it likely.
RAJU: Yes. I think we most certainly will.
All right. Coming up, Friday night fights. Why a bill pushed by the NCAA held up late action as senators scramble to leave town for the summer recess.
And why a battle over hemp stalled a measure to fund the federal government. It's all a bit hazy. We have the details next.
[08:48:16]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
RAJU: It was a messy scramble to vacation on Capitol Hill as the smell of jet fumes in a long summer break led to frenetic energy in the halls of the Senate.
And there were two under-the-radar topics holding things up -- hemp and college sports.
First, the Senate passed a one-month extension of a bill that would pull most intoxicating hemp products from the shelves. Last year, Congress banned a lot of these products, limiting the amount of THC they can use and effectively banning nearly all those products.
Not to get into the weeds or weed in this case, but the ban is due to go into effect this November.
And the White House was pushing hard for a month-long delay, saying it needed more time to consider unintended consequences.
The pot thickened when Republicans went ahead and attached that extension to a bill funding the government through December. And Republican Senator Ted Budd tried unsuccessfully to make that go up in smoke.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SEN. TED BUDD (R-NC): Today, we're talking about unregulated hemp products being sold on the shelves of nearly every corner store in America. These intoxicating substances, they're hiding in plain sight, and they're putting our kids at risk
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: Budd was blunt on Friday and said he thinks the president may have been misinformed by his staff. That as "The New York Times" reported that if the extension passed, the White House chief of staff, Susie Wiles family stood to benefit since Wiles' son-in-law runs companies that sells hemp products. Now, that extension did pass in the daze of night early Saturday.
And that wasn't all. A clash over a bill regulating college sports also held things up. Congress has long tried to create a national standard for what's known as Name, Image and Likeness, or NIL in college sports given how uneven the playing field over paying college athletes and how that has roiled college sports.
Now, as far back as 2023, the commissioners of the NCAA's power conferences told me that any delay could be disastrous.
[08:54:48]
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: If this gets punted though, you know, as Congress typically does on complicated issues -- punt stuff into the next Congress. What's the risk?
JIM PHILLIPS, ACC COMMISSIONER: I'd say the risk is permanent damage to an enterprise that has meant an awful lot to our country and to those that have benefited from the experiences.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
RAJU: But some GOP senators blocked quick consideration over concerns the proposal could preempt state laws restricting transgender athletes.
Yet Trump on Friday called for passage of the bill, which could see action in the fall, or the lame duck session of Congress.
That's it for INSIDE POLITICS SUNDAY.
Up next "STATE OF THE UNION WITH JAKE TAPPER AND DANA BASH". Jake's guests include National Economic Council Director Kevin Hassett and Democratic Michigan Senate candidate Abdul el-Sayed.
Thanks again for sharing your Sunday morning with us. We'll see you next time.
[08:55:38]
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