Brooks and Capehart on Biden's budget, Trump's legal trouble, the GOP's presidential field

Geoff: Court observers anticipate charges against former President Trump. President Biden previews his 2024 re-election platform in dollars and cents. And Fox is fighting a

legal

battle over lies about the 2020 election. At the end of this politically eventful week, it's time for Brooks and Capehart's analysis. They are New York Times columnist David Brooks and Jonathan Capehart, associate editor of The Washington Post. Welcome to both of you this Friday night. Jonathan, we'll start with you. We hear from Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson. Amna talks to him about gun violence, social security solvency, and trans issues. What do you think of the solutions he offered?

Jonathan: Let's start with crime because that really sparked interest because it immediately segued into violent crime in the inner cities. You can think of a study by Third Way, the Democratic-leaning think tank in Washington that published a report last March, almost a year ago, showing the 10 highest homicide rates in the US, eight of the 10 states with greater homicide. Per capita rates in 2020 were states that voted for Donald Trump. State number nine is Arkansas with 10.3 murders per capita. The ninth place with the highest number of homicides in the country. So my question to the governor would be why is it so high in his state?

What did you do when it came to that type of crime? Especially if they were crimes committed with firearms. What are you doing to be part of the solution? When it comes to social security, Nikki Haley's proposal that amna pointed out is an interesting idea, because it's not about retirees. Geoff: Increase the age. Jonathan: Yes, increase the retirement age, but if I heard amna correctly, people are now in their 20s. I didn't hear a direct answer to that. I think that will be the challenge for the former governor. Geoff: David, I want to know your reaction.

As this Republican

field

fills up, we have Chris Sununu, Asa Hutchinson weighing his options, Chris Scott and former Vice President Mike Pence. Was he positioned to be the moderate “Normie” Republican candidate in the future? David: This is a season when a lot of governors reach out to reporters, so I'm suddenly spending a lot of time with governors. My feeling is that the Republicans have a strong... it's like a major league baseball organization with major minor leaguers and a pitcher who can't throw a pitch, and that pitcher is Donald Trump. There is a lot of talent in the game underneath.

When you talk to governors (Governor Kemp, Governor Sununu, Governor Youngkin), one of the things they point out is that people are moving to red states. They are moving from blue states to red states. Because? Their claim is that people like quality of life. They like the tax structure, they like the schools. So, Florida, Georgia, Texas, a lot of people are moving to these places. These governors are not focusing on some of the culture war issues, except for Desantis. They are not making trans the center of what they want to do. They are talking about crimes, streets, schools.

The normal things that governance is about. I think there is a path for someone who will focus on quality of life. If I had to pick one person now, I would say Chris Sununu from New Hampshire. This is mainly because he is a warm, friendly, natural and people-pleasing good guy. He won a stunning re-election victory in New Hampshire. Somehow, he reveals himself to me as someone with political skill. So if there is going to be a standard for someone who focuses on quality of life, Governor Sununu seems to me to be as potential as that person.

Geoff: Florida Governor Ron Desantis has reportedly privately indicated to people that he intends to run. Today he is in Iowa and tomorrow he will go to Nevada. There are Democrats who say a Desantis presidency could potentially be more worrying than a runoff mandate. In Ron Desantis, you have a Harvard-educated lawyer and you scream. Someone who actually believes in the culture wars he's involved in. And someone who fundamentally understands how the levers of power work and how to use them. Where are you going with that? Jonathan: That's exactly where I get off. I've been saying, particularly to the young people that I talked to that they are so focused on Donald Trump and whether he could win re-election to the White House in 2024, and I told them to forget about Donald Trump.

Focus on the entire

field

because this is Trumpism. I was talking specifically about Governor Desantis because he is Trump, but with an Ivy League pedigree who has been a governor, who knows how the levers of power work and knows how to handle them. Let's not forget that the great red wave that everyone was talking about and that he was supposed to reach Congress did not happen; The Congressional sweep didn't happen at the federal level, but it did happen in Florida. Governor Desantis won by a wide margin. That's what makes Governor Desantis so dangerous. I noticed that David didn't mention it when he was repeating all the rules.

He didn't mention it because of what David mentioned, Governor Desantis is so focused on the culture wars. That's why he is second to Donald Trump. But let's not forget, this is the final reason why he is dangerous. The culture war thing works because it is emotional. That's what I think: the whole nation has to pay attention to that. Geoff: The other big story this week was the New York Times, which first reported that Manhattan prosecutors had invited former President Donald Trump to appear before a grand jury investigating his alleged role in hush payments and an alleged cover-up. .

What are the political implications if he is the first president impeached? On top of that, while he's running for office? David: I had a deep thought today that being impeached is not good for your political career. It reminds people of stormy Daniels, that whole mess. It can't be good. I don't think I'm focusing on the New York case. I just think raising this hush money payment to the level of a felony seems to me, and from what I've read, to many people seems a little over the top. For me, the Georgia case is the real case.

Trying to corrupt an electoral process is something that anyone can understand. That seems like a serious crime to me. Even talking to Republicans over the last six months, it strikes me how much January 6 has had cumulative power in their minds. There are some people for whom it was fine, it was a quiet walk in the park, as Tucker Carlson said. Now that they have candidates in front of them, they think it's horrible. And that was a threat. Now all the other Republican candidates, aside from Donald Trump and perhaps Desantis, are starting to use January 6 as a way to distinguish themselves from Trump.

I think Georgia presents the charge that I would look for. Geoff: What accusation? We don't know he'll end up in any office, but how would that affect Donald Trump's standing? He has someone who invested a lot of time and energy into sowing distrust toward institutions that seek to hold him accountable. When he was at CPAC last weekend, he told his fans: they're not coming for me, they're coming for you. Would that have, could that have a recovery effect? Jonathan: Sure. It would have no impact on his position. Which means he won't lose support. His followers are there.

They are the base of it, 28%, 30%. I think the other reason I don't see any change in his political position is because for him to have any kind of change in his position, it would require him to have some sense of shame. And we know that four years into his run for president and four years in the White House, he has no shame. Of course, he would remain in the race if he is indicted. Of course, he would walk in the face of news cameras, outside a courtroom in New York City, while he is supposed to be running for president because, in the end, it is for his benefit.

Meanwhile, going through all that does nothing for the Republican Party, does nothing for political discourse, and does nothing for our democracy. Geoff: Governor Chris Sununu, David, had the opportunity to interview you. He says he's not worried about the number of Republicans who decide to run in this race. The question is if there are too many Republicans in the field, does that benefit Donald Trump? He said Republicans need to know when to back down. How does that sound to you? David: It's much harder in practice. If you're running for president, you're raising a lot of money. You build these were chests and a couple of weeks go by, it doesn't look good.

Do you want to look at your donors and say: Sorry, you wasted his money? He is not allowed to pay the money back and he is supposed to spend it during that election cycle. It's hard to withdraw because you have that much money. The instinct is to stay inside. Because it is structurally difficult to leave due to this fundraising reason, many of them will face the temptation to stay longer than they should. That will divide the field. I think it's a real problem for anyone who doesn't want Donald Trump to be their candidate.