Brooks and Capehart on how economic concerns defined the primaries

Now, to unpack this week's midterm primary results, President Trump's lashing out at key allies and more, we turn to Brooks and Capehart.That's The Atlantic's David Brooks and Jonathan Capehart of MSNOW.Great to see you both.Let's go to Florida first.The Democratic Senate prime key player in President Trump's first impeachment trial.He was a witness.

He was a whistleblower serving on the National Security Council at the time.Jonathan, Democratic voters say again and again they want a fighter.Sure.

Mr. Vindman, yes, he fought, literally went up against someone who will fight for them, someone who's going to give expression or just, you know, the wrecking ball the administration's taking to her.I mean, one thing to keep in mind, she joined the Democratic Socialists of America just a few months ago.And since winning the primary parts of the DSA agenda, Will, does this mean that she even has a chance?It is unclear.But compared to Democrats in the past going up against Republicans in a deep red state like Florida, we'll see if she actually, she might have some kind of a chance.I don't rule her out.

Possibly.Let's face it.You know, I think she, her victory was impressive.I think she was just a better campaigner.B, a lot of the other DSA candidates won really well with college -educated, you know, university towns.She did well in the poorer areas.

That a lot of voters are moving on from Trump.And they're thinking the economic issues are really beginning to eclipse their dislike of Donald Trump.And he's never going to be on the ballots, we hope, anytime soon.And so I think the affordability, the insurance rates, the gas prices, the grocery prices, these are the big issues now.And DSA, whether you like their policies or not, they're big policies.And the mainstream Democrats, by and large, have not matched those.

One thing you admire about DSA is they don't back down from their positions.Like, last, a couple weeks ago, they They did a comment.Fidel Castro's 100th birthday.If you've got a candidate in Florida and you're commemorating Fidel Castro, you are being pretty out there with your political views.So I don't think she's going to win.

did not celebrate the birthday of Fidel Castro.the DSA, the party organization.She wasn't endorsed by Congresswoman AOC, wasn't endorsed by Senator Bernie Sanders.She literally was out there - Dumping for Darlene Graham.

She's the sister of the late Lindsey Graham, running to replace her brother against Congressman Ralph Norman.David, we know Darlene Graham was appointed by the president to fill out her brother's term.She had this disastrous debate in which she came right out and said, I'm not that informed on national security.

Sometimes people don't like appointees.They just don't.Some people just don't like they got the seat for free.Like, that doesn't seem right, especially a nepotism family member.But a lot of people want the outsider.And she ran, she's running kind of aggressively as the outsider.

And if scholarly expertise were what voters were going for, we probably wouldn't have the crew we have now.And so I think voters should think, you know, being a senator requires a lot of expertise in public affairs.And but I'm I might be old fashioned.They might be going for that.Let's shake it all up.

Jonathan, how are you looking at this?

Look, I'm not going to I'm not going to grade Senator on on a curb here.She you are right to describe it as disastrous.Under normal circumstances, any candidate for Senate any elected federal seat, whether Democrat or Republican, were to give their vote.answer, folks would be saying, you must get out of the race.And yet no one has said, not that I know of, has said that she should kindly step aside.But you know what?

Then have at it.

Leave it up to the voters.David?

I happen to go on my social feed, and Roger Mudd's interview with Ted Kennedy showed up.And if people remember this, he was running for president, and Roger Mudd said, Why do you want to be president?And he's short -handed.And now, I don't know if he'd say anything or do anything.

As we sit here now, the threat of 50 percent tariffs still looms over Canada.They say they're close to a deal.We haven't seen it yet.But, David, is the benefit extracted from these threats and this pressure, is that worth the damage to these alliances?

I don't think so.Donald Trump reacts very strongly when he feels somebody is leeching off him, especially when it's a friend who he thinks is playing us for a sucker.He thinks Europe has been doing that for decades.He thinks Canada has been doing it, Iran opening the straits.And so he just And he lashes out at friends, and he kisses up to foes.And partly that's because the kissing up to foes is partly about testosterone.

He likes people who are tough, or who he perceives are tough.Throwing our alliances and kissing up to our, you know, the worst regime in the world, North Korea probably.And so does it help?He might get some benefit, he might pressure.He said, I used to think politics was 75 % personality in relationships.Now I realize it's 98 % personality in relationships.

And so Donald Trump is not great at building international relationships.

Jonathan?

I'm sorry, when you were reading, when you were saying the question to David, I was like, wait, what month are we in?Because this is Groundhog Day.Tariffs sucking up to autocrats who are traditionally America's foes, but his friends.We've known this since the first Trump administration.So I have no idea why he's lashing out at our allies, cozying up to our traditional enemies.Again, in a normal world, under normal circumstances, just one of those things, let's say tariffs against Canada, would have a lot of people in this town wondering what's going on with the president and then hauling people up to the Hill for hearings.

Neither of those things is happening.

Before I let you go, I need to ask you about sort of a strange saga around one of the president's closest allies and aides, a woman named Natalie Harp that's been playing out this week.She's consistently by his side everywhere he goes.She's one of the few people who controls his social media.And very few people knew her name until she Georgia Senator John Ossoff name -checked her at a rally.And then we saw the White House and all the president's supporters and right -wing media just erupt in defense.Her name is all over the headlines now.

Just today, the Daily Beast published some letters that she sent to President Trump via the biographer Michael Techter in this life.

I will say, this story could very easily veer into Ossoff was wrong to raise it in the way he did, because it was basically a sexual insinuation.And I just don't think you should do that.I also, when I look at her letters, I think that's inappropriate workplace.You know, I think first, I don't know what's in her mind or in her heart.Either she has a crush on the president, or she understands the president and what he really likes to hear.Because she's laying it on thick, and people in the Trump administration are laying it on thick.

Just one final quick point.I've covered administrations for a while now, and people in presidential White Houses have a tendency to have crushes on the president, because he's powerful, he's visionary, they're spending all their days serving him.And they talk about their president in ways that are royally emotional.And when you get a president like Donald Trump, it's going to be times five.

What makes this even more strange is that the reason why Michael Wolff was able to copy them were sending them around to each other.So this is something that isn't just salacious.Well, it's salacious.But it's something that has been talked about inside the administration.And leave aside whatever is going on with Natalie Harp and the president, whatever the relationship is.My biggest concern is something that came out from MS Now's Jake Traylor and Jackie Alomany, a story about how Natalie Harp did not have a security clearance for a year.

That, to me, is the moral, because she carries a printer and prints out lots of news for the president to read.She's been at his side.all this time didn't have a security clearance, the papers that she's seen, the conversations that she's overheard, the national security implications of that alone should alarm everybody in Washington.And yet we're talking about other things.

Jonathan Capehart, David Brooks, always great to speak with you, Bill.Thank you so much.