Meet the Press NOW — October 22

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1:10Welcome to Meet the Press Now. I'm Kristen Welker with just 12 days to Election Day. President Trump is heading to battleground Iowa with his party facing a darkening political environment driven in part by voters' pessimism about the economy. A new poll shows 80 percent of voters rate the economy as just fair or poor, which is a new high since the president retook office. Just 34 percent approve of the president's handling of the economy. That's an all time low for the survey, which goes back to the Obama years. It comes as fuel prices remain high eight months into the Iran war. Oil and gas are up more than 40 percent higher than before the war, with diesel over 60 percent higher.

1:50Speaking in South Carolina last night, the president promising those prices will fall soon and highlighting what he says are a few economic bright spots. Interest rates are very soon going to be falling, just like oil, gas. Everything is going to be. We watch what's going to be happening very soon. The stock market has set 88 all time record highs since the election, less than two years ago.

2:18and your 401ks are exactly double so nobody can be upset with me from this room but income for hard-working americans has soared to the highest level ever recorded no this is an amazing period of time and more americans are working today than at any time in the history of a country Any minute now, the president is set to depart the White House for the next stop on his multi-day campaign swing, Battleground Iowa. Republican Senate candidate Congresswoman Ashley Hinson is expected to attend tonight's rally after distancing herself from the president on some issues in her race against state representative Josh Turek.

3:00My colleague Tom Yamas caught up with both candidates as they campaigned in the state yesterday. Why should voters trust you that you're going to vote against President Trump or not work with him when he does something that you don't agree with? When a lot of times you have voted for him and you voted to go into this war with Iran. Yeah, well, I think President Trump would tell you if you talk to him that I'm kind of a pain and the you know what, because I do. When I call him, I'm always advocating for something for Iowa. And I'm not afraid to tell him when he's right or when he's wrong for my state.

3:28She told me what she disagrees with when it comes to President Trump's policies. What do you disagree with when it comes to national Democrats? Oh, good question. I think that the Biden administration did not do a particularly good job on the border. And I've said I don't agree with President Trump on everything, but I agree with him that we should drive private equity out of housing. And I think that we should have no tax on tips over time and Social Security. The president also looming over other key Senate battleground debates last night in Michigan. Republican Mike Rogers and Democrat Abdul Al-Sayed faced off in their second and final debate with al-Sayed repeatedly trying to tie Rogers to the president's policies.

4:07And you are also embarrassed of the fact that you cannot win this race without Donald Trump coming here and stumping for you. That's why you begged him to come. This is what you're going to get. Donald Trump policies. If you like the way things have been for the last two years, this is what he wants. It's not working for any of us. This kind of chaos just doesn't work. He wants to make this about Donald Trump. I mean, the bingo game ought to be how many times can he put the word Trump in any answer, any answer that he has given in the last whatever, 30 minutes. It's ridiculous. This is really about the best way forward for Michigan.

4:38Sparks were flying there. Meanwhile, the dilemma for Republicans between distancing themselves from an unpopular president while also trying to fire up his base to turn out the vote was on full display in the battle for Senate in Kansas last night. with Senator Roger Marshall embracing the president during a debate against Democrat Adam Hamilton. We need the Trump voters to come out, and that would be my appeal tonight to people. If you want the Trump agenda to continue, if you want secure borders, if you want a strong military, if you want lower taxes, and you voted for President Trump, you need to come out because we delivered on those things.

5:14Whether it's diesel fuel prices, whether it's the tariffs and the impact tariffs are having on farmers, Folks are recognizing it's, you know, it's it's what's happening in the southwest part of the state right now. People are crying out and saying, come on, Roger Marshall, speak up for us. I'm going to speak up for us. He says he speaks up for us. But the president doesn't seem to listen to what he has to say. Joining me now from Iowa is NBC's Maggie Vespa. Henry Gomez has new reporting on that critical Michigan Senate race. And Steve Patterson has the very latest after visiting another battleground state, Alaska.

5:42Maggie, let me start with you. You're right where the action is, that rally where we expect President Trump will be heading in just a little bit. What are you going to be watching for tonight? Yeah, Kristen, we're going to be watching for how and whether to the degree to which he tailors his message to Iowa specifically, a state where, again, the struggles of farmers, and we've talked about this in the last few weeks, has been so top of mind for a lot of people. And you heard Tom ask GOP Senate candidate Ashley Hinson, who's now in a toss-up race in a state the president won by more than 13 points two years ago.

6:16You heard Tom ask her, you know, you voted in favor of a number of policies that have been incredibly unpopular with people here in Iowa, in large part because of their impact on agriculture, and that includes continuing the Iran war and continuing the president's tariff. She's voted in favor of those close to half a dozen times. So you've heard her in recent weeks try to say, which you said to Tom, that she pushes back on the president, that she brings Iowans concerns to the White House. But there has been pushback from her opponent, State Representative Josh Turek, that your votes don't show that.

6:47She has tried to distance herself a little bit from the president, kind of in that tightrope walk of away. So we'll see how he speaks about her tonight. We'll see how he speaks about her opponent. And he really hasn't gone after Josh Turek very much on social media or otherwise leading up to now the way he has other Democratic opponents in other really razor thin margin states. And so this might be a little bit of debut for his sort of attack plan in this one, Kristen. Yeah, absolutely. And it's also, I think, going to be interesting to listen to what he has to say about the economy, Maggie. As you saw me lay out at the top of the show, his approval rating on the economy is in a really tough place right now.

