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Inside Politics

Duncan Campaigns To Be Georgia's Next Democratic Governor; Trump Creates Nearly $1.8B Fund To Compensate Allies Who Claim They Were Targeted By Biden Admin; Pete Buttigieg: Dems Can't "Just Be Against The Other Guy"; NYT/Siena Poll: 44 Percent Of Dems Are "Unsatisfied" With Their Party." Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired May 18, 2026 - 12:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[12:30:00]

DANA BASH, CNN ANCHOR: -- will be a blockbuster day in Georgia, a slew of interesting primaries, including the race to replace term-limited Republican Governor Brian Kemp. There are two very full primary fields, including former Republican, former Lieutenant Governor Geoff Duncan, now a Democratic candidate running for governor, and he joins me now. Thank you so much for being here.

I want to play some of what a Georgia voter who spoke to the bulwark about the primary, and you specifically, said.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's not that I dislike him or anything, but I do appreciate the fact that he did stand up to Trump and their illegal behavior. But my worries is that, like so many others, they'll go back home to the Republican Party. And we put him in office, will he change back over to who he was before?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: What do you say to Democratic voters on the fence about you?

GEOFF DUNCAN (D), GEORGIA GOVERNOR CANDIDATE: Yes, most Democratic voters that I'm talking to day after day, night after night, in all these communities across the state, aren't asking me why I used to be a Republican in the parking lot. They're asking me, how can we win and give me a yard sign?

I think folks have watched me live out loud for a number of years, and this is more than just, I don't like Donald Trump, and I stood up for the 2020 election results. I also have spoken very publicly about common sense gun legislation, expanding Medicaid, repealing the heartbeat bill.

I think this election is all about who can focus in on people's issues that matter the most to them, and who actually has a plan to go out and do something about it as governor. You know, I'm talking about the affordability crisis. I'm talking about the healthcare crisis. And yes, I'm even talking about the Donald Trump crisis, which I think even Republicans wake up worried about those same three things.

BASH: You just mentioned the heartbeat bill. I was going to ask you about that because you were there as Georgia's bill banning abortion after six weeks was signed into law, and now you are campaigning to repeal that law. Did you change your point of view on the substance of abortion, or is this a change now because you're running as a Democrat?

DUNCAN: Well, it's certainly not a political change. This is too big of an issue to just politicize, in my opinion. This has really been a heart change, and one that really opened my eyes up when Roe got overturned and we started to hear those unbelievably complicated personal situations and deep-rooted, you know, health situations.

It became obvious that women deserve and need the right to choose between themselves, their faith, their family, and their physicians. And so every room I've walked into, I've made two distinct promises. One is I'll sign the executive order day one that clarifies doctors can practice medicine without fear of prosecution, which has become a huge issue as a result of the heartbeat bill.

And two, introduce legislation to repeal the six-week ban. I think there's a number of Republicans that will join us on that journey and do the right thing and expect what millions of Georgian women expect us to do.

BASH: So what do you want the law to be?

DUNCAN: Well, it would take -- by repealing the six-week ban, it would return us back to where we were at before Roe got overturned by the Supreme Court. And I think there's an opportunity to have a number of conversations. But look, this is all about not only reproductive rights of women, this is also about infant and maternal mortality rates, which Georgia is in a dismal place with.

Gives us the opportunity to have more physicians practicing in Georgia. Story after story of physicians not wanting to practice health care in Georgia because of the potential ramifications of the law.

BASH: Your opponent in the Democratic primary, Keisha Lance Bottoms, joined us on Inside Politics earlier this month. She's endorsed by former President Joe Biden. Here's what she said about that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEISHA LANCE BOTTOMS (D), GEORGIA GOVERNOR CANDIDATE: As I'm moving around this state, people are missing Joe Biden more and more each day. He delivered for the people across Georgia.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: Are you hearing the same thing from Georgia Democratic voters?

