Trump is absolutely spiraling'： How the Trump-Van..
2020 Republican Presidential Candidate Joe Walsh and Former Deputy Communications Director and Associate Counsel to VP Kamala Harris Rachel Palermo join The Weekend. They discuss reports of an alleged email hack on Trump’s campaign and the lack of change in strategy since President Biden dropped out of the race.
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00:00Political first reported on the hack saying it received Trump campaign documents from an anonymous account last month.
00:08Now, NBC News reports, quote, the documents included research papers on at least two, two of the contenders to be Trump's running mate, including the eventual Republican vice presidential nominee, J.D. Vance.
00:20All of this comes as Donald Trump struggles to adjust to Vice President Kamala Harris' rising momentum.
00:27New reporting from the New York Times dives into the chaos behind the scenes and what the newspaper describes as the worst three weeks of Donald Trump's campaign.
00:35Joining us now is former congressman and 2020 Republican presidential candidate, Joe Walsh, and Rachel Palermo, former deputy communications director and associate counsel to Vice President Kamala Harris.
00:44We had a lot to get to today, so we didn't even need an intro this morning because truly, let's start with the hack.
00:51I just want to pull this up. So, Microsoft confirmed, and this comes from NBC News' Yvonne Hilliard and Alexandra Marquez, the Trump campaign spokesperson, Stephen Chung, pointed to a Microsoft report released Friday, which said that an Iranian group, this one connected with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, or IRGC, sent a spear phishing email in June to a high-ranking official on a presidential campaign.
01:16Now, I think we should be clear that Microsoft did not identify the campaign that was targeted, and a spokesperson for Microsoft and NBC News reached out, declined to share details about the incident beyond what was written in their report Friday, and NBC News has not been able to verify that Iran was behind the hack for the Trump campaign.
01:34So, all that on the table. Thoughts, Joe?
02:05Really? I just want to back up and be clear. Like, we know that some anonymous person named Robert, OK, was peddling internal information from the Trump campaign. So, while we have not, as NBC News, been able to independently verify that it was, in fact, Iran, like, we do know that somehow some internal documents got out. That is, in fact, a hack.
02:26Yes. OK.
02:27So, what are we skeptical about?
02:28The origin of the hack. I mean, I can hack myself if I want.
02:32Oh, Lord.
02:33I mean, I agree with Joe. I'm sorry. This is a space that's been created by him.
02:38Yes.
02:39And now I'm supposed to just fall down believing because he says he was hacked by Iranians with such specificity when nobody else in government or elsewhere can verify that?
02:49So, I just, I hear you, and I understand what you're saying, but at the end of the day, this is the environment Donald Trump has created.
02:56He created.
02:57And so, now, if I show skepticism or Joe shows skepticism, don't come at me because that's you.
03:04Remember Russia, Russia, Russia?
03:05All right.
03:06Can we talk about Russia?
03:07Let's go to hear Trump in 2016, if we could, real quick.
03:12Thank you very much.
03:15If it is Russia, it's really bad for a different reason because it shows how little respect they have for our country when they would hack into a major party and get everything.
03:30But it would be interesting to see.
03:32I will tell you this.
03:33Russia, if you're listening, I hope you're able to find the 30,000 emails that are missing.
03:43I think you will probably be rewarded mightily by our press.
03:49Hello.
03:50Thank you.
03:51So, Joe?
03:53That's why this man, I mean, Americans should decide who our American president is.
03:59This was a serious issue in 2016.
04:01Trump encouraged Russia to hack, welcomed it.
04:05I can't believe a thing he says now until we have actual verification.
04:11Rachel, just to back it up a little bit, I mean, I think part of what we're all contending with is the inevitable reality that we know that there are foreign actors who want to sow seeds of chaos.
04:23Right, Rachel?
04:24So, if you are a campaign, not only are you dealing with a media environment that has changed, not only if you're Democrats or you're on an asymmetrical playing field with Donald Trump, you are also constantly mindful of the fact that at any moment the ground can shift underneath you because there are foreign actors who are trying to add chaos to the environment.
04:46I agree with what others at the table have said about the importance to verify here.
04:51But I do think this does go to an important issue of our democracy.
04:56In 2016, we saw how the hacks impacted our democracy.
05:00And I think that if it does turn out that there was some sort of foreign meddling, that's something that people need to be really careful about.
05:07And I would encourage the public and I'd encourage journalists to be careful about how they use that information if it comes out that that is the case.
05:13And so, I think there's a lot more information that we need to find out before people start deciding how to move forward here.
05:19So, the question, I think, ultimately boils down to what both of you said, and that is, okay, let's get the information, let's get the verification.
