Weekly Wrap | Election Recaps, Celebrations & Deep Dives with Rick Wilson, Steve Beschloss, John Avlon & More
Welcome back to the Weekly Wrap, where we compile highlights from Lincoln Square’s top interviews and shows from the last week. From Behind the Numbers with Rick & Andrew Wilson to The Two Joes with Joe Klein & Joe Trippi, we’ve got it all for you right here.
Trump Sips Champagne While We Starve | The Weekly Assignment
Lincoln Square Executive Editor Susan Demas was joined by Sam Osterhout and Andrew Wilson on The Weekly Assignment to start the week. Trump threw a gaudy Gatsby style “Roaring Twenties” party at Mar-a-Lago as SNAP shutdowns took effect. Our roundtable broke down everything from pre-election numbers to what Prop 50 will accomplish in California.
Sam Osterhout: I found this image from the Gilded Age – the working class hoisting up this ballroom floor, and it looks so vaguely familiar right now. It’s the same ballroom. It’s the same idiots in their costumes, and you see the masses breaking through. I think Trump and co are underestimating how bad this looks and how much suffering (there is). I think they have this thing where they’re like, “We’re not suffering – so therefore nobody is suffering,” because they’re also narcissists. Whatever happens to them is what they imagine happens to everyone.
Susan Demas: Or they just don’t care. I think that’s a big part of it. Look at what Trump has been bragging about coming up on his first full year in office. The gold leaf remodel of the Oval Office so it can look more like Putin’s palace – and his gaudy decor everywhere at Mar-a-Lago, at Trump Tower – that’s his thing. Bragging about it, even though he has been laying off federal workers since he got there, and has now shut down the government.
Nobody’s getting paid but he continues to brag about demolishing the East Wing of the White House for his $250 million ballroom, which he expects to get payment for. He’s working on a scam there. So, it’s not like he’s tone-deaf. He’s just like, “Yeah, I deserve all of this and I’m Trump. So you’re going to go along with it. Nobody’s going to care.”There’s nothing for the press to uncover. “Here you go. ‘Here’s the corruption. I’m doing it. Deal with it.’”
I think the key part is that they are doing well. We know how the economy went in the 1920s. But the bet that Trump and his family and his allies have made is that they’re going to be just fine. They’re the ones who are shorting stock every time Trump announces a new ridiculous tariff. They’re the ones that are going to benefit when the AI bubble finally bursts. They’re the ones who are benefiting from this huge deal with Argentina to bail them out. You have [Treasury Secretary] Scott Bessent and his friends doing quite well with all of this.
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Susan Demas: There’s been some chatter amongst us in the Lincoln Project – we chat all the time about numbers because we’re big geeks – about how the polling in ‘24 underestimated the Trump vote and how that was the big story. They were pretty accurate but there was still an undercount. What we’ve seen is a pattern where some of these infrequent Trump voters, they tend to stay home when he’s not on the ballot and I’m just wondering – is that hopium, what are we thinking for the races [on Nov. 4]?
Andrew Wilson: I feel like we saw it with the elections in 2018 and other times throughout the Trump presidency when he’s not on the ballot, Republicans don’t perform as well. 2022, Democrats lost seats in the House but it was not the ‘Red Wave’ that they were all predicting. A lot of that had to do with Trump’s Record.
We’ll talk about Virginia in a minute, but if you recall, whomever the president is (through Biden and Trump) this first election in your first year, Virginia especially, is often a referendum on the president. And Donald Trump can’t keep himself out of these races. When races become nationalized, there’s negative polarization and the fact that MAGA voters are probably not as excited since Trump’s not on the ballot.
Read more of the discussion here.
Election Night Special | The Strategy Session with Rick Wilson, Stuart Stevens, Joe Trippi & Steven Beschloss
On Election Night 2025, Trump’s polling was underwater – by a lot. Before and through the election, the president was throwing a temper tantrum on Truth Social as Democrats racked up wins in New York, New Jersey, Virginia, and elsewhere. Steven Beschloss joined Rick Wilson, Stuart Stevens, and Joe Trippi for this Election Night Special of The Strategy Session.
Joe Trippi: One of the things that Matthew Dowd talked about when Stuart and I talked to him is that early tonight, when they start doing the exit polls, look at Trump’s favorable/unfavorable tonight because it’s worse than it was a few days ago. In other words, what that shows you is that the people who are voting are more unfavorable to him, are voting, and the people more favorable are not voting.
Stuart Stevens: One of the interesting things to me is the comparison of the bench strength of the two parties. So tonight you’re going to have two female veterans from the national security arena who are going to get elected governors of two very big states and seem to be very good candidates and very likable – and I don’t know anything comparable.
