VAUGHN HILLYARD (CO-HOST): It was at the Republican convention that “mass deportations now” signs were there. But there’s seemingly a disconnect over what people thought they were voting for and what they’re seemingly looking at now. How does that actually change what we see in terms of actions in the weeks ahead?
ANGELO CARUSONE (GUEST): So, a couple things. One, the through line, even though there was all this “mass deportations now,” the reality is all they ever really talked about, all they really heard was criminals. And everyone’s definition of that is very different. For a large portion of Trump’s base, that meant anyone here that’s undocumented and perhaps people that do have documents that they don’t like.
SYMONE SANDERS-TOWNSEND (CO-HOST): That’s what it means for Stephen Miller.
CARUSONE: That’s exactly right. There’s a very expansive definition for a lot of people. It’s violent criminals, gangs. And that’s what they heard, and that’s what they interpreted as. You know, I think that’s interesting that you played that because I also look at what’s happening with callers as well, and not just from the big shows, I mean, the really wild shows like Bubba the Love Sponge, like those guys, right? If you listen to what their callers are saying, they’re echoing that. But they’re not former Trump supporters. They’re current Trump supporters that are still saying, “No, no, no, no, no, not this. This is too far, too much. You don’t kill American citizens.” Some are out there attacking the ICE agents, saying they should be prosecuted, calling for justice against them, so that sentiment is fairly pervasive and widespread.
What happens next? I think it’s going to be sort of a throw everything against the wall strategy because they don’t really know how to navigate in these moments. They’re going to try to do as much as they can to bring the temperature down every time it flares up, continue to push ahead with these mass deportations as fast and as aggressively as they can because there is a large part of Trump’s base that wants bloodlust, that Stephen Miller wing, and they’re the ones in power. And ultimately, Trump’s impulses is to always cater to them. But there is these sort of weird forces like Sean Hannity out there trying to navigate the difference, say, “Well, what if you just promised not to go to Home Depots? What if we deal with those people later and instead you just focus on the criminals again?”
And I think to me that’s the big takeaway, to all be cautious in this, is that I think ultimately the narrative is going to settle back on this idea of criminals. And that is tempting for a lot of people, and we shouldn’t let them make that the focal point because ultimately, that’s not what the actions and what they’re doing really reflect. But that’s where they’re going to retreat to. They’re going to try to retake the narrative and make it all about us, targeted enforcement, just criminals, and try to sort of settle back to that posture.
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