The Daily Beast Podcast - Why Trump's Presidency is All But Over: Carville

Episode Date: December 2, 2025

James Carville joins Joanna Coles to explain why he smells “a whiff of the French Revolution” rising in American politics as young voters buckle under soaring costs and a system rigged for the already-powerful. Carville, a veteran political strategist, argues that Trump—on the heels of his losses in the off-year election—stands on politically hollow ground, with collapsing polls and no governing path forward. The Ragin’ Cajun urges Democrats to center on affordability and economic inequality rather than “woke” identity fights. And with economic fury building, Joanna asks: Is this the moment Democrats finally take the advantage Carville believes is already theirs? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You have to understand that Trump doesn't care about anything but himself. Trump loves humiliating. I think he likes to dance and get Mike Johnson and Lindsey Graham and then just slap him around. I think he enjoys it. And maybe they enjoy too far on. I'm Joanna Coles. This is The Daily Bees podcast. And today we are back with James Carvel.

There is almost nobody who has a better turn of phrase. And he comes up with two fantastic ones in this interview. He wrote last week an excellent. excellent column for the New York Times, and I'm going to just read three lines from it. The era of performative woke politics from 2020 to 2024 has left a lasting stain on our brand, particularly with rural voters and male voters. And then he says, we can no longer be the party with a whiff of moral absolutism. We can correct this only by looking toward the future, always in every situation possible and pivoting to a form of economic rage as our response.

This offers Democrats the greatest gift you can have in American politics a second chance. So let's find out exactly what he meant by that. James Carvel, let's get into it. James, you are predicting a whiff of the French Revolution in America in an excellent column that you wrote in the New York Times. in the last couple of days. What do you mean? What do you mean? How bad is it? Well, what's happened is we have cheating just inequalities or discrepancies or whatever you want to call it. And about 45% of the country can't pay any bills.

Young people see no future that they can't imagine themselves ever buying a house. They can't imagine themselves that will afford an education. Meanwhile, sabers and old people have just run off the whole stack. look at what we just did. We just added another $4 trillion in debt. We just gave more tax cuts to more rich people. We cut substantive things that matter to people all over a country like rural hospitals, small town hospitals,

what will we do it? And the young people are going to see us and they're going to figure out that, hey, these people stole everything from us, so let's go get our fair share. And that's how unrest starts. And the best thing to do is get ahead of it and try to even this thing out a little bit. Do you sense that Donald Trump, having won, you know, every single swing state is actually somewhat more vulnerable than we might have anticipated this early into his administration?

Well, let's look at the election. It was hell. I guess, were we still in November? No, it's the 1st of December, James. Happy winter. Less than a month ago, there was an election that was beyond conclusive. It was stunning. It was stunning not just in the depth, but the breath of it. I mean, wherever it was, if it was Mississippi, Virginia, or New Jersey or Georgia, it was all the same thing. And, you know, as we see now, there's this Tennessee district that's going to be special.

on, are going to be the second. And Trump carried that district about 22 points. His polling is now at an all-time oil. I just saw Gallup. He's at 36. How about much of all you can go? I think his presidency

in terms of like getting anything significantly done is awful. He's got to definitely deal with a Democratic House. I think it's more than like as you'd be dealing with a Democratic Senate. So today is the first day when people can enroll in

Obamacare and they will see their health premiums going up substantially, often double, in some cases, travel. Do you think that is going to be a new tipping point for people? I mean, it impacts 23 million people. Of course it is. And it's also

going up, there's electricity costs going up. It's like 21% higher than the inflation rate and said, do you got to deal with that, and insurance costs and God does, well, no, people are not not going to be able to afford it. the people that were on the exchange I mean you hear

real light bar stories and people like I was paying $4.50 a year and I want me to pay $2,200 a year and I just can't afford it and I mean that's very common and these notices are going out as we're speaking and

it's going to we hadn't begun to feel the real effect of this so you mentioned the idea idea of economic rage and the Oxford Dictionary has just released its word of the year, which is rage bait. As usual, you're right, on the money. What exactly did you mean by that?