7:26But he's been touting the economy as a strong suit. Do you think we're going to continue to hear that kind of rhetoric from the president tonight? It would be shocking if we weren't, but it'll be interesting to see how he tailors it to that particularly vocal group, farmers in Iowa and those who kind of identify with that industry here in this incredibly agriculture, agribusiness heavy state. That's been something we were on last week, Kristen, talking to farmers in this state who said that, you know, that was already an industry that was in trouble. But now they really blame those two particular policy choices.

8:01A lot of them do from the president. Again, the Iran war and the tariffs were kind of attacking them on both fronts financially. There was the phrase last week being thrown around by Turek, by the Democratic nominee in this Senate race that there's a farmageddon happening in this state, that farm foreclosures are skyrocketing among the top in the country. And so to see how the president, again, kind of the same thing, walks that tightrope without disregarding that will be really interesting. Yeah, absolutely. And Maggie, I know you have been talking to voters there in Iowa. What other issues are they telling you they care about in this race?

8:37Kristen, a lot of them tell us they care about, from one voter, the toxicity in this race and this broader election cycle. We just came into this space, by the way, so apologies for the afternoon flop sweat here on stage. But earlier today, we were talking to voters elsewhere in Iowa, outside Sioux City, just on our way into town here. And one woman said that in past elections, she's voted both ways. She votes in almost every election. This time around, she said it's gotten so toxic that she's abstaining. Here's part of what she said. Yeah, I think it's toxic between the two races. And it's like I said, it's one commercial and it gets to one person and then against the other.

9:15And it kind of makes you like, I don't even want to vote. I don't care. You're over it. Yeah, I'm over it. Yeah. And you said you voted before. Yes, I have. You're not voting in this midterm election. No, I'm not. Is it is that toxicity a reason why? Yes, it definitely has. She talked about those two races, Kristen. She met the Senate race and the gubernatorial race here in Iowa as well, which is actually edging a few points over on the Democratic side between Republican Zach Lane and Democrat Rob Sand. And she said in both cases, she believes, Kristen, that attack ads are actually working against the campaign that's launched them.

9:51She believes Iowa voters are really turned off by them and just really over this election cycle with a couple weeks to go. Well, it's just a fascinating conversation you had there, Maggie Vespa. Great coverage. I'll be talking to Zach Lane in just a few moments. So thank you so much for setting up that conversation. Thanks for starting off the show. Really appreciate it. Henry, let me turn to you. I know you've got some new reporting about the inroads Mike Rogers is trying to make with black voters in Michigan. Tell us more about that. Yeah, well, Kristen, Abdul Al-Sayed, the Democratic nominee, he won the Michigan primary by a narrow margin, But he lost in Wayne County, which includes Detroit, by about six points to Congresswoman Haley Stevens.

10:31Wayne County and Detroit provide a huge amount of Black support to Democrats in elections. Without a good turnout in that area, it's hard to win statewide in Michigan. So Mike Rogers, the Republican nominee, he has, in recent weeks, been making an effort in Detroit. Over the weekend, he opened a campaign office there. This is something that Republicans hadn't previously had in Detroit throughout the course of this campaign. He showed up at a bar in Detroit, was pouring drinks, was posing for pictures with black patrons in the bar. And his wife, Christy Rogers, showed up at a gas station in Detroit handing out$10 gas cards for free.

11:12Now, these are all efforts that Rogers says, in addition to meetings he's been seeking out with black activists and black leaders in the area, to show that he is a palatable alternative to Abdul Asiyad. But, you know, there's lots of skepticism on the ground there. Rogers, though, you know, it's worth reminding viewers that back in 2024, when he was on the ballot with Donald Trump, he lost the state narrowly. He lost the Senate race narrowly to Democrat Alyssa Flotkin, whereas Trump won Michigan. So this is all about, you know, winning, peeling away at the margins. It's not that Mike Rogers and Republicans think they're suddenly going to win the African-American vote in Detroit or in Michigan.

11:51It's just trying to chip away at that margin and make it so that Abdulaziz has that much harder of a time. Yeah, it certainly is going to be a significant constituency to watch on election night. I want to play a little bit more of this fiery debate last night, the second and final debate. Let's take a look at one more exchange. If you are going to go to the United States Senate, we need to know, are you for America or are you for these terrorist groups overseas? You can grin and you can smile and you can talk real pretty. But I'm going to tell you what, that is a risk to our national security.

12:29He keeps raising this question about this association with an organization I've never been a part of. Because my mom, who's a nurse in Missouri, it doesn't make any sense. And it's actually really quite beneath you, Mike. It's really quite beneath you. Now, Rogers has repeatedly tried to link al-Sayed to the Muslim Brotherhood. And nationally, Republicans have gone even further. Some of them have called him a jihadist. How is that resonating? How is that exchange playing with voters? Well, it's something that they're certainly very conscious of because it's been happening so much. I mean, President Trump has been calling, as you mentioned, Abdul-Sayed a jihadist.