05:30What we're hearing now is from one side, NBC has not verified, and I don't think anybody else has really verified this, Politico or anybody else who's seen this information.
05:42So, in that sense, we have to wait and the campaign has to go on.
05:48So, how does the campaign and both campaigns at this point go on?
05:52What measures should they be taking?
05:54Because we do know that, you know, we do have foreign actors to both the ladies at the table's point about, you know, who want to get into this race in a way that is not healthy.
06:07What do you suggest campaigns should be doing right now?
06:10Being as vigilant as they can, Michael.
06:13And look, and I'm sure the Harris campaign will put out an appropriate statement that this is a really serious issue.
06:21If it's true, Americans, not foreign actors, should decide who our presidents are.
06:28But 2016 was a big, I mean, 2020 was a big deal.
06:34And the Trump administration reacted to it like, bring it on, welcome it.
06:40We've got to be the opposite of that this time around.
06:44Well, I mean, the thing, Simone, yeah, those deep sides, Simone, I think, come because this is not the wackiest thing potentially that has happened in the past week.
06:56The entire contour of this race has shifted.
06:59I'm sure you guys saw the New York Times reporting.
07:01Let me read you a little bit from it.
07:03Trump has seemed to want to wish his new situation away.
07:06He claimed on Truth Social without evidence that Biden regretted his decision to drop out and wanted to undo it.
07:11He has also peppered his advisers with questions about whether Harris can sustain her momentum, constantly asking what new polling shows.
07:19I mean, Rachel, he is clearly unmoored, to say the very least.
07:26And there's been a question throughout.
07:28I mean, this is a different campaign structure than past Trump elections.
07:33This is, there is actual infrastructure here.
07:36I think the big question is, can they get him back on something resembling a message?
07:43I don't think so.
07:45I think Donald Trump is absolutely spiraling.
07:47The Trump campaign was clearly prepared to run against President Biden.
07:51And now that Kamala Harris is at the top of the ticket, they don't know what to do.
07:54And it's why you see him doing all these sorts of offensive insults to see what sticks.
07:59Nothing is landing.
08:00And he's had a really difficult few weeks.
08:02And put that in contrast with the incredible few weeks that Vice President Harris has had.
08:06She's had incredible momentum and it's continued week after week.
08:10This week alone, with the announcement of Governor Tim Walz as her running mate, that was another continuance of the excitement about her candidacy.
08:19And I think people are seeing the vision.
08:21They're seeing the contrast.
08:22And as he continues to spiral, she's continuing to do better.
08:26He's still running against Biden.
08:27Michael, you and I talked about this.
08:29I think his campaign, Rachel, says you have a different opponent.
08:33He was in Montana a night and a half, two nights ago, still talking about Joe Biden.
08:38He won't move on.
08:40Okay.
08:41But, you know, much has been made about the fact that Chris LaCivita and Susie Wiles, who are now senior advising and running the Trump campaign.
08:49These are campaign professionals.
08:51These are folks that know what they're doing, so on and so forth.
08:53Why didn't they have a strategy for this?
08:57They probably said they don't.
08:59They probably do.
09:00Because they said that they did.
09:01I mean, all the Republican strategists I talked to in the immediate aftermath were like, yeah, there is a plan for this.
09:05But there was clearly no plan.
09:07There's a candidate, but then there's also the campaign apparatus.
09:11Neither had a plan.
09:12But if the candidate ain't following the plan, there is no plan, right?
09:16I mean, that's the problem.
09:18I mean, LaCivita is a good operative.
09:21Wiles is a good operative.
09:23Donald Trump is a sucky candidate.
09:25Yes, but what was the plan?
09:27I didn't hear any content of the plan.
09:28I heard them talking about she was a DI candidate.
09:31I heard them talking about she's a woman.
09:33And not just Donald Trump.
09:34Republicans writ large across the board.
09:36Remember, the Speaker of the House had to send a note saying, hey, let's not be racist.
09:40There's other things to attack on.
09:41There's an attack on policy.
09:42So there was no plan.
09:44So why was there no plan?
09:46I'm just wondering why there was no plan.
09:48I think there was a plan, and I think the plan was to pivot to she's very left on policy.
09:53But again, to Michael's point, then you put the candidate in front of the camera down at Mar-a-Lago for 90 minutes,
09:59and all he talks about is Joe Biden, and I can't believe this isn't fair.
10:05Now I have to beat two candidates.
10:07And then he goes after her in ugly and personal ways.
10:10If you have a plan, but he's your candidate, there's no plan.
10:14Well, you know who got a plan?
10:15Kamala Harris and Tim Walton, because they are executing it.
10:23Thank you for watching it.