And how can people, how can people display it? Well, what it means is what I'll alert to there. There's been a tremendous amount of generation of theft from people by generation, even generation will after me to the current young people going, they're going to figure it out. And the rage is what is I'll adjust it now, like $38 trillion, $39 trillion. And they got nothing.

They got nothing. They can't buy a house. I mean, in everything, our entire cash code is tilted toward savers, is tilted toward, you know, the way I describe here is this, two kinds of people in the world, and those that haven't made. They have saved the account, they own their house, they have money in the bank, and they have health insurance,

and they have all of the accoutrements that she would think of that are part of a good life. And then you have people that would like to have some power. And if the people would power block out everybody else with themselves, and people would find a way to get around it, if you will. I mean, Lord Blanfein, this was back in the last decade, he was the chairman of Golden Sachs. He said, we know how to create wealth.

We just don't know how to distribute it. And as we go to, it's more stratified is, you know, seven and eight companies that make up X percent of the S&P or whatever it is, it's going to get worse. And if you don't do something and correct it and try to balance it out, and this is all happening, by the way, in 4% on informant. Could you imagine what it's going to look like in six and a half? and unemployment. So the people should be outraged at what we've done at our tax code. It should be

outraged about how we don't give opportunity and, you know, how we build more prisons and build classrooms or any of the stuff you order those to. There's a lot to be outrage about, a lot. So what is the solution for Democrats? You've always maintained, it's the economy stupid. That was your sort of brilliant catchphrase. And yet the Democrats seemed to move away from that. What happened and how do they get it back?

Well, I think it did start moving back in the last election. I think Spamberda, I think Cheryl and Frutty Mondami was the television he talked about. So you're right. The party got, I don't know what happened. People lost their minds

with disdinity walks off. I wish somebody would explain it me one day. I mean, it was so stupid and it was so sticky. The language just kind of be bumpy. You know how to you. You couldn't wash the stench off. But what Democrats can do? When we talk about cost issues, affordability,

inflation, cost of living, whatever you ought to call it, we always talk about how we, what can we do to get to price down? Well, there's also another way that you can deal this. there's another tool in the toolkit, and I've tried to get wages up. Right? We have a... So you could raise the minimum wage

that has been done in, I don't know, 15 years or more than that, maybe. And people said, well, I don't know how many people we get there. Well, okay, but you're telling people, we see you. Who's going to live on $8 an hour? And in a lot of people, a lot of companies take prior to fact, well, we pay $4 or $5 above the minimum wage. Well, great, if the minimum wage is 8 and you're paying 13, well, the minimum wage is 15 and you pay in 19. People need a raise.

They need little prices, but they need a raise also. And prices are not going to come down. If inflation rate goes to zero, the price is still baked there. You see what I'm saying? Yeah. It doesn't it cost a dollar. It costs $1.50. And you stop all inflation.

Well, it's still $50. since more than more than it worked before. And you've got to deal with that to pay in people more. You're calling for a minimum wage of $20. Is that manageable? I mean, I can already hear the mom and pop business is saying we can't do that. If we have to go to $20 an hour, we're going to have to lose people. Our margins are so thin.

We can't do that. Your margins are thin because everybody around you is making $8 an hour. And you're right. If you had to pay $20 an hour, that would go to the bottom line, okay? But you'd be paying people a living right. By the way, other people would be getting paid $40 an hour, so other people would come in and buy more of your product.

I mean, what you're trying to do is, I can't pay anybody because I'm right here, and I'm living with the margin I have in the system I have, which is a very low-wage system that we live it in. Well, understand that. But think of the possibility, when remember Henry Ford followed, this fault,

but I said he didn't tell you the word of multitudinous. He was the first person to figure out who'd tell you people they'd buy your product. Right. Okay, good point.

