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Inside Politics

Trump Super PAC Puts $10M Behind Paxton In TX Senate Race; This Week: Trump Campaigns For GOP At GOP Midterm Convention; Fetterman Responds To Bombshell WSJ Story That Alleges He Shows Little Interest In Doing His Job As Senator; Rep. Deluzio Won't Rule Out Primary Challenge Against Fetterman; Dems' Far-Left Winning Streak Shifts The Heat To Rep. Jeffries. Aired 12-12:30p ET

Aired September 07, 2026 - 12:00   ET

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

[12:00:07]

AUDIE CORNISH, CNN ANCHOR, INSIDE POLITICS: Here's the dilemma. Can Republican candidates embrace the president to win his die-hard base without turning off the majority of voters who are just plain tired of him?

I'm Audie Cornish, in for Dana Bash. Let's go behind the headlines at Inside Politics. Today is Labor Day, a holiday that traditionally marks the beginning of the general election campaign, the moment when non-political junkies start tuning in. And this year, it's also the turning point for President Trump. He's ramping up his personal involvement in many races, his super PAC MAGA Inc. is finally doling out some of its $400 million war chest, promising to spend $10 million to help Texas Senate candidate Ken Paxton for starters.

And on Wednesday, the president will head to the GOP's midterm convention, already being branded Trump-apalooza, featuring dozens of administration officials and battleground Republicans, and the goal is basically juice Trump's base for people who need to be persuaded to show up at the polls without him on the ballot. So, could that come at a cost? Right now, CNN's poll of polls has his approval rating standing at just 35 percent. This is matching the lowest of his second term.

I'm joined by a terrific group of reporters. We have here Sara Fischer, can I start with you because this is a big branding exercise, and the brand is Trump.

SARA FISCHER, MEDIA CORRESPONDENT, AXIOS & CNN MEDIA ANALYST: Yes.

CORNISH: And he says the brand is good, so he can spread it around. And there are some people who are like, is it good, and aren't so sure they either want to attend this or have them in their districts.

FISCHER: And is it stronger than let's say the NFL, because the counter programming during this rally is really tough to compete against. You've got the Patriots, Seahawks, NFL opener on Thursday night when Vance is slated to speak. So, it's a difficult time to be doing this rally. I also think a lot of Republicans are questioning right now President Trump's selection of Ken Paxton over John Cornyn in Texas. And they're saying, why aren't you bringing us more dollars, more advertising resources?

This is the candidate that you chose who was coming from, you know, trying to come behind right now because he entered, you know, this political fray a little bit later than if it would be John Cornyn --

CORNISH: I'm going to show the ad spending while you're talking right now. We've got the numbers for August and September, just to give people a sense of what Paxton has been up against when it comes to Talarico spending.

FISCHER: Yeah. So, the question is, President Trump, you hand selected Paxton in this seat. Why aren't you delivering more resources and be remiss not to note. Audie, yes, they've committed to $10 million. MAGA Inc. says they have $400 million war chest, and this is a really important seat. The Senate hangs in the balance. I'm questioning whether or not they're going to be spending even more.

CORNISH: Fear not, Sara. I have an ad from MAGA Inc. which is what they're going to be running against Talarico. Take a look.

(PLAYING VIDEO)

CORNISH: The tax cut thing is where they're leaning in. It feels like the White House, no tax on tips, the tax, tax, tax, tax, tax. Since there's like no mention of the war, we haven't changed our position in the world. Talk about that strategy.

BETSY KLEIN, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE REPORTER: Yeah, it's like, look over here. But you know, there had been so much anxiety amongst Republicans about whether the president was going to tap into this very sizable war chest. And to Sara's point, $10 million in Texas is not a lot of money compared to just the GOP primary, $130 million was spent. You have 20 major media markets, including Dallas and Houston in the top 10 in this country. It's really not going to make the difference here.

CORNISH: So, what makes the difference going to the convention? When I look at the Senate speakers, we've got Ken Paxton, of course, who like needs the help. Mike Rogers, arguably, needs the help. Mike Collins in Georgia. They're taking time out from the campaign trail to be at Trump-apalooza, so they definitely believe he has tailwind somehow, if you make it a referendum about him.

And then when I look at the House speakers, it's Mike Lawler, Carla De La Cruz, Mike Bouchard Jr. Do these names have anything in common? Are these just MAGA hard cores or people who need MAGA help?

[12:05:00]

EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: They need the Republican turnout to be there. Mike Lawler is one of the ones that stands out from this list. He's one of three Republican congressmen in the country who represents a district that Kamala Harris won in 2024. So, his decision to be there. If there is political calculation behind it, it is calculation that he needs to get Republicans in that district to be jazzed up, even more jazzed up than they were in 2024 when they were voting -- when they had the option of Donald Trump on the ballot, and we'll see if that works, right?