Rick Wilson: We are looking at a deeply unpopular president. Let’s put that slide up. His approval rating, he’s disliked by two-thirds of the country. This is a hard number. The CNN poll that’s out today that’s making so much news and driving Trump so crazy is even worse, if you can believe it. These numbers show that he’s the least popular president in the modern era. He has reached a moment where, with 63% disapproval in today’s CNN poll, he’s really set the stage for tonight across the country, hasn’t he?
Stephen Beschloss: Yeah, it’s a referendum on Donald Trump. At least I hope it demonstrates that all of the anger that is out there in the country – for a whole host of reasons – translates into voter turnout and passionate engagement. That we see not narrow victories, but significant ones, in New Jersey where it’s a really tight race with a candidate who is better than usual from the GOP – which has the effect of pulling in people who may not otherwise.
I think it’s really an important indication of – are we going to actually have the expression in the polling booths, the anger that exists in the country, or not?
Read more of the discussion here.
Dems Sweep Election Night | Rick Wilson LIVE with John Avlon
After much anticipation, Election Night 2025 turned out to be a sweeping victory for Democrats and democracy. Zohran Mamdani became the youngest and first Muslim mayor in New York City history while affordability and authenticity emerged as political currency for 2026. In one of Lincoln Square’s biggest Live’s of the year – John Avlon joined Rick Wilson LIVE to discuss.
John Avlon: New York has historically done well with tough mayors and in a time like this toughness and ability to build are an asset. There are going to be sky-high expectations and fawning coverage for Mamdani. But, it is an executive position, and mayors – it’s a non-ideological problem-solving position.
So if you have a very ideological crew come in, that could be a real challenge. If he keeps [NYC Police Commissioner] Jessica Tisch, if he appoints really responsible people for stability… That’s going to be a very important test to see whether he follows through on her word, whether she chooses to reciprocate and what kind of deal is eventually made.
Rick Wilson: I’ve said this a lot about Mamdani, there is no deputy mayor for the means of production. There is no ideological thing when a building collapses. There is no ideology when a firefighter gets injured and the mayor goes to the hospital in the middle of the night. There is no ideological component to a school roof collapsing somewhere. All of those things are going to happen every day. One of our old friends, Joe Lotto, one time said to me, something to the effect of, “Every day in New York, there’s some goddamn disaster somewhere and the mayor better be there.” And I hope Mamdani will take that to heart and be out in the city and not get high on his own supply of people saying, “You’re the future president; run for president.” Because there will be people saying he should run.
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I say this a lot to our Democratic friends, “Find people that fit the place. Find people that work in that place.” [Mikie] Sherrill and [Abigail] Spanberger tonight really showed you something, guys. And I also think one of the things about staying out of the culture war trap – in the case of Spanberger in particular – they ran the trans campaign against her again this year. They took the same old toolbox from last time. And to her credit, Spanberger was like, “Get the hell out of here. I’m here to talk about jobs, the economy and education. Stop it.” I think that may have gone through its last big iteration because as much as it was successful for Trump, I don’t know that other candidates can pull it off – and I don’t know that voters really give a damn.
Read more of the discussion here.
What Just Happened? The Joes Make Sense of Last Night’s Election Results
Lincoln Square’s Two Joes, Trippi and Klein, discussed election results and whether they can translate into a Blue Wave in the 2026 midterms. Will California’s redistricting help or hurt? How much can Zohran accomplish? Political strategist Joe Trippi and political writer Joe Klein dive into all of that and more in this week’s Two Joes.
Joe Klein: The other thing I’d like to say about Mamdani is this: He sure as hell brought out the vote in New York. Two million people voted in the mayoral election, the most since 1969 and 1969 was a huge year where John Lindsay lost the Republican line, ran as an independent member of the Liberal Party, and won a decisive victory.
I think Mamdani’s victory is going to be fascinating to watch because he didn’t give an inch in his speech last night. And when I look at the commentators on TV, one of the guys I trust most who always comes right out of his guy and not talking points is Van Jones on CNN – and he was very critical of Mamdani’s speech. He said it was a lost opportunity to bring the one thing that Spanberger and Sherill emphasized, ‘all those folks who didn’t vote for me, we’re going to win you over. I’m going to govern for you, too.’ and Mamdani might have mentioned that in passing, but it was certainly not the thrust of his speech.