Yeah, a very good point. If you worked for Ford, you could actually afford a Ford. What a drastic idea. In this world, it's going to cost, you know, Seattle raised that way,

I don't know, $20 now or something and it was going to cost all the jobs and it was a Doomsday and everything else. Of course, no such a goddamn thing happened. California raised as. can't get in and out burger.

Every time I go, and the driver picks me up at LAX, and there's one that I guess on Suburb. I said, well, let's stop it in and out. Order to get a burger now. Now, we're buying a line. It's too long. I've never seen that place where they weren't. Ringing up the cash register, and they have a higher minimum wage. It's always the excuse.

We can't raise taxes on rich people because they might leave. Well, you know what? If you can't pay 40%, carry on. Get out of here. All right? You think of the people that sacrificed this country, at marched and assaulted machine gunness, that, you know, the Revolutionary War? And the UK paid out? Well, carry your ass, man. Carry your ass, man. I love that expression. Okay, that's a good expression for a Monday. So, James, what do you think the tariffs have done to the economy? I mean, some days there are tariffs, other days we're not sure if there are tariffs. It's making very difficult. for businesses to manage. What are your thoughts on the tariffs?

I don't think tariffs. I think you're waiting authority is that they're not don't work very well. Some people claim that if you're limited you, they can have some values.

The economy is really big. And the amount that the tariffs effect is probably not as big. You know, for certain products and certain things, in a lot. One of them is not, they're trying to adjust to the higher tariffs. So they put all off in ahead inventory, but it's going to kick in more and more.

And it doesn't produce the kind of revenue that Trump thinks it produces. It produces some, but not a great deal. And, you know, Democrats have never been a pro-car party. And who just would end up hurting her at there? It all the long period of time are a growing interest because the American name culture is very much a worldwide product. Okay, so you mentioned Zoran Mamdani earlier, and he's been utterly focused on the word affordability. We saw him last week, or 10 days ago now, meeting Donald Trump. What was your impression of their meeting?

Because I think it's surprised a lot of people. I guess, yeah, this is mine first. You have to understand that Trump, everyone gets you my point, and not using this just a way I attack Trump against. He hasn't cared about anything but himself. Right. Hinton. But the Republican House majority of Mike Johnson,

he can point Johnson is a trouser stain at Donald Trump. Mike Johnson is a trouser stain. How fantastic. You're full of very vibrant images this morning. So then you have the whole box interface, the whole newsman, the whole York Post operation. Yeah. It was the noun of urban menon.

everything you've been done. These are such as. What are you going to do? You got you. So every time you don't. And Trump just stuck the shim up. Okay? Because now, if any of them are going to,

we got to have Trump. I can truck to make a fan in and I am. But you, Gary Uton, you can, apparently he sees a lot in the nomad any likes. I mean, he just, he just completely took the oxygen out of their talking point. Because election night, you're to never, knowing it, it was New Jersey or Virginia or anything like that, was all, you know, did socialists of the world workers of the world unite or anything? And it was really, it was amazing. And it was

amazing to see how little about the kind of people I sick with him and how will you use to an iPhone, if you were. There probably were one day, but I'm a win. James, hold on one second. We're just going to take some ads. And I'm back with James Carvel discussing the opportunity in front of the Democrats right now. So in that election that you've just referenced, we had two moderate candidates in Mikey Cheryl in New Jersey and Abigail Spanberger in Virginia. You had Zoran Mamdani speaking a much more, well, he would say he's a democratic socialist, although he frantically seems to be moving to the middle now. What do you think is the future of the actual Democratic Party? So let's do a little unwrapping here.

It's Monarch's a Dombey. We have to ask about Medina. Okay, let's start with something. The Mayor of New York has never been a figure in national politics. The mayor of New York has never been much of a figure in national politics. I'm not sure they would all agree with you with that. There ain't more that went anywhere. A couple tried. They went nowhere.