The trap that a lot of the Republicans are in is that they feel like they need to stay as close as they can to Donald Trump, so that he doesn't post negative things about them, or -- and that maybe even says something in support of them, but also distance themselves from him because, as you point out, his approval rating is so low and it is low not just with Democrats and with independents, it's low even than he would want it to be compared to what it has been for Republicans.

And so, all of them are trying to figure out how they navigate around this. And then Trump insisted on this midterm convention dropping in the middle of September. Now they're going to see what happens when they go.

CORNISH: You're not excited about a random convention. I'm anti- convention as a rule. I just -- I don't want to be trapped with that many people for any reason, but this is the first time we're going to have one of these, right? And it feels like in this media environment, is that a drop in the -- but, you mentioned football, but like it's not just football, there's a lot of other things to capture our attention.

FISCHER: Oh, of course. But I think what's happened in politics is that local elections have become very nationalized because of the access to so many different media, whether it's TikTok or streaming. One little campaign quip can go viral. And I think a lot of local candidates see showing up at a rally like this as an opportunity to attract national donors and national dollars.

Remember, a lot of the spending that's supporting these races, it's not just from the traditional, you know, NRSCs or NRCCs, the sort of Republican traditional groups that allocate this spend, it's from outside big PACs, and those PACs are oftentimes funded by Trump allies. So, there's a huge incentive for the candidates themselves to want to go.

Do I think everyday people like us are going to be tuning in to be watching every single moment of this the way that we would a traditional convention? Probably not, especially because when you look at ratings, you know, President Trump's first convention in 2015 or 2016 was blockbuster in terms of the viewership on those speeches and it just hasn't been as big since. It's not because these candidates aren't as interesting. It's just because there's nothing like that moment. I think Donald Trump himself is no longer the spectacle that he was, and I think that will probably impact the amount of people that tune into this as well.

CORNISH: It's also like another big spectacle that has to be secured, so to speak. I'm thinking of this incident in Ohio where Dr. Acton, who's a Democratic candidate, somebody lunged at her, but we've had a lot of political violence in the last couple of months, attempts on Trump. It feels like this is another place where people could be vulnerable.

KLEIN: Certainly, and I think we have seen the very high cost of public service on both sides of the aisle. Charlie Kirk, President Trump himself target --

CORNISH: Yeah. And I should say the other candidates, right? If Labor Day is the starting of like get out there and you see the first weekend a lawmaker in danger. I mean, a lot of these campaigns must be.

DOVERE: I mean, they're going to be in a closed space, so I think the danger in this is less of a factor. However, it's definitely the case that it's a lot of money and a lot of logistics support that is going into this, and that -- when the president travels, that's taken care of by the secret service. So that's not going to have --

CORNISH: Yeah. Although, we were in the closed room at the White House correspondence.

DOVERE: That's true, of course. And look, being out on the trail, anywhere I am in the country, people who are running for Senate, candidates who would always in the past years be able to be out and about doing things, are all traveling with security now. It's a much different environment.

CORNISH: Yeah. OK. I want to turn to something else on the Democratic side. Senator John Fetterman of Pennsylvania versus his own staff could be the political fight of his life, and we've got exclusive new reaction about sources who say he just doesn't like his job. And then deep in the heart of Texas, do Democrats have a shot at flipping the governor seat?

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[12:1000]

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CORNISH: All right. So, Pennsylvania Democratic Senator John Fetterman is fighting back in brand new comments to CNN's Manu Raju. Fetterman blasted a Wall Street Journal report that alleged he's more interested in ingratiating himself with conservative media than doing the work of a U.S. senator. Fetterman told Manu, quote, Per usual, lies, half- truths, innuendo, smears, and anonymous. No matter how many smears or stories, I'm proud to continue to deliver for Pennsylvania.

Now, Fetterman may have to do more than that statement to defend himself. There's a group of former campaign and Senate staffers. They're promising to share stories, screenshots about Fetterman on a new ex account, and they say they'll start posting the goods next week.

My panel is back. It's all fun and games until there's a branded social media post. Still anonymous, though. I just want to say, and there's just been this steady drip, drip, drip, drip, drip, and he's always pushed back, and now they're promising more. So, what's different about this latest batch?

[12:15:00] KLEIN: Well, what's different here is that this has accumulated a significant following in the last three or so days. There's 160,000 followers. It hasn't even provided any of the so-called receipts yet, and it does seem like he is accumulating disgruntled staffers very quickly here.

CORNISH: Yeah. And this is different from -- I think for a while there was reporting of like how is he handling his health and recovery, and how does that affect, how he does his job? This is trying to have receipts, as you said, about what that looks like day-to-day. How -- when he hears someone's coming to his office to meet with him, how does he react?

