Political strategists react to ICE drawdown

Sometimes, they get confused in this city.

Or visual problems, actual problems. And so this falls in the category of yes, it is both. So a softer touch, well, you're stepping all over your own message right there. The reality is look, some proactive things are being done to deescalate the situation by the administration, which need to be done. I think all sides agree with this. There seems to be a less contentious environment in Minnesota.

But you're dealing with something that has internal tension within the Trump base.

Yeah. They do not want the president or Tom Homan to sound like they're apologizing or backing off. Yeah. Look, this is a tough spot because the worst part of this for the administration, this is his one bulletproof, go-to issue that no matter what else is wrong in the world, we can go back to secure the borders, round up the criminals, get them the heck out of here. And now, because of very poor management of the situation-- And tragedies on the ground in Minneapolis. Right. It is not a winning political issue on top of being a tragic situation. Kendra.

Well, I was just going to say, this is a terrible situation. We all agree with that. The one issue that Trump really won the election on, I guess, two, was affordability and the immigration border. And we have now seen what he has done in Minnesota. That is going to help Democrats win the election in the fall. We saw what has happened in Texas already with the State Senate race, where in one county, it was flipped 31 points already by a Democrat. We had Taylor Rehmet on this very program talking about that. That is because people are really angry across the country about what is happening in Minnesota.

Interesting, though, I asked him about that. He said it was school issues. It was really important that-- proving to me something we all know. All politics is local. It really matters what you talk to people about and how you talk to them about it, which was interesting, to me. I thought he would say something relating to affordability or ICE. He said it was schools. Schools in that particular area. I think in Texas, in general, though, you're going to see what's going to happen. This is going to circulate. Correct.

I want to play for you part of an ad that has surfaced today about Derek Dooley, who is running for Senate in Georgia. This is a Democratic rejoinder, Derek Dooley talking about himself. It's all there. Watch it.

And let me tell you, in football, we have a saying, your film is your resume.

Dooley's career at Tennessee lasting just 36 games. His record, 15 wins, 21 losses. The Vols have lost three straight games. And if you have Twitter, Derek Dooley's name has been trending.

I'm not in a position to defend what we're doing, make a case for what we're doing. It goes on and on. There's quite a highlight, actually, low light reel about this. So I guess when you open the door, you can maybe fairly expect your opponent to walk through, if it's one worth walking through. Yeah. Look, it's-- good TV is good TV. And-- You would rate that as good TV? I would rate that as good TV. And it's something that-- look, if you can make your point and be humorous and use levity to do it, I think, it goes a long way in this political environment.

And, Kendra, people who are doing other things in life that are not applicable necessarily or routinely to politics are getting involved in politics now. So if you have a resume that's non-political and it's not so shiny as you might represent, then you're going to be kicked over it. Especially in states like Georgia.

SEC. Everybody loves the football. I don't understand, though, why he had the Atlanta Braves sign behind him for baseball.

I got to tell you, the part that's going to cost him the most votes is the Tennessee part. Yeah. Actually, some Georgia voters might be OK that Tennessee was losing under him. But that's a bigger issue anything else. So the president said yesterday that because he's not in any political problem, he doesn't perceive, about what's been disclosed thus far from the Epstein files, the country ought to move on. British government is not moving on. The Polish government is not moving on. Lots of other people are taking this much more seriously, it appears, than the White House. Is that a political liability, Kendra, potentially? Well, I am on the side of getting Justice for survivors. And clearly, this government is not on that side. There are a lot of things they should be doing and can be doing by taking some sort of accountability for mess ups in the past. The fact that they put these files out with names unredacted to begin with, they should be not going out there on Sunday morning television and on their television saying, it's done, we're out. We're not doing anything else. Do something for these children who were raped by Epstein and a lot of other people. There were a lot of things that they put out there. Some of those emails are very damaging, and I don't understand why they're still not going and investigating and talking to those people.

Kendra and I agree on a lot, and first, agree that this is horrific for those victims, and it has been. But this stopped, for better or worse, largely for worse, being about those victims, about the release of the files. Releasing the files was never for the victims. It was a political maneuver, that on the front end, Republicans pushed aggressively while Democrats were in power, and then realized, got to power and said, jeez, this is going to be not real great for victims and everyone else involved. And miraculously, at every anti-ICE protest and every other left-leaning protest, there was "Release the Epstein files" by Democrats. So this has been used as a political football by both sides and the real victim-- From your perspective, to the detriment of the victims. 100%.

Terry Sullivan, Kendra Barkoff Lamy, always a pleasure. Thanks. Thanks.

Grab some candy on your way out.