[00:00:00] John Zogby: we have no idea. what's going to happen at this summit. But what we do know is that the president goes into this summit. extremely wounded.

[00:00:11] Jeremy Zogby: if nothing comes of it, I don't see a collapse or, even a drop in approval rating. But if there is something resolute, I, do see that as momentum that he can take into the midterms.

[00:00:25] John Zogby: We usually talk about that bedrock of support that Trump has about 42% just for showing up.

[00:00:33] he's not attaining that 42%.

[00:00:37] Jeremy Zogby: Now on the topic of the federalization police, I have to ask the question, why Now,

[00:00:44]

[00:00:50] John Zogby: It is another Friday, and that means it's another edition of the Zogby Report. Real polling in real time. And as always, I'm John Zogby, and I'm [00:01:00] here with my son and managing partner Jeremy. Hey J. How you doing?

[00:01:05] Jeremy Zogby: I'm doing pretty well, dad. What's going on?

[00:01:07] John Zogby: So what's going on is the big summit, okay. It has, for the record, has not occurred. Yet will happen later in the day. we're talking right now about 10:00 AM and there's a lot of anticipation, as to whether anything's gonna be resolved. and if so, on whose behalf, if there is any kind of resolution, who wins, who, who loses.

[00:01:34] But for now, it's a very strange situation. Because one of the powers that a president has, is foreign policy, does not have to generally go before Congress, can handle issues himself and can, can resolve issues and build a legacy. [00:02:00] And this is shooting for the moon. He's. meaning President Trump is meeting with one of the three most powerful men, in the world.

[00:02:11] He, of course, is the president of the United States. She is the president of China, but this is Vladimir Putin. And Putin is at war. But this is a troubling thing. we have no idea. what's going to happen at this summit. But what we do know is that the president goes into this summit. I see.

[00:02:36] Think extremely wounded. We just look at our last poll that was taken in late July and we've already discussed a lot of the results, but here are some results that we didn't talk about. We, as the American people will, your financial situation. At home be better [00:03:00] off, worse off, or the same under Trump, 37% said better off.

[00:03:05] 53% said financially they would be worse off. and 31% said much worse off under Trump. Then we asked this key question, which incidentally, I have been polling since Bill Clinton was president. Are you proud or ashamed? that Donald Trump is president of the United States now Clinton w Obama, Biden.

[00:03:36] These are the worst numbers I've ever seen. 36% are proud that Donald Trump is their president. 51% are ashamed. That includes 23% of independence. Who are proud that he's the president. 57% of independents who are ashamed. And [00:04:00] we usually talk about that bedrock of support that Trump has about 42% just for showing up.

[00:04:10] he's not attaining that 42%. Even remember too, he was elected with over 50% of the vote. just less than a year ago, it, it's gone. Is it gone permanently? we'll find out, but it's a hell of a way to go into a summit meeting with the second or third most powerful man in the world. This is truly a wounded president of the United States.

[00:04:44] . Beyond just these numbers, there's serious trouble at home. we have already mentioned that he's getting low marks majorities who disapprove of his handling of every [00:05:00] issue, including immigration. Secondly. We have an unprecedented situation, which is causing people to scratch their heads. , a strong police presence in Washington DC where incidentally, the federal government has control. And just this morning we learned that the US Attorney General wants to appoint, Because she has been ordered to by the president, an actual police commissioner for Washington dc There is a lot of pushback about that.

[00:05:37] And so this all boils down to not only a wounded president, but a very controversial wounded president. And so one has to wonder, what can he possibly do? in a summit with Vladimir Putin, [00:06:00] he's gonna have to win and win big. What would even a victory look like and how does he get home to, the, a real mess that has been created under his watch?

[00:06:15] Jeremy Zogby: the president is wounded in, terms of, numbers, Of course he doesn't have to run for reelection, but at the same token, the mid, the midterms are coming up and he wants to make sure that his party stays in power. But, the backdrop to all of this is intense hyperpolarization. I, do believe that intense hyperpolarization would exist no matter what, although it is intensifying. by some of these things that you're talking about, particularly, the federalization DC [00:07:00] Police. And what we're going to see unfold is going to be very telling how, of both the party and voters mobilize, to fight that. That's something worth watching that could get ugly. going back to the summit, the one observation that I would make is th this is the position of strength that he's actually in. and I would say it's pretty simple that if nothing happens with the summit, I don't think that results in a collapse of further support. The issue of, the war between Russia and Ukraine, geopolitically is an important issue. it comes to voters, it's not something that really stacks in the ranking of issues that drive voters to the polls. We see that, in [00:08:00] the top two question we do every month where we ask what are the top two issues that decide how you would vote? And, I've been putting the language as such, the potential for, global war and then putting in parentheses, Iran. Russia and China, and I haven't seen that go above 11 or 12%. And so that's all to say that what happens geopolitically just does not measure up to the top two gargantuan issues of inflation in the economy immigration in the minds of voters.