DOVERE: He reacts in one of the cases that was reported in the Wall Street Journal by saying that he was sick and then showing up and going to do a television appearance. Like, John Fetterman is someone who has been long before he had the stroke was sort of a cranky guy to put it mildly.

And then he had the stroke. He went to get treated for depression because of the physical impact that it had on him. He still has to use a phone to hold up when people are talking to him to watch the transcriptions of it because his hearing has been affected. And he has also positioned himself politically into a place that is very much antagonistic to where a lot of the Democratic Party is on a lot of issues. And --

CORNISH: But isn't the main issue, Israel? And whether or not to support Israel. Like, he's almost become a single-issue candidate, even though he did not start out that way.

DOVERE: Yeah.

FISCHER: Yeah. And to give people a sense of how far John Fetterman has shifted, I mean, there's some hope in the Republican Party that he might even switch or become an independent. You see him actually doing fundraisers with Dave McCormick, the Republican senator of Pennsylvania. That is unheard of the part (Ph).

CORNISH: Yeah. McCormick actually said these stories are the latest example of outrageous disloyal staff and forces on the left using anonymous leaks to cancel my friend John Fetterman. They hate that he's an independent thinker who refuses to fall in line, so they want to silence him. I know there's been a lot of questions about whether or not he'll just switch parties.

DOVERE: But it's also -- there's a limited timeframe on this. Since 2028 is when his term is up, it is hard for a lot of Democrats in the state to believe that he would have any real chance of being able to run a winning campaign, even with the help in fundraising. And if he can't get Democrats there, and he's not switched over to a Republican, Pennsylvania is a battleground state in every which way.

CORNISH: But what I mean is, if it comes down to it, is there a benefit to him to suddenly switch parties and be -- and make the party in power, right? Like help tip the balance and engender goodwill in the process, right, because now you're not locked out of committees, you're not all of these things.

FISCHER: I know that's what Republicans are hoping happens. I mean, that's why you're seeing McCormick and others come out on his side. I think I want to just go back to your point though about the health. I think the challenge that we're facing with some of the text messages that have been leaked is what is the difference between this being a challenging health situation, standing up at an event for three hours versus you being disinterested.

And I think that what we're looking to understand is, is an actual disinterest versus it being a health thing because those are two very, very different type of scenarios in the voters' eyes, right? And in the constituents' eyes, you're not being able to meet with the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, if because you yourself are sick, I think there's a lot more empathy for that. But it's because you don't necessarily care. I think he joked. He said he joked that it wasn't a big deal. That's not going to go over as well.

CORNISH: Yeah, that's what these receipts are all about. In terms of that one you mentioned about the children's hospital, he's in this case asking, why do I have to keep meeting with him? Like, what's the point? I don't know why. And they give him an answer. They're worried about vaccines and Medicaid cuts.

And he's like, yeah, I don't know about that, which I'm sure there are jokes abound Washington mocking lobby groups and lobbyists, people who come up. But children's hospital is not great, right? The police funeral, not great. Like some of this feels like the basic foundation of retail politics.

KLEIN: That's right. And other people who could run for his seat in 2028 are smelling blood in the water. They are coming out very strongly. We heard from Chris Deluzio. He says he has no sense of duty. Brendan Boyle called him a disgrace and a lazy trust fund baby who is too lazy to do the job --

CORNISH: Which we know is the ultimate insult in Democratic circles right now, right? That you are not the working man you are pretending to be.

DOVERE: But that's been an issue as --

CORNISH: Yeah, exactly. But yeah, them's fighting words. Those are like we're getting ready to run. I do -- any of those people have a shot? Meaning, do they have the kind of standing in the state to --

DOVERE: Deluzio is a congressman. He's a veteran. He is from right outside Pittsburgh. He's got a lot of strength in that area, which is also overlaps with Fetterman's geographic home base. He's got support from both moderates in the party and was endorsed for re-election just recently by Bernie Sanders. So, he's got all that coming together. Brendan Boyle from the other poll in Pennsylvania politics and in Philadelphia has been in state. It was in the statehouse and in Congress now for a long time and has got a lot of support too. Those are just two of the options that are there, and there are others that are going there. [12:20:00]

CORNISH: I'm glad you said that because I actually have one of the options you just said. Deluzio was on Sunday on NewsNation, of course, and here's his take on where the senator is.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REP. CHRIS DELUZIO (D-PA): John Fetterman is nowhere to be seen on the campaign trail, and again be very blunt, I don't think there's any Democrat in Pennsylvania who wants him campaigning with them, even if he would show up. So, I'm focused on doing what we can do right now to win, and I'll deal with 2028 when we get past the election.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: But he's out there, ready just in case.