13:05We're seeing him become this sort of main character, not just in Michigan, but in elections nationwide. But on the ground in Michigan, this is something that's, you know, these are, the Republicans are playing this up because it's a sentiment that occurred in the Democratic primary with Haley Stevens. AIPAC spent a ton of money against Al-Sayed, you know, trying to paint him as anti-Israel. And this is just all part and parcel of that. Rogers saw how that was effective in certain pockets of the electorate in the primary. He's trying to peel away votes, not just, you know, in Detroit, as I mentioned, but with Jewish Democrats as well.

13:40So that's the strategy there from Rogers and Republicans. All right. Henry Gomez, thank you so very much. And we are waiting for President Trump to leave the White House, watching to see if he's going to take questions from reporters before he departs. Right now, it looks like he's talking to the visitors gathered on the South Lawn while we wait to see if he takes questions from reporters. Let's see. Is he about to walk over to reporters? It looks like he's coming over to reporters. Let's go to the White House and listen to President Trump taking questions before he departs for Iowa. Mother has not cared for her in about 50 years after her stepdad was diving for raising her.

14:20Why should anyone listen to what the mother has to say? Well, I know nothing about it. All I know is the mother said very bad things about Acton, who I guess is running for governor against Vivek. and all I can say is Vivek is great and I know one thing, if my mother said bad about me it would be a major news story that's for sure, so I don't know what it is but I guess the mother said very bad things about the one who's running for governor and I think you have to take that seriously Is there anything in a campaign ad that should be off limits? I know one thing, if my mother said that about me it would be you would have hit gold you would have been very happy about it So I know nothing about it other than the mother said horrible things about a person that's running for governor of a great state, a great state.

15:11And if it's even a little bit true, you don't want her as governor. Can I ask you about Ukraine, Mr. President? Your president's athlete hit this night in Iowa. She said that the Ramaswamy ad is absolutely terrible and is going to be taken down. Why are you defending it? That's her opinion. I'm defending it because I know that if that ad were about my mother, you would love it. You would love every inch of it. And what's happened is the press has teamed up because he's a Republican and they tried to make it like it's a horrible thing. This is a mother saying very bad things about her daughter.

15:45And I don't know why that should be shielded. The only problem is the press has decided to unify and act like it's a horrible thing. It's horrible for her. And I told Vivek, I said, well, if it were about you or about, especially about me, if Mary McLeod, my mother, Mary McLeod Trump said that about me, you'd have it as your number one story. I'm just praying, Mr. President. President Zelensky said these new Russian strikes overnight are proof that nothing's changed with Putin, that he doesn't want peace. How do you see it? Well, we'll see how it works out. That's been happening a lot.

16:25Any thoughts on how that's going to work out for Governor Krause? Well, I won Michigan by a lot. It's a great state. I've done a lot for them, the Air Force Base and everything else. And I think we're going to do very well in Michigan. I really do. And then you saw what Ilhan Omar said about her brother, who's asked to marry her brother, who said, not to my knowledge. How do you think this team would say no? Well, if you asked me that same question about, let's say, my sister, I would say no. She said, not to my knowledge. That tells you a lot right there. No, she's—I've never been a big fan of hers, I'll be honest.

17:00Let's see how it all works out. But that statement tells you a lot. Did you call Elon Musk back startling from Ukraine? Well, I don't want to say, but I know it was a very interesting situation. So I don't want to comment one way or the other. But my relationship with Elon is a very good one. Go ahead. Yeah, I don't want to comment on it. You know, whether I called or whether somebody else called doesn't make any difference. I guess the bottom line, he put it back.

17:39Any other questions? Go ahead. Say hello.

17:52If they can. Why not do so now, sir? I think if they can do it reasonably, they should settle it. They can't have to just go. But we want to take care of a lot of soldiers. If the soldiers were affected and it was a proper situation, we want to take care of it. We want to take care of our soldiers. You said it was dependent on the midterms results, though. Well, because if we're not there, then somebody else is going to have to settle it. So I can't speak for another administration. So if we do badly or the people that we need surrounding us can't get it done because you have a lot of congressmen up, you have a lot of senators up, you have a lot of people involved in that whole situation.

18:33So if the Republicans don't do well, I would say that maybe they won't get their money.

18:46Well, I have no idea. I don't know the mother. I don't know her. I never heard of her until just recently as somebody running for governor of Ohio. So I can tell you this, if my mother ever made those statements, I have a mother, I had a mother who's up there right now looking down, Mary McLeod Trump, if she ever made statements like that about me, you and your fake station would have it front row center, you'd love it. What's happened is the press has ganged up on a woman making a horrible statement about her daughter. And I don't know why she should be shielded or the daughter should be shielded.

19:22Wait a minute. it. The mother made a horrible statement about the daughter said she was a dirty liar. She said she was a lot of different things. And I don't know why you're not allowed to say that. I know one thing. If my mother who loved me made those statements, you'd be the first one to be broadcasting and you would have found nothing wrong with them. Amy Acton's mother said horrible things about Amy Acton. And I don't know why you're not allowed to do that. You're not allowed to broadcast it. Now, I'll say this, the press is ganged up because you hate it, because that one ad should really win.

20:00Look, what the mother said about the daughter is half right. She has no right even running for the governor of Ohio. What about what the daughter said about that mother? I don't know what the daughter said. I don't know. Her stepmother, her mother remains married. Her stepmother was sexually abused since 12 years old. When did she make that statement? Was it just recently? You know, I have no idea. All I know is Amy Acton's mother said horrible things about Amy Acton, calling her a liar and other things and unreliable. A lot of very bad things. And I say that she's fair game. And I know one thing.