[00:08:41] So I'm convinced that if this is a quote unquote nothing, burger. the president doesn't become more wounded. Why that's an advantage is because he actually does, come to some kind of resolution with Vladimir Putin, [00:09:00] that is big. why that would be because we all know with his style how he's going to boast it. he could say, I prevented World War ii. He could say. Look what I did. Joe Biden started the war. I finished it. I told you I was gonna end the war. I did it. What does it look like? I don't know. I, really don't know. What I do know is that, make no mistake about it, if you follow both sides, if you follow all sides of information the reporting of, the, war in Ukraine, you, come to the understanding. That Vladimir Putin did not want this war. He was backed into a corner. He was forced into going into Ukraine because Eastern Ukrainians and Russians were being bombarded by zelensky administration, and so it, it was NATO encroaching on Russia. Dozens of countries [00:10:00] have been brought into NATO with military bases with weapons defense systems. And, weapon re pointed at Russia. He was dragged into the war. He was forced into it. if the two of them can come to some kind of agreement, whether that's a partition of Ukraine, so that the, area acquired by Russia during this war becomes Russian and then there's a neutral zone. Or maybe Kiev goes, independent and, remains Ukrainian. That is a big deal because that essentially does calm things down geopolitically in a very scary, tense moment. So my overall point is if nothing comes of it, I don't see a collapse or, even a drop in approval rating. But if something, there is something resolute, I, do see that as [00:11:00] momentum that he can take to then carry forth into the midterms.

[00:11:04] Now on the topic of the federalization police, I have to ask the question, why Now, it's not it's not like DC has long had problems of, crime, what's really going on there? You hear both sides, you hear. Clinton has said it, it's at all times low. Certain statistics say it's lower.

[00:11:27] Others will say, go back to 2019. If you go back to 2019, it's still on the rise. I asked the question why just now. I, don't know. The, of course, the immediate knee jerk reaction in, the news is because of the Doge worker, who was attacked. is federalization. really the answer.

[00:11:52] And, if it is, does it then need to be, presented as this is [00:12:00] the solution and then New York City and then LA that could be very problematic for the president. And that is something that intensifies this, hyperpolarization that really needs to calm down.

[00:12:14] John Zogby: Okay. I think you have summarized quite well, especially the, the Russian point of view, which, I don't think we've spent enough time understanding. It is part of the Russian, psyche and bloodstream. To respond to potential attacks from the West. Why? Because there have been real attacks from the West for centuries and including.

[00:12:49] the 20th century and a real fear of nato, expansion of NATO as an aggressive force at their door. The desire then for what used to be called [00:13:00] Cordone, sanitaire, around World War I and World War ii. the problem of course is that zone of protection, that Russia has always sought, comes at the expense of real people like Poland, like Ukraine, like the Baltics and so on, who don't favor.

[00:13:24] And striking a deal over Ukraine with just two people present, begs for. Real problem because Zelensky is the elected leader of Ukraine. We're not gonna say whether he is a good guy or a bad guy. He's the elected leader of Ukraine and he is not present. With that said, I guess my big question is, I don't necessarily see a bump for Donald Trump under any [00:14:00] circumstances, but is this enough of a diversion?

[00:14:04] to at least stabilize his numbers because we do know Congress is not in session right now. It will come in after Labor Day and it's prepared to go full guns back on Jeffrey Epstein. is this enough of a diversion? both this and the talk about. The federalization of, policing in Washington DC and I don't believe it is.

[00:14:35] Jeremy Zogby: Yeah, all I can say two things. I'll start with the most recent one and then I'll get back to Russia. But yeah, there, look, there's, all kinds of diversions going on. of course, I, I. Have to say the diversions are going on within, both parties. it's important to follow both [00:15:00] sides to understand where all of this is going. you're, I think it's already been announced that, the DOJ are going to subpoena the Clintons

[00:15:12] John Zogby: Yes.

