It\u2019s the Democrats who have mostly had to answer questions about electability this midterm season, but why are there so few questions about the \u201cE\u201d word for the other side?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Gas prices are still skyrocketing. A number of Republican candidates, such as Ohio Rep. Max Miller and former Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who\u2019s running for a Senate seat, are mired in scandal. The Iran war was unpopular from the start, but it is getting even less popular as it drags on. And Trump\u2019s approval rating recently hit 33 percent<\/a>, the lowest of his presidency yet.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n On this week\u2019s episode of America, Actually<\/em>, host Astead Herndon speaks with one of Trump\u2019s most vocal defenders, conservative influencer CJ Pearson, about whether we\u2019re seeing Trump\u2019s brand slip even among his supporters and the young people who helped him win in 2024, and how that could affect the midterm elections.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Pearson, a conservative content creator and influencer, first went viral when he posted himself, then 12 years old, criticizing Barack Obama in a YouTube video. Now 24, Pearson is one of MAGA\u2019s most prominent Black voices.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In this episode, Astead and Pearson discussed how Republicans should answer questions about whether voters\u2019 lives are better than they were two years ago; whether Trump still has any cultural cachet left over from his last presidential campaign; and when Pearson started to see young Republicans turning away from the MAGA movement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Below is an excerpt of Astead\u2019s conversation with Pearson, edited for length and clarity. There\u2019s much more in the full show, so listen to America, Actually<\/em><\/a> wherever you get your podcasts or watch it on Vox\u2019s YouTube channel<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n That \u201cE\u201d word\u2019s been thrown around a lot about Democrats, but we want to think about how Republicans are on their own. If you could rate Donald Trump\u2019s second term one through 10, what would you give it?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n I think the president\u2019s doing incredibly well for the American people. Promises made, promises kept in many ways.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n I think if you look at this president who ran on securing our southern border, he\u2019s done it. You look at this president who\u2019s talked about bringing down costs, he\u2019s brought down the cost of dairy, eggs. He\u2019s achieved that.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n And I think also this president is only just getting started. He ran on \u201cno tax on tips.\u201d He did that. He ran on \u201cno tax on overtime.\u201d He did that. Oftentimes I tell people the challenge of this administration is keeping up the messaging at the same pace as the accomplishments of this president.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n And so I think that there\u2019s a lot more work to do. Thankfully, we have two more years to do it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n I think he\u2019s doing well. I will say I grew up in a place where there\u2019s always room for improvement, so I\u2019ll give him an eight.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n You\u2019re giving him an eight. I wanted to just start there because Trump\u2019s approval rating has fallen, as I\u2019m sure you have seen. Why do you think the country isn\u2019t maybe on the same page as you?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n I think a lot of people are focused on their pocketbooks, right? They\u2019re focused on domestic issues, and I think that we have been very internationally focused over the course of the past few months as we\u2019ve navigated and dealt with the Iran conflict.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n But I think that as we get ready to get through this last wave of primaries, I think you\u2019re going to see a change in his messaging and a reset at the midterm convention in Dallas next month in September.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n And I think you\u2019re going to hear this president talking about how he\u2019s made America more affordable, how he\u2019s kept Americans safe, far safer than they were under President Joe Biden.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n And I think that you\u2019ll see those numbers start to change. And a reminder, the only poll that matters is on Election Day. There are many polls that had Kamala Harris beating President Trump, in 2024, and that didn\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Yeah, I don\u2019t want to be overly poll-reliant, but we\u2019ve heard some of this directly from Republicans even. <\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n We were at Donald Trump\u2019s UFC event in DC talking to young men, and even there we heard people really come to be critical on three issues specifically: tariffs, the Iran war, and the handling of the Epstein files.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n You mentioned the question of affordability. Donald Trump has said, quote, \u201cI love the inflation.\u201d And when asked by reporters about the public strain that has come from the conflicts with Iran, he said, \u201cI don\u2019t think about Americans\u2019 financial situation. I don\u2019t think about anybody.\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n How can you say that Republicans are gonna run on affordability if the president\u2019s saying he doesn\u2019t care if Americans\u2019 lives are unaffordable?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Well, I\u2019ve often said that we can\u2019t cede this entire affordability debate to the Democrats. The reason that I think a lot of young people are giving a little bit, even a flirtatious nod to the DSA and their socialist and communist candidates, is because they\u2019re talking about an issue that\u2019s top of mind for them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n In the same way that when President Trump won in 2024, he was talking about issues that were top of mind of the American voter, which was the cost of living.