John Lindsay, Brutic Julianne, most a disgrace person in America. Are you kidding me? LaGuardia? No, I don't think so. So I think New York clocks in about 8 million people, York City. Between New Jersey and Virginia,

you're looking, I don't know, probably 17, 19 million people. So why is the obsession with one city, and by the way, what about the Georgia Public Service Commission, the Mississippi State Senate, the Pennsylvania Retention, the California, the ballot initiative, all of the upstate New York do huge ships in these county commissions. Well, we must talk about Mandampi, because New York is the center of the universe that

nothing else exert in the United States but New York, when in fact the city of New York is not a very, it's a big player in finance, it's a big, playing in the theater, it's a big playing in the advertising, it's a big playing creativity. One of my favorite cities in the entire world. I'm going out of all. I can't wait. But you're not the center of the political universe. You're just not. You're not even a swing place.

If it wouldn't be for your money, politicians wouldn't much care about. I'm deducting from that that you're saying the future of the Democratic Party is going to be moderate. Right now, the Democratic Party does not have a message. have a message. It does that nominee. It has an argument. These people have to be stopped. We need somebody in the Congress to stand out to. That argument is going to win you a lot of elections. The only way that you're going to have a message is Democratic voters are going to pick their presidential nominee. That way that the menomery people,

the associates can have somebody, the bodies can have somebody, the others can have somebody. And it's all right. And then the commentary that was, and the legislature was not pick who's the lead the party. The actual people who voted a party primaries are going to pick to pick plus the three, we're going to lead the party. Who should be the most important people and are the most important people. Now, what we do know for a fact that in this century, you know, I said, I'm maybe 72, but maybe not even net. The Democrats never picked the most left candidate ever. Right? That I get to. That I get to.

in the way of the storyline. Because New York have to be central to the story. Bundami has to be central to the story. But I'm not to the thing. Mendami and New York got 50%. 50. I think it's 50.5 to be fact.

They're like 58. 50% for the Democratic nominee is not a bull your way number at all. No, but Mamdani was up against an establishment Democrat in Andrew Cuomo, who fought as an independent, right? So he still couldn't get much about 50.

But James, it was the biggest vote to turnout since the late 60s. It's great. This great is New York City. It's not anything else. Okay. I tell me, Dr. and I tell you that you're not the center of the political universe in the United States. That's very disappointing to me.

This is a brutal Monday morning. It's a finding. Because this is story we want to report. This is not the story. We don't want to talk about the minimum wage. We don't want to talk about electricity prices. We don't want to talk about Spamberger or Sherer. We don't want to talk about the Georgia.

We want to talk about New York City. And we will talk about New York City and nothing else because that is all that interests us. It's a great point, except that Donald Trump didn't invite, or perhaps Abigail Spanberger and Michael Sherrill were turned down, but they didn't go and talk to him, and that's what was interesting about the development. I thought it was very interesting. I did, and I thought that again,

but I said earlier, Trump just, he just stabbed every right-wing person because Nandami was going to be the billionaire. But we spent 60% of the show talking about Nani. You have said that the Democratic Party has a fantastic bench of potential future leaders. You analyzed very early on that Bill Clinton was an early leader and was going to win and you hitched your wagon to him.

Who would you hitch your wagon to with the current bench? First of all, if I do that, I always to get somebody, and I know everybody will for you that. And I've just come to realize, if you just look around and when you see it, you're going to see a talent level, the likes of which I've never seen in my light in a single part.

And some of them are not even that are run for president. I mean, let me get you two, probably we'll learn for president one day out of, I don't know, about 2028. Rulingaygo and Alyssa Slack. Mm-hmm. Then they either so people are so talented

or a completely different level than you can imagine. But there's all kinds. We got terrific people that go Run for president. I hope they'll run. I talked to a lot of them and I said, man, for God's sake, get out there and run. There are more people that we have run.

By friend Harris wants to get in, get in. Everybody's going to hand it to you. That was the stupidest thing we ever did. Was not trying to get some kind of a contested process under Ray and 2040 and forth. But the mistakes we made over the summer of 2024, which some of the worst of any political parties ever made in the history of the United States.

