President Donald Trump's repeated, desperate demands for various state legislatures in Republican-controlled states to roll back voting rights and rig congressional maps are a clear sign he knows his coalition is falling apart ahead of November, former Democratic New York state Sen. Daniel Squadron told MS NOW's Nicolle Wallace on "Deadline: White House."
This comes after Trump was ruthlessly booed as he attended the Knicks game at Madison Square Garden on Monday — an event that led ESPN commentator Stephen A. Smith, who has flirted with the idea of a political career, to slam Trump for disrupting local New York businesses, demanding to know "How much money did they make? We know you've made a lot of money."
That sort of anger, Wallace noted, is "tension inside the family," as Smith is a voice big with at least some of the people who got Trump elected — prompting Squadron to agree.
"I think that was the gamble they made last night," said Squadron. "And you're seeing it everywhere," from three-time Trump supporters to Biden-Trump voters — that the image of Trump as a "commoners' billionaire" who uses the system to fight for the people has been completely shattered and many of his former supporters now see him as just another failed politician.
"They can see that this is a completely selfish opportunism," he added. "And, you know, he even knows it ... he is so panicked that he is calling state officials to try to save himself in the midterms. So, you know, there's a part of him that understands the votes won't be there."
The upshot of all this, Squadron concluded, is that "there are two things going on. Of course, you know, I'm untouchable. And on the other hand, personally getting on the phone to state lawmakers, imagine that a President of the United States personally getting on the phone to state lawmakers. Save me, draw new congressional maps. Save me, change your voting laws."