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n And so I think that we need to get back to that messaging. I think that this president has continued to deliver on that front. Costs are coming down.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The economy is resurging. We\u2019re seeing economic and global investment in this country unlike anything we\u2019ve seen before. In Oklahoma, we\u2019re bringing back manufacturing with the aluminum smelting plant.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n But the president\u2019s not saying this. The president\u2019s saying, \u201cI love the inflation, and I don\u2019t think about Americans\u2019 financial situation.\u201d Do those words help Republican midterm candidates?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Well, I think the president has a lot of time to say a lot more things because Election Day is pretty far away from now. I think we have two or three months left, and I think the president will make this case.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n But I think what will also make the case is that the candidates that the Democrats are running and nominating all across this country, who are now affiliating themselves with the socialist movement, are not actually fighting for things that will actually ever work.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Socialism has never worked anywhere it\u2019s been tried, and I think that this is going to be an election between common sense versus crazy. Do you wanna run a candidate that hates Thanksgiving?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n For the record, that candidate lost in the primary. She will not be on the ballot in November.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n She did. She almost was there, though, and that\u2019s the thing. I\u2019m glad common sense won the day in Wisconsin, that the good people there love turkey.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n I know that you say that the argument is based on how Democrats are out of touch, but we have talked about some ways in which Donald Trump has not lived up to folks\u2019 expectations, particularly on things like prices and on things like the Iran war.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n How does the GOP overcome that electability question? What is their message when folks ask, is their life better than two years ago?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n I think we\u2019ve got to lock in. I think we also need to prosecute the case that it\u2019s going to be a lot worse under the Democrats if these crazy communists get into office. And so I think that when you\u2019re looking at costs, we need to make that argument central. We need to make that what we lead with.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n And I think that we have to pump the brakes on a lot of the international stuff. And I think that we need to talk about the things that are actually affecting people\u2019s everyday lives at grocery stores, at gas stations, wherever it may be. And I think that is how we can kind of turn the ship around.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n When we talk about the Democratic candidates, you\u2019re saying the DSA candidates are far left, and we\u2019ve certainly explored some electability questions for them and some ways that I think they might have stances that are misaligned with the American people. But so does Donald Trump, and he\u2019s endorsed scandal-plagued candidates like Ken Paxton in Texas, like Max Miller in Ohio.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Why is that not just as much a sign of a conservative version of extremism, just as you are arguing that there\u2019s a Democratic or leftist version of that?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Because I think you\u2019re talking about folks who have dealt with issues in their personal lives, not necessarily their voting record.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Okay, maybe I should say Tom Tiffany, who didn\u2019t vote to certify the 2020 election, but I imagine you agree with him.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Well, no, I think that was six years ago. I don\u2019t think about 2020 anymore. I think about 2026 and I think about 2028. So when I look at that \u2026 it\u2019s important that we really make the case for crazy communism versus common sense. And I think that the American people are not going to vote for that.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n I guess I\u2019m saying, does Donald Trump win the commonsense argument? Like, isn\u2019t crazy versus commonsense an argument that Democrats can make and say Donald Trump is said crazy?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n No, because I think Donald Trump definitely wins the common sense argument when we\u2019re running against folks who belong to a party that is now, you know, waging a war against Thanksgiving, who believe that biological men should be playing women\u2019s sports. Again, these are 80\/20 issues, and so I actually really like our odds here.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n It\u2019s going to be hard, right? It\u2019s always hard for the party that controls the White House to fare all too well in any midterm election. But I think that we\u2019re going to overperform. I think we\u2019re going to hold onto the Senate. The House will be a dogfight, but I like our chances.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It\u2019s the Democrats who have mostly had to answer questions about electability this midterm season, but why are there so few questions about the \u201cE\u201d word for the other side? Gas prices are still skyrocketing. A number of Republican candidates, such as Ohio Rep. Max Miller and former Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who\u2019s running […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7044863,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[207343,111624,101215,181323,97416,182,101593],"tags":[207344,2708,12795,25411,181324,137345,6247,6692,25169,1175,1236],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-7044862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-actually","category-america","category-donald-trump","category-midterm-elections-2026-2","category-podcasts","category-politics","category-video","tag-actually","tag-america","tag-donald-trump","tag-dragging","tag-midterm-elections-2026","tag-midterms","tag-podcasts","tag-politics","tag-republicans","tag-trump","tag-video"],"yoast_head":"\n