And do you mean because Joe Biden didn't step down early enough? Do you mean because he just anointed Carmelah? Let's go through the time by. I myself and to be fair, some other people were the only one, but a few people kept saying, we shouldn't be doing this. We shouldn't be doing this. Biden's too old, but probably knows it is too much. Then there was a fundraiser. famously in early June of 2024. There, George Coney said, okay, I've seen the light. Rob Reimer, who is one of my good friends,

a big critic, more, I've seen the light, okay. And then, so on June of 27th, we had this catastrophic debate. There's no other word that you can use to describe it. And so the heat comes up and blows his shoe and go to see him.

And then on the 21st, that we've already gone through this agony from June the 27th. Now we're sitting there for the first. He said them giving out in order to be Harris. And they were, Jamie Harrison was trying to avoid Obama's phone call because didn't do it. I think it was yet. Somebody was trying to avoid Obama's phone call because Obama was going to say, yeah, we need to figure a way to have this thing contested.

They were bragging to Harris people. We shut down any of this contested. mentioned check. Yeah, you did, and you're shutting down any chance I was winning in the election. And what I said, I'll stick with it. If we'd have done this, we'd have won't my five points. That President Obama and President Clinton should pick six,

seven, eight cabinets and hold four town halls around the country. In New York, Chicago, and have an open convention. And they have some drama. But you could have done that. You could have done that. But they shut down any opportunities the Democrats had

to pick somebody that they marty. And given that, we only lost about 1.7%. It actually picked up a house seat. The press overreaction to death of the Democratic Party, oh my God, what's going to happen?

It was like it comical. And now that everybody's trying to figure out what to do because, well, maybe the Hispanics are not gone. What happened? Oh, my God. We reported that the Democrats lost all and hismatics. Then it comes back where they really get. And then the Democrat lost all the young thing, but they really didn't. And so now everybody has got to cover up every asinine thing. They said close to 2024 election. And we're going to win big. We're

winning everything like really big and we're going to continue to do that. And Trump, the power is going out of Trump about a minute. You can just feel it losing out. not the last people, sometime the last people to know that or the people that are closest to her. But his numbers, and they're at a catastrophic position, remember, we still have this health care subsidies coming.

And it's still, well, going to have a boat on January the 3rd or 1st, who knows, what's going to happen. And, you know, Mike Johnson, he can't do anything. I mean, he, pathetic to begin board and Trump just you know Trump loves humiliate I think he likes to get Mike Johnson and Wednesday Graham and then just slap him around and I think he enjoys it

and maybe they enjoy it too far I know James one moment we're going to take a break for some sponsors and I'm back with James Carvel talking about the future of the Democratic Party what did you think about the resignation of Marjorie Taylor Green from Georgia You know, I think that first of all, that when those survivors of that Maxwell and Epstein, then in which I was women congressmen, I think it affected her. I mean, you think he had really kind of weird politics, but that is, I mean, I think she was affected by that. I think she figured out that Trump, if she was sort of the first one, maybe she's a little smarter, or better antenna. He doesn't care about me. What am I doing yet? I've given my whole

sensuality and my whole, I've given my self-respect. I've given everything in service to this person, and he doesn't give a shit about me. And the other thing is I know that congressional district is my northwest yard there. And it's a lot of people that need health insurance subsidies in my way. It's not a particularly diverse. There's not a particularly a fluent part of the country. And probably the combination of that is being affected by these survivors of realizing that was Trump black is on one way street and seeing real damage come to,

and not have any doubt that she likes to feed people in a congressional ministry. And what do you think about the Epstein files? Do you think that's had a serious impact on Donald Trump? I mean, yeah, because there's a, and the reason is there's a belief, or I might add, pretty correct, that there's a different set of rules for people and that they get away with stuff and they get away, sexual exploits or tax avoidings or things like that or, you know, they cut in line, there's a whole event, they had a world or the rest of us have a world. And this story fit perfectly into that narrative.

and further what fit perfectly into the right-wing narrative, where they'd been telling their people that there was this cabal of sex traffickers that were trying. I would get a young woman. They should end up being one of an ass cart in the middle of it. But they're not going to let it go, and no one's going to let it go because the story is too good. And your old boss, Bill Clinton and the former First Lady Hillary Clinton have been subpoenaed by Donald Trump or by his, DOJ. Do you think they're going to show up?