Joe Trippi: I mean the whole thing of let me never utter Cuomo’s name ever again. I mean it was just – I agree. I would agree with Van, it was a lost opportunity, I think. It’ll be interesting to see once he looks at some of these numbers, if he understands that he needs to broaden out with his message. In the end, it was affordability across the board everywhere. I mean, that’s why those public service commission seats in Georgia, the races were about the incredible rise of electric prices in Georgia.
Read more of the discussion here.
Americans Don’t Like Being Dumped On: The Blue Wave Sends a Message to Trump | The Tim & April Show
Tim, April, and Maurice Mitchell break through the myth of real change requiring choosing between weak or crazy. They discuss The Working Families Party and their approach to a redesign of power where voters stop renting their voice to parties that no longer serve their best interests.
Tim Whitaker: The people spoke, so I’m definitely excited. But friends, we have a lot of work today. That’s why Lincoln Square is doing their work. That’s why The New Evangelicals, the show that produces The Tim and April Show is doing their part to be part of the change. We have a lot of work to do. So take this as a wind in the sails to our destination of liberation for all and not as, ‘okay, we can stop now.’ No, absolutely not. Now is the time to push harder.
April Ajoy: I do think that is very true. This does not mean the fight is over by any means because look who’s still controlling the federal government right now. I do think we should celebrate and take our wins where we can get them. And I do think, if anything, I’m very encouraged because obviously I don’t believe this blue wave is because people just love Democrats. It’s because people are tired of Donald Trump and the MAGA movement and their inhumane policies and skyrocketing prices and tariffs… Claiming he’s stopped all these wars he’s also involving himself in. It’s just a lot that he’s doing. We’re gonna get into this weird great gatsby party that he threw over the weekend, which feels like an eternity ago, and it hasn’t even been a week.
Read more of the discussion here.
A Joyful Election Night, FINALLY | Punching Up with Maya May & Kristen Toomey
Maya May perfectly embodies the joy and relief that we all felt after Election Night. Maya was joined by actress and comedian Kristen Toomey on this week’s episode of Punching Up to discuss everything that went down and what those victories mean for the people and the Democrats who now have to deliver.
Maya May: I want to run through the crash outs (after Mamdani’s victory). Who doesn’t think it’s fun, is 50 cent, who posted this. RIP NYC.
Kristen Toomey: I think he’s in a higher tax bracket now, obviously – so I guess that tracks if you’re a billionaire or working on becoming one shortly. Then yeah, he’s not the guy for you.
Maya May: And then there’s Tomi Lahren. She’s like, “After y’all finish totally screwing up your blue cities and states, you’ll decide to flee to our great red cities and states with your…” Kristen, do you think people are going to flee to the countryside? Are people fleeing to Alabama from New York? What is a great red city? I don’t know what she means by that?
Kristen Toomey: I know a lot of the cities are blue dots in a red state, but I don’t know a red city. Moscow? That might be the one. They’re probably all going to Moscow. I think that might be it.
Maya May: This one cracked me up. George Santos.
Kristen Toomey: Didn’t he just get out of prison? Shouldn’t he be in a better mood? You would think he would be a little grateful to be in the wide open air… I mean, he’s filled with hate and bitterness and he just got pardoned, unbelievably.
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You know, what’s so funny is every time they speak, they’re talking about themselves. You know, it just never fails. It’s like they’re talking into a mirror. Obviously he’s terrified because this is an indication of what’s going to happen next year. They know it and they’re cooked.
And they will impeach Trump because he’s done so many impeachable things. He’s broken so many laws at this point they of course that’s what’s going to happen as soon as they have the numbers to do it, period. And so he’s(Trump) not wrong. That’s probably the first time I’ve heard him tell the truth. Even the chyron at the bottom of the screen said ‘Dems are gaslighting America’. And obviously we know that’s not the case. I’m starting to wonder, are they now thinking, “yeah, we’re going to have to face accountability”
Read more of the interview here.
ICE Raids … Daycares?!?! | Protect & Serve with Michael Fanone & Maya May
Lincoln Square’s dynamic duo is back with another episode of Protect & Serve, the weekly show where Maya May and Michael Fanone dive into all things law enforcement and the public. This week they discuss ICE’s raids of a daycare in Chicago where a woman was ripped from the building and arrested.
Michael Fanone: People ask me all the time, why is it that I stay engaged. Why is it that I continue to stay in the fight despite being disappointed so many times? And one of the reasons is this abuse of authority that’s being perpetrated by this agency – ICE and Customs and Border Patrol.
Obviously, it’s personal to me as someone who was a police officer for 20 years. I’m in it until this organization, this agency, has been completely dismantled and deconstructed and that individuals who committed crimes while wearing the badge are held criminally accountable. That leadership is held criminally accountable. But, I think that going forward – there cannot be an ICE or Customs and Border Patrol as they exist currently. They need to be completely disbanded.