20:38If it were my mother, I'd be fair game. And you know that. And you know that well. You're trying to help Amy Acton get elected. The press has teamed up to help Amy Acton get elected. and that's all it is. What the mother said is terrible from the standpoint that I wouldn't want somebody like that to be the governor of a great state.

21:30The polling company just said that the numbers were fake. And I haven't had an apology from the New York Times, but you saw that polling company. It was a fake poll. And the New York Times uses that polling company. So, to the best of my knowledge, they have not apologized. Are you going to be able to keep the House and the Senate? We'll see. Look, we'll see. What I run, we get almost 50 % more voters. So if I can get my voters out, we're going to win. If we can't get the voters out, I guess not. Typically, the president of, you know, Republican, Democrat, whatever, doesn't do well if it does.

22:12I say this, if my people come out even a little bit, we'll do great. But I think the number is 49 or 50 percent. So when I run, 50 percent more people come out. I guess that's a compliment. I'd like to see if I could get a lot of them out now. If we do that, we'll win easily. It'll end a spot. What's on Maine? What's on Maine? You're going all over the country. Do you have plans to go to Maine with that help, Senator Collins? A number, we're probably going to add a couple. It's a lot of work, I will tell you. It's a lot of travel. But I love the people. We're getting great jobs. They have a line in Iowa that's miles long right now trying to get into the arena.

22:53What are you talking about in Texas? You're spending a lot of money and time in Texas. I think the most amount of money you're seeing in the back of the day. Well, I think this. I think that we have the greatest attorney general running in the history of Texas. and he's running against a guy they call him a freak. I mean, that's his nickname. He is a freak. And Texas cannot have tele-frico. So what Texas has is the greatest attorney general in their history and one of the greatest attorney generals in the country. And that's what you want for your senator. Mr. President, do you have any reaction to the reports that the DOJ is looking at Corey Lewandowski now?

23:31No, I don't know about it. I mean, I heard something about it, but I don't know exactly what it is. All I know is I want my people to be honest. And if they're not going to be honest, they have to be prosecuted. I don't know about specifically, but because I view it, people are not honest. They're stealing from me as president. They're stealing from me. So I want my people to be honest. And if they're not honest, I'll have my DOJ go and do whatever they have to do. You're okay with that investigation, Major? Well, I guess I could stop anything. Look, if my people are not, I have no idea what he did.

24:04I have just heard about it. I want the people that work for this administration to be 100 % honest. Sir, Pali Means resigned today from HHS. Is Baha dead, sir? Don't know her very well at all. I guess you're talking about... Pali Means, Secretary Kennedy's... No, no, it's doing great. Baha, sir.

24:35I would say this. If somebody is dishonest, I consider them not only against the country, I consider them dishonest against me. So I will never do anything to stop a prosecution if somebody is dishonest. How worried are you about the Mississippi Senate race? Why are you going to Mississippi? I'm just hearing about it now from you. What's wrong with Mississippi? Are you worried about losing the seat there? What are the ball numbers? Why are you going? It's a tough race with Cindy Hyde-Smith and Scott Palone. What are the ball numbers? It's tough to say, but they're close. I mean, Cindy Hyde's been very popular.

25:10If I need to, you know, I went to Mississippi. It's like I did just about everything else in a landslide. So if I need to get her over the top, I would go there. She's great. Cindy Hyde-Smith is great. So if I need to go, I mean, I'm pretty well booked up, as you see. But if I need to go, I'd go. Sir, will you only endorse Vice President Vance if Republicans hold the majorities? If Republicans don't hold the majorities, are you not going to endorse Vice President Vance for 2028? Where do you get that idea? Well, you've just said it's way too early to tell. We'll see what happens. I never even thought of it.

25:46No, because we just do. We have too much time to be thinking about that. It's a long way off. Where will you be at election? Has Todd Blanch re-trolled out the Corwin-Lewin-Gowski situation? No, he hasn't. I just heard about it a little while ago. But I want my people to be honest. If he's honest, that's good. If he's not honest, he has to pay a price. And in all this type of, Mr. President, how do you think the Iran war has impacted the races? Well, in one way, they love it, because I'm doing what should have been done by other presidents. And in another way, maybe they don't. There's a price to pay, which I knew immediately when I did it.

26:20But we can't let Iran have a nuclear weapon. I mean, in one way, people probably don't love it. But many people, many great patriots really love it. This should have been done a long time ago by others. Oh, we lost. We may do it a little bit further. And you have been listening to President Trump taking questions from reporters before departing for Iowa to campaign for various candidates there, including Ashley Hinson, who is locked in a tough race with Josh Turek. Monica Alba is standing by for us at the White House. Monica, he covered a lot of ground here. Let's tick through some of it. At the top of the conversation, he was pressed on this ad that has been run by the Vivek Ramaswamy campaign in Ohio, that gubernatorial race, of course, featuring the mother of his challenger, Amy Acton.

27:20She's making all sorts of allegations against Amy Acton, calling her untruthful. Amy Acton has come out. Her family has talked about the fact that she was abused as a child by her stepfather. So really delving into this painful family history. President Trump defending the ad, saying that Vivek Ramaswamy should keep it up. And if his mother made comments like that, you all would love it, he said. Monica, let's start right there before we tick through the other headlines, the bottom line about this ad, it's been denounced by Republicans. It could backfire. Is there concern about that inside the White House?