I have to ask David Kendall. Okay. I mean, I want me to be flipping about it, but I know that lawyer and he's a good one. Okay. All right. So finally, James, where do you think the next year finds us? I mean, we seem to have Trump distancing himself from his head of the Department of War, Pete Hegseth over what's happening in the Caribbean with the Department of War bombing little boats and saying that, you know, he only thought it was going to be bombed once and, you know, blah, blah, blah. Do you see this all imploding for Donald Trump at this point?

People, at the end of the day, people look at them. People like more. They don't want to write people up on streets. that don't mind that they like having rebel of immigration, all right? But when they see disorder, they blame. And Trump's, it was so dominant, reminds you so much that he's in charge. Okay, so they're going to blame him. And look around the world, look at Ukraine, the Middle East, the Caribbean,

look at what's happening on city streets and Washington, D.C., and his young guardsmen, they're tragically being shot. down, everywhere you look, there's disorder. You know, the volatility in the stock market, and people are just like, who's in charge out there? And that's what, and that was sort of Trump's brand, was that, hey, I'll bring order. They may have to be a little extreme in doing it, but what you've bought is just massive, confusion, massive disorder.

And the public has turned on it. It turned on him decisively. And, you know, you see this, this, you know, the Epstein. Right now it's all the shooting of these survivors on the gunball. And that's the oldest law of the sea that exist. You don't parpeer people who are clinging on for their life. I mean, in the meantime, you see a World War II movie where the Germans would, you know, surface and then, you know, machine gun down, the sailors are these cargo ships that will cover it over.

You were outraged. Like, oh, my, no. You'd let them freeze to death, we don't shoot them. So, and it's something that people can understand. This is not an abstract use of military power, nighttime rate. These are some people clinging to a board in the middle of the ocean that we just went out and shot again. And the same thing with the Epstein Fogs. He's caught in some pretty human dramas, and then you have the whole FBI,

Cash Patel, taking a 757, to see his girl. and take his girlfriend to some concert. I don't see how this gets better for them. I really don't. Maybe there's a way, but it's very difficult for me to see it. Well, James, I think you're bringing order to the Democratic Party. Well, you can't bring it. People have to go bring order to the Democratic Party

are the people that vote in the Democratic primaries in 2028. And I can, if history is any guide, and I suspect it will be right. Southern blacks will determine the streets of the party. They always do. In 92, we did with the people that had really nominated us. We did when to Hampshire. Same thing was true with President Obama,

saying the thing was true with President Biden. It all came down to the South. In the Democratic Party, a lot of our boys in the South are black, in a very wisely picked candidates, and they don't go for the shiny object. There's an expression. And they said they're looking for a candidate that's walk to walk, not one that talks to talk. And so look at who's walk to walk.

And I'm sure going to do pretty good. All right. Well, James, thank you very much for joining us. Always good to hear your point of view. And your phrase is, Mike Johnson, a trouser stain. Thank you very much. We will see you soon. Thanks.

So there you have it. Mike Johnson, a trouser stain. I don't know whose trousers he was a stain on, but what an image to live. leave you with. And of course, James Carville, 81, is ahead of the pack. Oxford says that the word of the year is rage bait. And James says it's actually economic rage. Economic rage for the Democratic Party. That is the solution to the midterms. If you have been, thank you for joining us. Please subscribe to the Daily Beast podcast. And let us know what you think. Leave us a comment. Leave us a review. We love to hear from you. Don't forget, very important to be.

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