Oct 12, 2026 · 11 min · 5 segments
Recent data indicates that the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement is experiencing a visible loss of momentum, driven by declining approval ratings, fractured party unity, and growing discontent…
Rachel MaddowHost
Jake ConleyGuest
Ahmed BabaGuest
Jake LahutGuestAdam MoaklerGuest
So the one thing that is consistent, if you've been to a lot of Trump rallies, is Trump rally-goers hate traffic.
Now, aside from that, we certainly see a lot of enthusiasm issues with the base.
In terms of why Upstate New York, I mean, Trump does have kind of his origin story starting to get into conservative politics in Western and Central New York.
But what was weird was, like, Syracuse is actually the city with the number one rate of childhood poverty of any city in the country of over a thou- 100,000 people.
And I'm an Upstate New York native, and I've seen this way that Trump kind of uses upstate as sort of a, basically a political prop to show this, you know, white grievance style contrast with New York City.
Sure, we've seen him go to red states and other safe areas, but to go here, apparently at the insistence of Bruce Blakeman, the Republican, uh, you know, nominee for governor of New York, it's a really odd choice.
Maybe if he was in Long Island it could help him bump his number up against Kathy Hochul, but I think the other telling line that we showed there was the 48% of you don't vote, and please pretend like my name's on the fricking ballot.
Yeah.
... that we see cycle after cycle, and including in the general where people go in, Trump's o- is, is literally on the ballot.
They vote for him and they leave, and they leave everyone else down ballot hanging.
Well, A- um, Adam, what does it say to you that Bruce Blakeman wanted him there, but Bruce Blakeman is more than likely not going to be the governor of New York?
Um, but then there was local reporting that a whole lot of other local GOP leaders in the state of New York, um, they were...
They had other places to be, other things to do.
Yeah, when I saw that side by side of Donald Trump a decade ago compared to today, what struck me was just the degradation of our president, the degradation of his energy, his enthusiasm, his tone, and even his focus.
He is not focused on anything, and that is why I think people want to distance themselves from him.
ICE has been a huge disappointment for the people that even wanted immigration enforcement after seeing killings happening in our street, and Republicans are trying to distance themselves from this awful policy of a degrading, weak president.
So the one thing that is consistent, if you've been to a lot of Trump rallies, is Trump rally-goers hate traffic.
Now, aside from that, we certainly see a lot of enthusiasm issues with the base.
In terms of why Upstate New York, I mean, Trump does have kind of his origin story starting to get into conservative politics in Western and Central New York.
But what was weird was, like, Syracuse is actually the city with the number one rate of childhood poverty of any city in the country of over a thou- 100,000 people.
And I'm an Upstate New York native, and I've seen this way that Trump kind of uses upstate as sort of a, basically a political prop to show this, you know, white grievance style contrast with New York City.
Sure, we've seen him go to red states and other safe areas, but to go here, apparently at the insistence of Bruce Blakeman, the Republican, uh, you know, nominee for governor of New York, it's a really odd choice.
Maybe if he was in Long Island it could help him bump his number up against Kathy Hochul, but I think the other telling line that we showed there was the 48% of you don't vote, and please pretend like my name's on the fricking ballot.
Yeah.
... that we see cycle after cycle, and including in the general where people go in, Trump's o- is, is literally on the ballot.
They vote for him and they leave, and they leave everyone else down ballot hanging.
Well, A- um, Adam, what does it say to you that Bruce Blakeman wanted him there, but Bruce Blakeman is more than likely not going to be the governor of New York?
Um, but then there was local reporting that a whole lot of other local GOP leaders in the state of New York, um, they were...
They had other places to be, other things to do.
Yeah, when I saw that side by side of Donald Trump a decade ago compared to today, what struck me was just the degradation of our president, the degradation of his energy, his enthusiasm, his tone, and even his focus.
He is not focused on anything, and that is why I think people want to distance themselves from him.
ICE has been a huge disappointment for the people that even wanted immigration enforcement after seeing killings happening in our street, and Republicans are trying to distance themselves from this awful policy of a degrading, weak president.
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