DUNCAN: I'm not. What I'm hearing is Donald Trump is the worst decision this country's ever made, and this state needs leadership that is something that's detached from Donald Trump. This primary is all about who gives us the best chance for the first time in nearly 30 years to win this general election.

It's been 30 years since Roy Barnes got sworn in in 1998 as governor, as a Democrat. And look, Donald Trump is directly on the ballot. Every Republican candidate running in that primary is trying to look and smell exactly like Donald Trump. And make no mistake about it, they will show up day one with Donald Trump in tow.

Linda McMahon will run our public schools, National Guard troops in our streets. It is real. And so we've got to make sure we've got a candidate that doesn't have to talk about failed leadership in the past to be able to talk about forward-looking leadership, to talk about the issues that matter most -- affordability, health care, and yes, Donald Trump.

BASH: Before I let you go, you mentioned that you were very much opposed to President Trump's actions after the 2020 election results in Georgia. How concerned are you about people trusting the outcome of the midterm elections?

[12:35:06]

DUNCAN: If Donald Trump and his MAGA sock puppet stay out of our way, we'll have a legal fair election like we always have had here in Georgia. My concerns are that they fan the flames of those conspiracy theories by raiding that Fulton County warehouse, taking those ballots, and continuing to talk about putting ICE agents in polling stations.

I am concerned that there's somebody in the Oval Office trying to plot and scheme a way to create counter stories. But, look, at the end of the day, I think Georgia's going to have a safe, fair election. I think we're going to see a wave of Democrats rise up because this failed leadership of Donald Trump and the MAGA crowd is real. It's tangible. It's directly affecting people's lives.

And so folks can find out more about my platform at duncanforgeorgia.com.

BASH: Geoff Duncan, thank you so much for being here. Good luck tomorrow.

DUNCAN: Thank you so much.

BASH: Coming up, the Trump administration is launching a massive new fund for allies they claim were unfairly targeted during the Biden years. That's right, a massive fund for people who think that they were targeted. We're going to explain all the details after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:40:39]

BASH: The breaking news is that the Justice Department is rolling out a massive, nearly $1.8 billion fund to compensate Trump allies who claim they were unfairly targeted by previous administration. This money is funded by taxpayers. The DOJ announced, quote, "The fund will have the power to issue formal apologies and monetary relief owed to claimants. Submission of a claim is voluntary. There are no partisan requirements to file a claim. Any money left when the fund ceases operations will revert to the federal government."

CNN's Paula Reid joins us at the table. I just want to sort of say this again, that we're talking about a giant, I mean, we get it, $1,776, $1,776 billion fund to compensate President Trump's allies who that they were unfairly treated by this government.

PAULA REID, CNN CHIEF LEGAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: That's exactly right. Now, they say there's no partisan requirement here, but it's clear who the target audience is. And they mentioned in this announcement specifically the criminal investigations into the President under the last administration and the Mueller probe. So it's clear here they're trying to enrich their allies.

And I've covered the President and his lawyers for over a decade. And I can tell you, I don't think the average person truly understands how staunch they are in their belief that the President has been unfairly treated. But I also don't think they really understand how little the average person cares and how much blowback they are going to face now that they are using taxpayer money to enrich the President and his allies.

BASH: And the President was threatening to sue the IRS. In fact, he did sue the IRS for $10 billion, alleging that they failed to protect Trump, the Trump organization from unauthorized leaks of their tax returns. He's dropping that and folding basically all of his complaints, not just for him, but for more importantly, for the people around him into this larger taxpayer-funded slush fund.

REID: Yes.

BASH: Have we ever seen anything like this in the history of this country?

REID: No. I want to note, first of all, the people at the negotiating table were President Trump's personal lawyers and the lawyers in the White House, the Justice Department and the IRS, all part of his administration. There was no outside voice.

Now, the President's team, they continue to point to as -- what they say is a similar fund that was established under the Obama administration. This was the Kip Siegel (ph) Fund. Now, that was a much smaller fund. That was only $760 million. But that was to redress various claims alleging racism connected to the Department of Agriculture. So we're talking about a much larger group of potential victims and a much smaller fund.

