AYESHA RASCOE, HOST:
January 20, 2025, was a blustery, bitterly cold day in Washington. President Trump, in his inaugural address, heralded a tide of change sweeping the country, thanking Black and Hispanic voters in particular. Less than two years later, another tide has swept in the opposite direction, electing Democrats in Republican strongholds from South Carolina to Kansas. So what went wrong for the GOP? And what's next for the party?
We're joined now by Hogan Gidley. He's a longtime Republican consultant, and he was White House deputy press secretary during the first Trump administration. Hogan, thanks for being here.
HOGAN GIDLEY: Great to be with you. Thanks so much for the time.
RASCOE: What happened to that expanded MAGA coalition that we mentioned? Why did Hispanics and young people, even young white men, turn away from the GOP?
GIDLEY: Polling suggests that their anger at the war and that their anger at prices had a lot to do with the way they voted. Because a lot of the things the Trump administration did - from no tax on tips to no tax on overtime and no tax on Social Security, doubling the child tax credit, the lowest number in crime we've seen over a century, the highest wages we've seen, the lowest number of unemployment we've ever seen - all those things are very exciting. Those things the American people like. What they didn't like were the war and prices.
RASCOE: Well, does Trump need to make any changes in his behavior? Because people are not happy with the direction of the country. They do not feel like Trump cares about their individual problems. So does Trump need to make any changes?
GIDLEY: Well, I'll tell you something that stood out to me that may answer this question. The mere fact that Donald Trump got elected to the White House and has been the driving force in politics for 10 years, based on the fact that he is the one who is viewed by the American people to be listening to them finally after decades of government officials and candidates and officeholders not listening to them - someone who was known to be the voice of the American people - the fact that that has shifted in their opinion and their perception is something that they'll have to address. How that looks moving forward, though, I think, is that there will be a massive - and this is my silver lining from the election - a massive overreach by Democrats and a misread of what the American people truly want from this last election.
RASCOE: Well, it sounds like what you're saying is that Republicans have to depend on missteps by Democrats. But what is the Republican plan? What is the...
GIDLEY: No.
RASCOE: ...Republican agenda?
GIDLEY: I think that's what's being formulated. It's...
RASCOE: OK.
GIDLEY: ...Reestablishing an understanding.
RASCOE: Would you agree that they're a bit in the wilderness and they have to figure a way out?
GIDLEY: I wouldn't say they're in the wilderness. I'd say they're on the edge of the forest, wondering, what do we need to do before we step out into the field? Because they have the White House right now. They are in control of that. So it's obvious the American people still want Republicans to have some say. The question is - what are they saying, and how are they saying it? Democrats didn't run on anything other than being against Donald Trump. What's their agenda? I don't know what their agenda is either.
RASCOE: There's been a backlash to some of President Trump's immigration enforcement policies. Now the architect of Trump's immigration push, Stephen Miller, has been elevated to White House chief of staff. What does that tell you?
GIDLEY: It tells me that the administration wants to make sure that continuity is key heading into one of the most tumultuous times, most likely in our nation's history, because we face an onslaught of a weaponized Congress the likes of which we have never seen in this country against Donald Trump, with hoax after hoax, with impeachment attempt after impeachment attempt. They're going to continue to move that onslaught against Donald Trump and his administration. Stephen Miller was part and parcel with defending Donald Trump in the first term, as was I. And so Stephen's ready for that type of fight.
RASCOE: But what does that say to Latinos, who swung 21 points toward Democratic House candidates? And part of that, when you look at polls, was because of unmet promises to lower prices and because of the deportation tactics.
GIDLEY: I've not seen any indication of deportation tactics being the driving cause...
RASCOE: It's a part of it.
GIDLEY: ...Of the backlash.
RASCOE: It's not the - it's definitely a part of it.
GIDLEY: You may not like the images that come out of that enforcement. The problem is - or, I guess, the success is - we now have net-zero or net-negative migration into this country. The American people have seen a reduction in crime the likes of which no one thought possible. Stephen Miller was obviously an architect of that and a driver of that. And so I expect more of it to continue moving into the next two years.
RASCOE: That's Republican consultant Hogan Gidley. Thank you so much for joining us.
GIDLEY: Thank you so much. Appreciate it. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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