Amna Nawaz:
For more analysis of the partial shutdown and other political news on this Presidents’ Day, we turn now to our Politics Monday duo. That is Amy Walter of The Cook Political Report With Amy Walter and Tamara Keith of NPR.
It’s great to see you both.
And, Tam, I will start with you. You heard Leader Jeffries there say their demands have been rejected by Republicans, that there’s been staff-to-staff communications, no talks between the principals. How do you see this deadlock ending?
Tamara Keith, National Public Radio:
So I spoke with a senior White House official on Friday, and I just want to read a quote.
This person says:
“Ultimately, there will have to be a compromise.”
Now, that doesn’t sound like breaking news, but that’s different than the White House position was in the last government shutdown, where they were unwilling to negotiate and said Democrats just have to reopen the government. So I think that the posture is slightly different.
There is an awareness that many in the public who may even support the president controlling the border and other things are not happy with the images they are seeing of ICE and CBP and the Americans who were killed in Minneapolis. And so I think that there is a window here for something to happen.
But as your interview just points out, like, these are not intense negotiations happening right now.
Amna Nawaz:
Amy, what’s your take on this? I mean, the demands Democrats are making here for ICE reforms are different than the health care subsidy extensions they wanted in that last government shutdown. Are those seen differently by the public?
Amy Walter, The Cook Political Report:
Yes, I think, for the first time in a long time, Democrats are coming into a conversation about immigration on the front foot, rather than the back foot.
And it is Republicans who really do have to deal with the fact that the policy, especially on ICE, is very, very unpopular. It’s interesting. You will hear from in your interview with Congressman Jeffries, Leader Jeffries — over the weekend, we had Senator Schumer, as the leader of Democrats in the Senate, use this term commonsense reform, talk a lot about the work they’d like with training officers.
When I see polling that’s been put out there, one in particular, Democratic poll that came out the other week, this idea of training ICE better so that there will not be violent — there won’t be violence between ICE and those who they are trying to apprehend is really pretty popular.
And so I think Democrats are in a much different position today because of that, as well as the fact that when it comes to immigration, the lead person, the person who is always in focus, is President Trump. This is seen as his immigration policy. It’s going to be very hard to blame Democrats. Republicans will have a hard time blaming Democrats if things fall apart.
Amna Nawaz:
Tam, to that point, it is such a signature issue for this president. What would it mean if he were to compromise or authorize compromise for his Senate and House Republicans?
Tamara Keith:
Yes, President Trump is very good at spinning everything into a win. You saw Tom Homan talk about removing the surge in Minneapolis. And the way he talked about it was like, all right, mission accomplished, moving on.
So I think that President Trump is not going to have a hard time necessarily selling this to voters, certainly not to selling it to his base. They are willing to give him a lot of leeway. And some of the things that they’re talking about are like body-worn cameras for ICE agents and Border Patrols. And you had the heads of those agencies in Congress in testimony saying, please, we want this, give us this.
So I think that there are areas where the White House can credibly spin it as a win if there is a compromise.
Amna Nawaz:
I want to get both of your takes, meanwhile, on the latest on this release from the Epstein files.
Amy, as Ali was reporting earlier, we have not seen the kind of accountability here in the U.S. that some European leaders have been subjected to. There’s this new letter now from the DOJ that went to Congress.
From the perspective of the general public, is all of this of interest? Does it hold a place of importance?
Amy Walter:
Well, what’s really interesting, watching Democrats react the other week to Senator Jon Ossoff — he’s a senator from Georgia. He gave a campaign speech the other day.
And what he did was to make a link between the Epstein files and voters’ frustration with their day-to-day living concerns, with the feeling that the middle class has been left behind. And here’s what he said.
He said: “We were told MAGA was for working-class Americans, but this is a government of, by and for the ultra-elite. This,” he said, “is the Epstein class,” referring to the Trump administration. “They’re the elites they pretend to hate.”
And I think you’re going to hear that term a lot on the campaign trail, this idea that the folks who were — it’s not just whether you were named or not in the Epstein files, but this idea that this is an administration, much like those who were in the Epstein files, that are much more concerned about protecting elites, protecting wealthy people, than looking out for the day-to-day concerns of Americans.
I think that is how it’s going to be shaped for this upcoming midterm election.
Amna Nawaz:
Tam, what’s your take?
Tamara Keith:
Yes, I have to agree with Amy that part of the reason that American politics are where they are right now is a distrust of the elites.
And what these files do, if nothing else, is sort of confirm for people their priors that the elites aren’t really working for the working people.
Amna Nawaz:
Meanwhile, I need to escape reality for just a moment with both of you while we have you on this Presidents’ Day, because, Tam, you have this wonderful report I want to ask you about, which you talked about on this Presidents’ Day, your favorite fictional president and why. Please tell us more.
Tamara Keith:
Yes, my favorite fictional president is president Thomas J. Whitmore, Bill Pullman, in “Independence Day.”
Amna Nawaz:
Yes.
Tamara Keith:
And he delivers one of the greatest presidential addresses of all time as they prepare — a global force prepares to take on the aliens.
The reason I love this is, it’s escapist. There’s no nuance. There’s no — you don’t have to have complicated feelings about this president like people have about every other real president. You can just go kick the aliens’ butts.
(Laughter)
Amna Nawaz:
Amy, you have 30 seconds left. Do you have a favorite fictional president?
Amy Walter:
So here’s the thing, you guys. In my spare time, I like to not watch much about politics.
(Laughter)
Amna Nawaz:
Good for you.
Amy Walter:
I spend way too much of my real life on politics. When I want to escape, Tam, I go to really, really, really far away from politics.
Amna Nawaz:
I think that’s probably good advice for us all.
Amy Walter, Tamara Keith, always great to see you both. Thank you so much.
Tamara Keith:
You’re welcome.
Amy Walter:
You’re welcome.