But that's what they keep pointing to. Look, we know this is going to have a political consequence. There's already political blowback from Democrats. But there's going to be a lot of litigation around this. There really is nothing quite like this. And I would not be surprised to see this question and questions about this fund before the Supreme Court in the next year or so.

BASH: Jamie?

JAMIE GANGEL, CNN SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT: So one of the things in the agreement, just to take it to the next step, the attorney general is going to appoint five people who will oversee this fund if it goes forward, if the courts don't stop it. Todd Blanche is the acting attorney general. He wants to be the attorney general.

So you can be sure this money is to go to Trump allies, that the five people that Todd Blanche picks will be five people that Donald Trump approves of.

BASH: Yes.

GANGEL: So again, it just underscores that this is Trump allies benefiting from a huge amount of, let's say it again, taxpayer money.

MANU RAJU, CNN CHIEF CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT: I mean, my question is that Paula has said that there is Democratic blowback, which is true. What about the Republican blowback? I mean --

BASH: Yes.

RAJU: -- this is taxpayer money, $1.8 billion. There's been no judicial oversight over this and there's been no congressional oversight of this. They're the ones who are supposed to control the purse strings. What do they say? And that's going to be a question will of course asked.

BASH: Where are they getting the money? That's a good question.

REID: So if you look at the specifics, it just says the U.S. government needs to give this $1.776 billion to the U.S. Treasury. And I know Todd Blanche is on the Hill tomorrow. He'll face questions from senators. And this has to be top of mind because this is an extraordinary amount of money.

[12:45:02]

And again, while this is something that has been a priority for the President, when you start to use taxpayer money at this moment in time to address these grievances, there is likely going to be a political consequence here. And based on my conversations with sources, I'm not sure they fully appreciate that because they have been so entrenched in these grievances for about a decade.

BASH: And I just want to sort of drill down again on who would have access to these funds. Do we know yet?

REID: Do you mean who can apply?

BASH: Correct.

REID: Yes, that's a great question. So they're saying anyone who believes that they have been unjustly investigated by the Justice Department can apply for a relief. They could potentially get an apology or a monetary reward. Now, initially, sources were suggesting this would just be Biden-era investigations, but there does not appear to actually be a timeline. So we can go back to the Mueller probes as well.

What's not clear is, OK, if you're Hunter Biden and you weren't really careful, you know, very happy about that criminal investigation --

BASH: Yes.

REID: -- a couple of years ago, that even jurors who served in that trial and convicted him told us was kind of a silly case. Can you file a claim? How will they look at that? They insist there's no partisan requirement. But again, it's unclear that the court of public opinion is really going to buy this, but they're saying here that anyone can file a claim, but you must file this claim before December 15th, 2028.

BASH: Well, that's one of the things that I was thinking, Michelle, is just in this sort of thought experiment here that this goes through and the money is there and that these five people are going to dole out settlement claims. Is there any world -- this is a rhetorical question -- is there any world in which that board, whomever they will be, will approve it for non-Republicans who say, like, I don't know, people who feel like they were unfairly targeted recently during the Trump term?

MICHELLE PRICE, WHITE HOUSE REPORTER, AP: Not during the Trump term. You know, I think the -- correct me if I'm wrong, Paula --

BASH: Yes.

PRICE: -- but my understanding is that the five people, the President can also remove any of the five people if he wants.

BASH: Right.

REID: If he doesn't like them, yes.

PRICE: And --

REID: That's been the subject of a lot of litigation too, who can I remove?

PRICE: Yes.

REID: So they've got that straightened out at the outset.

PRICE: We know he chooses to exercise that when he can. We look at how he's tried to manage the Fed board. But it is possible maybe that they will try to add one Democrat to try to make some kind of case that maybe, you know, Rod Blagojevich, somebody that the President has already pardoned, to just try to make the case that there is bipartisan harm here, that it's not totally partisan.