[00:15:12] Jeremy Zogby: numerous amount of Clinton cabinet members. I'm sorry, democratic Obama cabinet members, holder, Loretta Lynch and of course the intelligence community including Comey, inclu, including Clapper. And so you, you have this Epstein issue, which is not just a Republican. Issue. It's also a very Democrat. It's not just a Republican problem, it's a democratic problem as well. It's gonna boil over into greater hyperpolarization and finger pointing. Meanwhile, the V, the voters lose sight of the fact that the issue is important because we need to see how corrupt to the bone the [00:16:00] Washington DC establishment is on both parties. And then of course, the DNI led by Tulsi Gabbard is coming forth with this. we have evidence that, Obama's intelligence people, accepted the Russian narrative, the, narrative that Russia impacted the elections and had a favorite and hacked our elections. And so all of this stuff is coming to, to a forefront, and it's gonna be very difficult. for both parties, I think to perform well in the midterms. I think what could happen is further exhaustion and lower turnout in general, just because the two parties are at war and they're not really getting to. the heart of, anything by just focusing on these issues in a hyperpartisan sense. I just will go back in, in response to what you [00:17:00] said about the Russian perspective, and, I think, you made a pretty good attempt to understand the psychology, but we have to go further. The Rand Corporation, under the Biden administration produced a paper called overextending. And Unbalancing Russia.

[00:17:20] And if you go to that paper and look at what the key objectives are as early as 2020 or 2021, they lay out exactly the United States starts to do to bring Russia into war. And that is to heavily arm kiev to, to bombard Eastern Ukraine. And if you ask the Eastern Ukrainians and you ask the Russians, they'll tell you that was ethnic cleansing. And so you have to look at those two words, overextending and unbalancing, and understand that means strategically collapsing an empire. we're [00:18:00] reminded when you frame it that way of what the United States under Brezinski did. drag Russia into the Afghan War, and it was a very similar strategy.

[00:18:10] So when you understand that, the State Department, and this just isn't a Biden phenomenon, this is unfortunately a phenomenon in general, are filled with NeoCon Hawks, who, regardless of the administration, want NATO to remain supreme and want NATO to knock out any potential competition that they have, including superpowers. World powers like Russia and China, and it's a terrible thing.

[00:18:38] John Zogby: I can not only cannot argue with that, but let me just express a moment of pride that my son actually read a Rand Corporation paper. You're a better man than I for doing that. And I have heard of that paper, but I haven't read it. and I think you're right [00:19:00] actually. I also don't mean. In any way whatsoever to place the Democrats on a pedestal where they don't belong.

[00:19:11] And the thing among the things that trouble me is that, and I'll say it as bluntly as I can, that the Biden administration, Anthony Blinken in particular, are the deputy butchers of Gaza. and I will never, ever forget that they enabled the ethnic cleansing and the genocide. That's taking place there. so I will not defend, the, I'm a registered Democrat, but I will not defend the Democratic party.

[00:19:41] I also cannot defend the Democratic Party for refusing to take the high ground on the issue of Texas gerrymandering by foolishly and wrongly, proposing. [00:20:00] to put on the ballot, an equally bad gerrymandering program in California and then probably in other states. This is not the Hy Moral Ground.

[00:20:11] This is the hyperpolarization that you're talking about. And I think I'm gonna end on, that note. You get the last word if you'd like.

[00:20:19] Jeremy Zogby: I'm just gonna say that I'm looking at our timer and, we covered, a tor de force of modern history and. contemporary politics in about under 20 minutes. So I think that's, pretty good and we did it civilly. And so I would just ask listeners to please share this podcast because I don't really know of any other podcast comes at this stuff, are this complicated, these complicated events from, two different vantage points. but also does it with a lot of love and a lot of [00:21:00] respect. So if you agree with that like it, please share it. and please write back. You can write to either myself, jeremy@johnzabystrategies.com or my dad john@johnzabystrategies.com. can, find us on SoundCloud, on YouTube, and you can come to our website, john zogby strategies.com. And if you think you know somebody who could benefit from hearing this or even from our analytical viewpoint, please also share.

[00:21:32] John Zogby: Great. Thanks Rand Corporation. Huh? Wow. Okay. Have a good week.

[00:21:38] Jeremy Zogby: They probably need our services.

[00:21:41] John Zogby: Yes, they do. If you're, if, you're watching,

[00:21:45] have a good week.

[00:21:46] Jeremy Zogby: Have a good weekend.

[00:21:49]