27:56The Republican governor of Ohio, Republican senators in Ohio, others certainly nationwide have condemned this ad. Kristen, you're absolutely right to point that out. But it's the president and the vice president that are essentially defending its use. The president saying, quote, quote, she's fair game in that making the argument that if anybody had this kind of opposition research or this kind of information about somebody who could include his mother, he said, for example, that any opponent would, of course, use it. He's making the argument that this would be like, quote, hitting pay dirt in order to have a video like this.

28:36Though, of course, we are dealing here with these allegations that Amy Acton's own brother is talking about of sexual abuse from their stepfather. And it is a very, of course, serious matter. And the estranged mother of Amy Acton is making these comments that the president, again, is saying are appropriate when many other Republicans are saying that is not the case. The president will be traveling to Ohio next week. Kristen. He will be campaigning there for Vivek Ramaswamy and John Husted. And we should point out that Senator John Husted in that Senate race has said simply he would not have used the ad, while others are going further than that and saying the ad should be taken down.

29:20Well, Monica, it certainly has captured the political world's attention. Let's talk about a couple of the other headlines we just heard from President Trump. He was asked about the Wall Street Journal report that he called up Elon Musk and asked him to lift the restrictions on Starlink in Ukraine. Didn't really answer that question. He was asked by Garrett about what might happen next in the war between Russia and Ukraine. He said, we'll have to see what happens there. He was also asked about the DOJ reportedly looking into allegations that Corey Lewandowski profited off of his work at the Department of Homeland Security.

29:59He said, He doesn't know anything about that, but he said he wants his people to be honest. If they're not honest, then he wants his DOJ to do what they have to do. I thought that was a really notable exchange coming against the backdrop of Republicans and the president fighting to hold on to control of Congress in the midterms, Monica. That stood out to me as well, Kristen, because he went on to say that even though he didn't know the specifics, that he feels that if anybody is profiting off of his name, they are, quote, stealing from me as president. And that is a sentiment that we have heard before in our reporting over the last year and a half about those in the cabinet or senior aides who, if the president perceives, are sort of cashing in on his name, are ultimately potentially shown the door.

30:45I'm thinking actually of of Kristi Noem, of course, of the former DHS secretary who worked very closely with Corey Lewandowski, but who ultimately it was that massive ad campaign that featured her. That was very, very expensive. That was part of the contributing factors and reasons that she left her post in the cabinet. But that is similar to also what happened just in the last couple of weeks with the former ambassador to Greece, Kimberly Guilfoyle. The president, once he starts to get a sense of people who might be close to him, who might even be in his inner circle, who are potentially taking advantage and trying to profit off of him, that is when he does sometimes draw a line.

31:25So we'll see where that goes from here. But I thought those comments were significant as well, given everything we know about the way the president feels about that topic. I did as well, Monica. Great analysis there. It was also notable the president was asked if the outcome of the midterms would impact whether he endorses Vice President Chady Vance. He said, why would you ask that? And it's too far out to talk about that right now. Monica Alba, thank you so much for your coverage from the White House. We really appreciate it. And we're going to get to much more on that controversial ad by the Vivek Ramaswamy campaign coming up.

31:54But first, we'll head back to the Hawkeye State ahead of President Trump's visit there tonight. My interview with the Republican candidate for governor who trails in the polls next. Stay with us. You're watching Meet the Press Now.

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33:43Welcome back. We just saw President Trump is heading to Battleground, Iowa, as he looks to rally support for a number of Republicans, including to boost Zach Lane and the state's closely watched governor's race. In August, the Cook Political Report moved the race to lean Democrat and recent polling shows Democrat Rob Sand, a state auditor, polling seven points ahead of Lane. Now, we should note that's just outside of the margin of error. Democrats are looking to break nearly a decade of Republican control of the state's executive branch. Joining me now is Republican candidate for Iowa Governor Zach Lane.

34:18Thank you so much for joining me. Thanks for having me on. So President Trump is going to hold a rally tonight in support of a number of Republicans, including yourself, and you're going to be there. What do you want to hear from President Trump tonight? You know, I really we're in my hometown tonight in Sioux City, Iowa. So this is a pretty special time for a kid that's never ran for office before, never been elected to kind of share that stage in my hometown. You know, what I think we're looking for tonight is excitement in the base. That's what really needs to happen here. And Trump does excite the base a tremendous amount.

34:49And we're in northwest Iowa, which is the most Republican heavy part of the state. So we need turnout. We need the energy to be turned up. And I believe President Trump is going to come here and do that. You know, he is dealing with some new lows in his approval rating in terms of his handling of the economy as well. Thirty four percent approve of his handling of the economy. Do you think that his policies have created headwinds for you and other Republican candidates? Look, in any midterm election cycle, there's always going to be headwinds, no doubt about it. But I think we have to take a look at both sides of this.

35:26There are things that, you know, Republicans and Democrats alike are actually quite happy about. Having safer communities by shutting down the illegal border crossings is a very good thing. We had a tremendous amount of that under the Biden administration. But there's headwinds right now. And we know it. You know, President Trump has talked about it. We want to end the war. We want to get this done with. And so we can see these prices come back down. And I'm trusting that that's going to happen soon. Our campaign's been an Iowa-focused campaign, very much so. Keeping our kids here, saving family farms, making education number one in the nation and stopping this cancer crisis we have.

