Trump learns to say 'affordability,' but doesn't seem to grasp its meaning
Jen Psaki looks at Donald Trump's callous disregard for Americans who are struggling to cover living costs while he learns that "affordability" is an important political buzzword but all of his policies only make things more expensive.Senator Ruben Gallego talks with Jen Psaki about the Republicans' cruel leverage tactics in the fight to manipulate Democrats into supporting a budget that will hurt tens of millions of people. Republicans have set up the argument to pit people who need food assistance against people who need health care subsidies. Earlier, Republican Senate Leader John Thune said the quiet part out loud when he disparaged Americans who need food and health care assistance, injecting further divisiveness into the debate.Jen Psaki shares breaking news that the Supreme Court has agreed to a Trump administration request to temporarily block a lower court judge's order to resume full SNAP payments until the case can be heard by a circuit court. Skye Perryman, president and CEO of Democracy Forward, one of two groups presenting a coalition of states suing the Trump administration over SNAP cut, joins to discuss. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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Republicans strain to explain election failures, ignoring the obvious
Jen Psaki looks at some bizarre Republican hot takes explaining their poor performance in this week's elections, with addressing the cost of living in America coming almost as an afterthought.Jen Psaki reports on the lengths Donald Trump's weaponized Justice Department went to in order to try to make an example of Sean Dunn, a Washington, D.C. resident who threw a sandwich at a Border Patrol officer. But in the end the jury would not play along and found Dunn not guilty.Morris Katz, a senior advisor to the Mamdani campaign, talks with Jen Psaki about the importance of keeping candidates authentic and running a campaign that suits the district instead of following a universal blueprint. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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Trump struggles to process blame for election 'thumping'
In the aftermath of an Election Day disaster, Donald Trump struggled to accept the reality of the fallout from his painful policies, though he did at least acknowledge that the shutdown of the federal government weighed against Republicans. Senator Chris Murphy joins Jen Psaki to discuss whether the clear message from voters is enough to motivate Republicans to re-open the government. Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro talks with Jen Psaki about the Democrats' resounding victories in the first elections of Donald Trump's second term, and points out that while there were differences between the Democratic candidates, one unifying element is that they all campaigned on solutions to specific problems voters are dealing with.And New Jersey Governor-election Mikie Sherrill joins to discuss her electoral victory and what issues in her campaign resonated the most with voters. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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Decision 2025 election preview special edition of The Blueprint with Jen Psaki
Jen Psaki offers a special preview of Tuesday's elections, including the important race for governor of Virginia with Jen Palmieri, former communications director for Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, Larry Sabato, director fo the University of Virginia Center for Politics, and political analyst Anthony Coley. Jim DeBoo, senior advisor to Governor Gavin Newsom, joins for a special focus on Prop 50 redistricting in California. New York City Comptroller Brad Lander discusses the energy and appeal of Democratic upstart and New York City mayoral frontrunner Zohran Mamdani. And Pennsylvania State Rep. Malcolm Kenyatta discusses the out-of-the-spotlight state supreme court race in Pennsylvania that has major national implications. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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Trump brings signature ignorance, recklessness to U.S. nuclear stature
Jen Psaki shows Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson and Vice President JD Vance explaining out loud that the reason they don't want to fund food assistance to millions of Americans is because if they do, Democrats will have even less incentive to vote for the Republicans' budget bill, in effect admitting that they're deliberately causing pain to people they know Democrats care about as leverage to get their way on a bad budget bill.House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries talks with Jen Psaki about Republicans trying to use the pain of tens of millions of Americans going without food as a means of manipulating Democrats to vote for their bad budget bill, and points out the irony that while Donald Trump has never met a law he didn't think he could ignore, he is trying to use the law as an excuse to avoid funding the food assistance program SNAP.Curiously coinciding with a fictional TV movie about U.S. nuclear readiness, Donald Trump has taken a sudden interest in testing U.S. nuclear capability and, against conventional good judgment, has announced that interest out loud in public. Mark Hertling, former commanding general of United States Army Europe, joins Jen Psaki to discuss how nuclear issues are addressed when they're handled by a competent administration, and why it's a bad idea for U.S. leaders to muse about the possibility that the nuclear arsenal doesn't work. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.