But I think it's pretty hard to hide that when you see the composition of this and the locks that are in there. I think also the attorney general is the only one who can audit the spending here. So --

BASH: Yes.

PRICE: -- you know, we've heard Democrats refer to this as a slush fund. It seems to be set up without a lot of guardrails.

BASH: OK. Thank you so much, Paula. I appreciate it.

Coming up, Pete Buttigieg says Democrats need a message beyond resistance to President Trump. Can the party actually agree on one or a handful of them? That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:52:16]

BASH: Democrats agree on what they're against, but not necessarily what they are for. I spoke with former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who is certainly thinking about a 2028 run and says his party needs to do more than simply oppose President Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

PETE BUTTIGIEG, FORMER TRANSPORTATION SECRETARY: Democrats need to be making clear what it is that we would actually do differently. It's not enough to just be against the other guy.

We also have to remind people of the things that we are for. We are for things like Medicaid. We are for expanding your access to health insurance. We are for raising wages in this country.

People need to see a proactive governing agenda. Things like paid parental and family leave. Things like political reform to do away with gerrymandering and corporate money in politics.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASH: My panel is back. Manu, you can see real time the Democrats, particularly on Capitol Hill, struggling with how to best do that ahead of the midterm elections, for a set of issues, not just against Trump.

RAJU: Yes. And look, being just against Trump could be enough to get them the majority.

BASH: It could be, absolutely.

RAJU: And that's almost the calculation that Hakeem Jeffries, a Democratic leader, is making. There's been really no movement to put some sort of prospective Democratic agenda on how they would govern in the majority. No contract with America like we saw Newt Gingrich do in the 90s. Why? Because as soon as you put that out there, the Republicans have something to campaign on.

It's much easier to be the opposition party and say, we're going to be a check against Trump. He's bad. And look, they may be right, because this is a referendum election at the end of the day in the midterms. But again, that leads to, what are you going to do when you're in power? Voters want to know that. And Democrats, when you start getting into the details, they're very divided over some of the fundamental things that they push for.

BASH: That's true. But if you look at recent history in, you know, five years or however, six years is light years away from where we are now but -- I guess it's seven years, 2018, yes, they were very much against Trump, but Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats decided that they were going to focus on health care as an issue, and that helped put them over the edge.

PRICE: That's right. I mean, I think if they were campaigning or talking about, we're going to get back in power, we're going to launch another impeachment investigation or all these other probes of the Trump administration, that actually might turn off some voters who might in the midterms, in the general election, who are not interested in dredging up some of the things that this administration has done in this term, but they want solutions to things like high costs.

I think the one thing that, you know, Manu touched on this, but the secretary is talking about what Democrats are for. He said, we're for Medicaid. There's a lot in that answer. I mean, we have covered so many debates about --

RAJU: It's kind of a big program.

PRICE: Yes. OK. But like, what does that look like? I mean, we have sat through debate after debate --

BASH: Yes.

PRICE: -- from Democrats about what Medicaid looks like. They don't have a good answer for these.

[12:55:01]

BASH: And Jamie, just look at another bit of data from the New York Times/Siena poll this morning. Are you satisfied with the Democratic Party? This is among Democrats. 55 percent say satisfied, 44 percent, which is not a small percentage, of Democrats say they're dissatisfied.

GANGEL: So this is the reality. Trump is incredibly unpopular, but there is -- I mean, that's better than Trump's numbers --

BASH: Yes.

GANGEL: -- but there is sort of a pox on both their houses. Voters are angry. Voters know what the grocery prices are. They know what the gas prices are. That said, what Democratic strategists keep telling me is yes. What Pete Buttigieg said, absolutely right. You can't just be against Donald Trump, but this is district by district --

BASH: Yes.

GANGEL: -- by district. So you have to be very careful, especially with so many tight races.

BASH: Thank you all for great discussions. Thank you for joining Inside Politics today. CNN News Central starts after a quick break.

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