DOVERE: But I mean, it's a competitive election year in Pennsylvania. There are a lot of House seats that are up. The Governor Josh Shapiro, who's maybe going to run for president, is running for re-election. And Deluzio is right, no one has been appearing with Fetterman. That may be some combination of, he is not offering to appear and they are not asking is true --

CORNISH: I was about to say, I always see him alone, like photographed alone on the Hill alone. That's been his mo. So, I can't imagine sharing the spotlight on the campaign trail. All right. I want to talk more about what you're going to be seeing in the next couple of weeks because those on the far-left, they've got some momentum and now they want more. New CNN reporting on the squeeze facing Democratic House Leader Hakeem Jeffries.

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[12:25:00]

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CORNISH: Hey. It's been a busy summer for far-left Democrats, candidates who either identify as Democratic socialists or dance with their ideas, tallied victories from New York to California to Michigan to Florida. But after this red-hot summer for the left, the heat is shifting to House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries. And CNN's Sarah Ferris reports, quote, far-left Democrats had a huge summer. Now they have big demands for party leaders.

Sara joins our smart group of reporters here. All right, so tell me how this is different from the days when AOC and the Squad showed up, and Nancy Pelosi was the person being told, get out of the way of progress because the Youngs are more progressive. What's Hakeem getting?

SARAH FERRIS, CNN SENIOR REPORTER: So, this is -- this has been really a huge to watch, all across the country. Of course, we saw big ups since in places like Michigan when we had Senate races that have been totally transformed by the progressive energy. But what I've been watching is the House races across the country. You have some in Michigan, you have a lot in New York, California. These are places that are saying that the Democratic Party's -- the ground is shifting beneath leaders' feet and that their leadership are simply not recognizing all of the demands of their movement.

CORNISH: Yeah.

FERRIS: So, they're going to be coming in next year, and you know, most of them are on track too. These are deep blue seats. They will be winning in November, and they're coming to say we want to see things different. We're an anti-establishment wave coming in to take on that establishment and that establishment happens to be Hakeem Jeffries. So, he has a really big problem on his stats (Ph).

CORNISH: And there's some specifics there. So, when you think about democratic or kind of progressive Democratic priorities, I'm going to add a couple. Someone will write in and tell me I'm wrong. I understand that Medicare for all is one for sure. Ending weapon sales to Israel for sure. These are two almost litmus test issues. Abolishing super PACs. I remember Bernie Sanders writing a letter to the party about that. Affordable housing, universal childcare, and pre-K.

Let me come to Medicare because this is an example I want to play for you earlier in the month, where Hakeem Jeffries is actually asked about this issue and how it plays out. Kind of reflects what's going on in the party debate right now.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You co-sponsored Medicare for all legislation from 2013 to 2021. You've not co-sponsored it since you became Democratic leader, will you put Medicare for All up for a vote if you become speaker?

REP. HAKEEM JEFFRIES (D-NY): Well, listen. These are all conversations that the House Democratic caucus is going to have to have. Right now, we're focused on November 3, not January 3.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you personally support Medicare for all?

JEFFRIES: No, as you indicated, I haven't co-sponsored the Medicare for all legislation that has been introduced over the last several years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CORNISH: So, having covered Congress, that voice says, yeah, of course not, because that wasn't a thing, right? Like we didn't used to really support that, and now when you look at the polls, independents in particular, a majority of them actually support government-provided healthcare for all. They also definitely support increasing taxes on corporations and billionaires, and also when it comes to Israel, though the number is not as high, that issue is still up for grabs. DOVERE: These are questions that Hakeem Jeffries is going to be facing because he is going to -- if the Democrats are in the majority and he is speaker, he is going to be the most prominent Democrat in the country for at least a year until the presidential race starts really settling out, and he is going to be having to guide Democrats through some of these things. Medicare for all is something that might have, with the Democratic majority, enough votes to pass the House. It does not have the votes to pass the Senate.

CORNISH: Right.

DOVERE: But his bigger problem, as Sarah gets into some in her story, is that -- is the numbers of actually getting to be speaker in the first place if the Democrats win, right? There are enough of these likely incoming members of Congress who may try to either hold up his ascending to be Speaker or be a thorn in his side as they go through procedural votes. It really depends on what the margin is. How many of these people are --

CORNISH: Lots of people have thought that's what would happen to AOC, and she became kind of a team player, right, going from pro. Am I misremembering the history here? I've seen some of their history --

DOVERE: There's a smaller number of people ideologically aligned with her, who were elected in 2018, and a bigger margin for Democrats than what may come after November.

CORNISH: I want to ask also about what the candidates are saying. Are they being asked like? Do you support Jeffries or not? This is a question that will decide my vote.

FISCHER: Yes. So, for example, one of the members, the potentially incoming members I talked to.

[12:30:00]