This is an adapted excerpt from the Aug. 15 episode of “Morning Joe.”
U.S. Border Patrol agents made a show of force at California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s redistricting rally in Los Angeles on Thursday. “Do you think it’s coincidental? Donald Trump and his minions — Tom Homan, tough guy — clearly decided, coincidentally or not, that this was a location to advance ICE arrests,” the governor told the crowd at the Japanese American National Museum.
That an American president sent masked agents to a rival’s political rally is quite obviously an ominous sign for our country, but politically, it also just looks stupid for Republicans. This plays right into Newsom’s hands, it plays right into the Democratic Party’s hands, and it does the exact opposite of what the administration would want to do, which is to show that immigration forces in this country have not been politicized by Trump.
Of course, Border Patrol has every right to do its job; Americans want it to do its job. But that job is to keep our borders safe, not show up at rallies for the president’s opposition.
It’s not American. It’s not a sight that Americans want to see.
Displays like this won’t help Trump, especially when he’s already politically struggling. Right now, polls show that while most Americans agree with the president on the issue of immigration and believe that the United States should crack down on people coming into this country illegally, his approval rating on the issue has slipped.
The reason is not the administration’s underlying policies; it’s the implementation of those policies and ham-fisted attempts to intimidate, like what we saw in Los Angeles on Thursday and what we’ve seen play out across the country: agents running around with masks, sunglasses, no identification on them whatsoever, violently arresting people in the streets. It’s not American. It’s not a sight that Americans want to see. This has been a political benefit for the president’s opposition. Democrats appear to be doing quite well on generic ballots, and if they squint hard enough, the party may actually see a path to a Senate majority in the midterms. Under these current circumstances, there’s no reason why Democrats couldn’t win a state like Maine, which both Joe Biden and Kamala Harris carried in 2020 and 2024, winning a majority of the state’s electoral votes. North Carolina, which Biden and Harris both lost, could also be in play this year. Roy Cooper, the state’s popular Democratic governor, jumped into the Senate race, and he’s already leading in the polls. In Ohio, former Sen. Sherrod Brown, an extremely popular populist who ran against a wave in 2024 and lost, is poised to run for that state’s open Senate seat. Democrats also are reportedly targeting places like Iowa, Alaska and Texas. Trump’s overreach is obviously disturbing, and all Americans should be concerned. But it should also concern Republicans, because they are losing voters every time Americans catch a glimpse of Trump’s immigration crackdown and intimidation attempts. It’s not something the people of this country are comfortable seeing, and it’s likely going to cost Republicans in the next election.
Former Rep. Joe Scarborough, R-Fla., is co-host of MS NOW's "Morning Joe" alongside Mika Brzezinski — a show that Time magazine calls "revolutionary." In addition to his career in television, Joe is a two-time New York Times best-selling author. His most recent book is "The Right Path: From Ike to Reagan, How Republicans Once Mastered Politics — and Can Again."
Allison Detzel is an editor/producer for MS NOW.
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