35:57Given that Republicans are in control of all three branches of government, should voters hold Republicans responsible for the current state of the economy? Well, I think if you go back and look under the Biden administration, you know, prices went up 20 percent under Joe Biden. They went up another five percent under Trump, but still way out, way under the pace that was set by Joe Biden. We have an issue in Washington, D.C., where out of control spending and inflation has been occurring for a very long time. I've been attacking this on my campaign directly. But I think that there's there's things that we can say that are very good that are happening.

36:28There's other things we want to change, no doubt about it. But I would say we can't have amnesia here. Well, just to be clear, I mean, inflation was at three percent when President Biden left office. It's higher than that now above three percent. Do you think that President Trump bears responsibility. Does he own this economy? Well, let's just be very clear about what you just said. Collectively, over Joe Biden's four years in office, prices went up 21 percent, 21 percent. But when he left, inflation was at 3 percent. Inflation was at 3 percent, and it's higher now. You can't take away the collective.

37:02That's not how economics works. You can't just say, OK, when he leaves, it's at this number. But during the entire time, it was collectively much higher. We understand that the prices are going up. And yes, we understand that there's issues within the economy, no doubt about it. We want prices to come down. Does Trump own that? Does President Trump own that? Well, I think there's things that he talks about directly on the campaign. He said, look, when the war in Iran's over, the prices are going to come down. We all want that to happen. I've been fairly vocal on this myself. So he's owning what he's talking about in there in his speeches.

37:32Let me ask you about what you are going to do if you are, in fact, elected. Fuel prices have risen dramatically because of the war with Iran. You just referenced it. You've also talked about the fact that you would support a 50 percent suspension of the state fuel tax for the first six months of your term. You would work with legislators to fully suspend the fuel tax when gas prices rise dramatically, you have said. State lawmakers, though, have said in the past that that might take away funds from critical infrastructure projects. Do you think that's a sustainable solution? Are you committed to that?

38:06Well, I think if you look at the full program that we put out, it's very, very sustainable in the sense that right now, where we would get those funds from would be suspending the sales tax exemptions that data centers are getting. Data centers in the state get a full sales tax exemption. We suspend that. We use those funds to replenish the road fund or keep the road fund at parity. And we could do both things by giving people relief. I mean, these multinational$100 billion companies do not need welfare from the people of Iowa. And so I think that we are looking at doing a responsible way. But I'll tell you, we also were instrumental.

38:37I met with J.D. Vance in Council Bluffs four or five weeks ago when he asked, what can we do about diesel prices? And I said, if we can suspend the road use, the on-road use of red dye diesel, we could actually make a big difference specifically for farmers and harvest. So we've been working directly on this. Let me ask you about tariffs. Obviously, that's had a big impact on the folks in Iowa. Do you support the president's tariffs? You know, I support making sure we get fair deals. We've been taken advantage of for a very long time. In 2016, if you remember what people, you know, when Trump was talking about this, people on the ground knew that we were being taken advantage of by China.

39:14Politicians all over the place were saying we have a good relationship with China. And Donald Trump came in and said we're being taken advantage of. Look, we have to be willing to negotiate properly. And I think that there is a place for these types of policies. How we do it is a different story. I'm running for governor of Iowa not to be the president of the United States. And so on my end, I'm trying to break down the anti-competitive barriers that are coming in with monopolies formed in just about every industry. And we're going to bring lawsuits when I'm governor to break these monopolies apart, just like Theodore Roosevelt did.

39:41But I think that, you know, there is things that we could be doing on the state level, you know, in the national level. Look, there's other things the president's working on. He has a complicated job. Let me ask you about some of the president's promises we've seen out on the campaign trail. I think we have a graphic of them here that we can put up. It includes five thousand dollar checks, state specific rewards like settlements for veterans exposed to toxic water at Camp Lejeune. But only if Republicans win the midterms. Do you support the president making those kinds of promises? Are you confident he can follow through on them if Republicans hold on to the House and win in November?

40:20Well, I think the question is, why would he say it is if Republicans win? It's because Washington, D.C. has become so partisan that he knows that even if something's a good idea, he has no support in the Democrat Party for doing some of these priorities. That's the issue. We have partisanship that's taken over in a major way where you can have something that's a good deal. In Iowa, we have this right now. You know, there was bills put forward to define what a man and what a woman is, you know, keep men out of women's sports. every single Democrat voted against them. Partisanship has taken over.

40:50And, you know, our campaign has been very much on nonpartisan issues, keeping our kids in the state, saving family farms, clean water, these things. So I believe we can make definite progress on that. And are you confident that the president can, in fact, implement these promises that he has laid out on the campaign trail, including that, you know,$5 ,000 checks to every American? Let me just tell you this. I would never run for Congress. I would never run for the Senate because Washington, D.C. is a dysfunctional place. I just wouldn't do it. I'm not confident in D.C. no matter who's in charge because it's such a dysfunctional place.

41:21Okay, well, there's your answer. We will be watching tonight. We'll be tracking your race very closely. Zach Lane, thank you so much. We really appreciate your time. Thanks for having me on. And we want to go now to another race. We're watching very closely the race to replace retiring Republican Congressman Elise Stefanik in New York. It is heating up. That's where dairy farmer Blake Jendabina a Democrat, is hoping to pull off an upset and flip a reliably red district as he faces off against Republican candidate Anthony Constantino. It's a district President Trump won by 21 points last election.

