President Donald Trump has revealed the core gambit driving his MAGA movement, and it paints a disturbing picture of where the Republican Party is at right now, according to one political expert.
David Rothkopf, who served in the Clinton administration, argued during a new episode of "The Daily Beast Podcast" that Trump's recent attacks against Republicans like Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), even as his poll numbers continue to slide, offer a window into what Trump has really offered the Republican Party. He noted that Trump is underwater on several key issues heading into the midterms, ranging from the economy to immigration, yet still enjoys almost no criticism from Republicans.
In normal times, Trump's poll numbers would be a point of concern for Republicans, Rothkopf continued. However, it seems the most active voters in the Republican base are happy to go along with Trump, which Rothkopf argued is a sign of what Trump has really offered to his base.
"We're sort of stripped down to the core MAGA proposition right now," Rothkopf said. "And what that is, is Trump and his billionaire buddies saying to the key parts of their base, 'We will protect you because we'll destroy democracy, we'll set up an autocracy. You'll get to keep your jobs and will advance your racist, white nationalist agenda if you just allow us to keep stealing money and enrich ourselves and pass tax bills that help billionaires and screw everybody else.'"
"That's the deal — racism for grift," he continued. "That's the core proposition of the Trump era: authoritarianism for wholesale corruption. That's the exchange that's taking place."
Rothkopf warned that voters could make Republicans pay during the midterms for their capitulation to Trump. However, Republicans appear to be testing those efforts by redrawing Congressional election maps in states across the country. Trump has also refused to rule out sending federal agents to monitor polling places during the upcoming election.