And I think that the vast majority of the individuals involved should never wear a badge anywhere else in this country ever again.
Maya May: I have to say, I agree with you on that because it does feel rotten to the core – to participate in this level of cruelty. Regardless of what their actual feelings may be. Maybe people are acting against their own morals right now, but the fact that they’re also willing to participate
in this level of cruelty? It’s just not good for the country.
I said this during the 2022 midterms, I said this in 2024 – if you don’t like diversity, you have no business leading in America or being in any kind of leadership role because we are a diverse nation. Period. And nothing is going to change that. And this administration seems to think that, “Oh, we’re actually going to change that by removing every single brown person that’s here” and importing white people from South Africa.
Michael Fanone: That was my understanding that America was a country that celebrated its diversity, regardless of what political party you were involved with. I always look to Ronald Reagan, who is somebody who I disagreed with on quite a bit of things – but despite that, this is a person who in leaving office, gave a speech in which he talked about celebrating America’s diversity. That diversity is what makes us strong as a nation, and I do agree with him on that. But I also recognize now that there’s a whole hell of a lot of people in this country that want to return to the ‘good old days’ of a white male dominated society and really do aspire to be a white supremacist nation. And that’s very real. It’s right out in the open.
Read more of the discussion here.
Going from Obama to Trump: How Did America Get Here? | Susan Demas & Pulitzer Prize Winner Paul Starr
Susan Demas sat down to speak with Pulitzer Prize winner Paul Starr about his new book American Contradiction: Revolution and Revenge from the 1950s to Now. Starr traces how a nation of liberty and bondage keeps reliving tension of race, class, and power. Trump didn’t invent backlash, but he perfected the language and weaponized it to awaken a population.
Susan Demas: You argue that America’s divisions stem from an enduring contradiction between a changing people and a resisting nation. Can you talk with us a little bit about how you think that contradiction manifests itself today?
Paul Starr: Let’s start with the basic premise of the book that the United States was born in a contradiction between freedom and racial slavery – and the legacies of racial slavery continue. We live with them.
But what I argue in the book, and this book is a history of the country since the 1950s to now, we were in the mid 20th century gripped by a series of movements – beginning with the Black struggle which challenged the old hierarchies of American life. I argued that Black people were in a way a model minority not in the same sense as Asian Americans but a model minority for contesting old forms of social subordination. They became a model for other ethnic and racial groups that hadn’t been given equal rights and equal respect. But, also a model for the women’s movement, for the gay rights movement.
Questioning and challenging these old bases of subordination in American life – it’s not surprising that that set off a reaction and triggered a backlash. What I’m arguing in the book is it’s more than a backlash. It’s a kind of fundamental disruption. To use a phrase from the book, the idea we have had a changing people in a resisting nation – and by a changing people, I mean that we’ve had changes in the way people think about themselves, about their identity, about their rights – we’ve had infusions of new immigrants, we’ve had younger generations (particularly women), who have different ideas about their lives from the ones that their parents or grandparents had. So there’s these enormous changes in the American people.
But on the other hand, we have a kind of resisting nation. We have a nation with institutions – our Constitution dates from the 18th century. In many ways it’s very difficult to amend. We have a Supreme Court, which in the mid-20th century sought to advance revolutions in rights and race and gender – but today has reverted to the idea that we need to stick with the original meaning – with the history and tradition of the constitution – a period when Black people and other racial minorities and women didn’t have any say in politics.
This is the clash, I argue. And it’s a contradiction between a changing people, a resisting nation, and a nation with entrenched institutions that have made it very difficult to adjust or to change. A lot of people are scared of the changes that those movements set in motion.
Read more of the interview here.
Cheeto And Reagan’s Rugged Individualism
WE the People are a community who help one another out when each other are in need WE see this moral principle as living in a society who help those in need
WE the People want helpfulness not hopelessness WE the People want our power back after the the Nazi/GOP is trying to take away nutritional assistance and supplemental health insurance premiums for Obamacare/Affordable Care
What started this moral issue was Reagan who claimed the fictional welfare queen a millstone around the government's neck which was meant to charge the GOP electorate But Hollywood cowboy Reagan and B actor pushed the image of rugged individualism This approach is antithetical to community It’s okay if billionaires get a tax break because they can afford to be a rugged individual But for the rest of us?
Cheeto took the rugged individualism a step further As a malignant narcissist he doesn’t care about anybody else but himself, the real rugged individual