41:57But last week, the Cook Political Report moved the race into competitive territory from likely to lean Republican. Joining me now is Blake Jendabean, the Democrat running in New York's 21st congressional district. Thanks for joining me. I really appreciate it. Hey, Kristen, it's great to be here. Thank you for having me on. We're in the Adirondack Park right now in North Creek, where Teddy Roosevelt found out that he was going to have to become the next president. Well, there you go. We'll have to see how that bodes for your race. That's a great detail. Let me ask you, though, because I laid out the stakes at the top.

42:31I mean, this is pretty uphill for a Democratic candidate. What makes you think you can flip this seat? Well, I'm born and raised in the district. My wife and I milk 500 cows. We farm 1200 acres. I'm a different kind of Democrat. I'm a pragmatic reflection of upstate New York in the North country. I'm a high school basketball coach. I was the vice chairman of the board of AgriMark, a billion dollar dairy cooperative that owns the flagship brand Cabot Cheese. That's an elected position by farmers on both sides of the aisle. And we're talking about what matters, the pain that the trade war with Ontario and Quebec is causing uniquely to our district.

43:11Heating oil, that's very difficult for families where the median income is under$40 ,000. And we're losing our health care right before our eyes. These are the main issues that we're talking about. All right. I want to play part of an ad you ran earlier this fall and talk to you about it on the other side. Take a look. Anthony Constantino wants you to think he's running against Zoran Mamdani, but that's a load of bulls**t. I'm Blake Jendabean. I'm a dairy farmer and I know upstate families are struggling with high prices. I'll stand up to anyone, Democrat or Republican, who isn't focused on what's right for them.

43:48All right. So you say you will stand up to anyone. Can you give us one issue where you really see yourself breaking with Democrats if you are elected? Yeah, absolutely. I say this all the time. There is no deep, dark hole in my soul that needs to be in Washington, D.C. I can't take my 500 cows to the White House lawn. I can't turn the ballroom into a milking parlor and a freestyle barn, although I'd like to. So my identity is not in politics. My identity is to take care of everyone in New York's 21st district. We have a large northern border with Ontario and Quebec. And I agree, we need to make sure that that border is secure.

44:29It has to be harder for people to get here illegally. But we also have to streamline the legal process so that our farmers, our small businesses and our nursing homes and our hospitals and our contractors and our foresters have the labor that they need. That's what I'm focused on in this race. On the other side of the coin, do you see an area where you can work with President Trump? Yeah, like I said, absolutely. First of all, I certainly agree with the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act. That was a great decision. and we need to secure the border. We still have a large northern border here and we need to make sure that that is closed.

45:07But we also have to make sure that we streamline the legal process so that we have the labor that we need. And I have an army of farmers in New York's 21st district that are supporting me because we need common sense immigration reform. And when we get that, It will drive down costs at the grocery store. Isn't that the whole point? Well, let me ask you about one of the big debates right now inside the Democratic Party, what to do if Democrats do, in fact, take back the House. One of the big questions is, would Democrats move to impeach President Trump? Where do you stand on this? Would you support impeaching President Trump for a third time?

45:50So we never know what crazy things are going to happen. But right now, I have no interest in a retribution tour. The people in New York's 21st District, upstate New York in the North Country, we need somebody that will repair our relationship with Ontario and Quebec. If you're looking for that, my campaign is for you. If heating oil, gasoline, fuel, fertilizer is too much and sending you into debt, my campaign is for you. And if you're tired of driving an hour for maternity care as a young family, my campaign is for you. Those are the things that I'm focused on for the almost 24 months since we found out that Congresswoman Stefanik was running in November of 2024.

46:35We've been crisscrossing the district. And those are the issues that people care about. And to drill down with you a little bit more on this point, on the Democratic agenda, Leader Hakeem Jeffries has not committed to impeachment, but he did say last week that looking into corruption within the Trump administration would be a, quote, day one priority for Democrats. Do you agree with that? Do you think that looking into corruption broadly should be a day one priority? Would you support that? We have more veterans in this district than any other district in the state. We have more Almost 50 percent of the electorate is over 65.

47:14Inflation is outpacing their retirement plans and their benefits. We could not allow money to be spent on on arches and projects that we have to make sure that we have the resources here for families that have protected our national security for their lifetime. You would support those investigations? I think it's important to hold people accountable for corruption and fraud, because all that does is steal our resources from rural America. And we need those resources to stay here for us. I am a pragmatic voice for hardworking families, farmers, veterans and seniors in rural America. On Hakeem Jeffries, if Democrats do, in fact, win back the House, if you were to win in November, would you vote for him to be the next speaker of the House?

48:04So, Kristen, it's three days away from early voting, and I've got less than two weeks to meet with as many families as I can to hear what their concerns are and tell them what I'm all about. That's what I'm focused on, not a hypothetical vote two months into the future. And if you want to know more about my campaign, you can go to BlakeForNY.com. Well, it might not be hypothetical if Democrats do, in fact, win back the House. And it is one of the big questions. Can you give your constituents a sense of whether you would support Hakeem Jeffries? I will support anyone that wants to help me lower costs in New York's 21st district, save our rural health care and repair the relationship with Ontario and Quebec that we have over 250 year history of trading with to the north.

