Trump Press Sec Seethes as Fresh Polls Show Him Losing Shutdown Badly

Things are not okay in the White House. Numerous new national polls show President Trump and the GOP taking far more blame for the government shutdown than Democrats. Indeed, one polling analyst looked at all the data and flatly declared that the blame gap has now reached double digits. Meanwhile, at a media briefing, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt twice lost her temper under tough questioning. Notably, what angered her was the spectacle of reporters punching holes in the leading White House arguments in the shutdown standoff. Why is this happening, given that many pundits predicted Democrats are in the weaker position? We talked to Salon’s Amanda Marcotte, a sharp observer of MAGA follies. She explains why Trump-GOP talking points are failing, why Democrats have fresh incentives to hold firm, and what all this reveals about deepening fissures in the Trump coalition. Listen to this episode here. A transcript is here.