48:55All right, Blake Jendabeen, thank you so much. Best to you on the campaign trail. Appreciate it. You can dive deeper into the 2026 midterms with access to polling, early vote data, expert analysis and much more exclusive content, all with an NBC News subscription. Just scan the QR code on your screen now or visit NBC News dot com slash subscribe. We'll be right back with more Meet the Press now.

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50:57Welcome back. As you heard earlier in the show, President Trump is strongly defending Republican gubernatorial candidate Vivek Ramaswamy as he faces backlash for his controversial ad featuring Amy Acton's estranged mother. It comes after Ohio's governor, Mike DeWine, who endorsed Ramaswamy, denounced the ad and urged the campaign to take it down. I would just urge the Ramaswamy campaign to take this down. It's just it's just it's just wrong. I think it's, as I said, deeply, deeply, deeply troubling. It needs to come down. It's just wrong to continue to run it. It's just wrong. Joining me now is the panel, NBC News, White House and Capitol Hill correspondent, Julie Serkin.

51:43Corbin Trent, former communications director for Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and Jesse Arm, vice president of external affairs at the Manhattan Institute. Thanks to all of you for being here. Julie Serkin, let me start with you. The backlash continues to grow. And yet President Trump, defiant as he was departing from Iowa, he said, if this was an ad with my mom in it, you all would love it. Basically, he said he thinks Vivek Ramaswamy should keep this ad up. But do you think this is going to backfire politically? I think maybe it could. And I'll tell you why. I was in Ohio twice over the last two weeks.

52:19The first was actually at a rally the president held in Ohio, where I noticed the support for Vivek. I mean, they still had Ramaswamy tsunami shirts on. So you've got to remember how important he was in ushering a new set of voters to support the president in 2024. And the second piece of this is I was also in Ohio speaking with Epstein survivors. And I wonder, given how salient that issue seems to still be in that race, the attack ads from both candidates constantly going back and forth, will this resonate with women, suburban women in particular. I mean, how will they find themselves reacting to this ad and the president's continued defense of it?

52:56I think that's a really good question. Jesse, how do you answer that? Are there concerns within the Republican Party that this could alienate critical women voters who are going to be necessary if Vivek Ramaswamy wants to win? Well, I was also in Ohio earlier this week. And as someone from Michigan, I never enjoy being in Ohio. But the conversations I had with voters there actually didn't suggest to me that this is going to be something that I think is going to fundamentally change the nature of the race. It will absolutely change the nature of media coverage of the race, right? We're going to be talking about this on a lot of these panel shows for the next couple of days.

53:28But a lot of viewers in Ohio will see this play on their airwaves and they may come to the conclusion that like, OK, this woman's own mother doesn't want to endorse her. Maybe I should have second thoughts as well. Now, look, I can say this as somebody who look, if I ever ran for office, I got I got left wing ants who would be rushing at the opportunity to cut an ad talking about what What a douchebag or whatever I am, I assure you. But so, look, would I have done it? Maybe not. But at the end of the day, that's that's the gamble that Ramaswami's campaign took. Yeah. And we'll have to see whether it's more upside or downside.

53:59And Corbyn, it is a gamble. I think it's the right word to use, because in this instance, Amy Acton and her brother fired back and said, look, she was the product of abuse and that the mother was by the at At the hands of the stepfather, clearly Vivek Ramaswamy, yes, was charged, is stepping into a very complicated and what seems like painful situation. And that kind of goes to Julie's point about women voters. How is it going to play, do you think? To me, I don't even think it's that complicated, though. I think it's a morally defunct judgment. It shows a lack of judgment, a lack of character in the candidate.

54:40I mean, to put that on the air, to sit in a room and say, yeah, I'm going to do that. If it turns out to be great politics, I don't really care because it's a terrible judgment call. I don't want that man anywhere near decision making that's going to impact me, my family and my kids. You know, his level of disregard for people and for their, you know, for who they are as human beings, that level of disregard for humanity. I think that's, you know, it's a poor indication of our politics. The reality is we should talk about the room he was probably in when this decision was made. They focus group tested it.

55:10It tested well and it moved voters. Did they probably consider? They knew the bigger story. They knew the allegations. They knew how the Acton team would respond. And they made a calculation. Look, on the flip side, go look at any one of Vivek Ramaswamy's social media posts these days. What you will see in the responses is an army of Gripers, okay? Crazy, young, right-wing kind of psycho people who will be condemning him because he's Indian with all kinds of bigotry. Amy Acton doesn't come out condemning that every single day of the race because she makes a calculation that elevating that would create more problems for her.

55:41She put together an ad clipping all of those things together and saying, do we want this? You know, that would maybe be a comparable. I don't think, you know, Groypers on Facebook are what you would call the same thing as cutting an ad. OK, I mean, well, all right. Let's talk about another big issue. This is you're right. We're going to keep debating this. We're going to keep debating this, I think, until Election Day. Julie, I want to ask you about the debates last night. There was a fiery debate in Michigan. She talked about Michigan between Abdul Al-Sayed and Mike Rogers. And again, you had Mike Rogers with this allegation trying to tie him to the Muslim Brotherhood.

56:20Vivek Ramaswamy, not Vivek Ramaswamy, excuse me, Abdul Al-Sayed saying that that's not the case and saying, look, I am proud to be an American. And you're trying to say that I don't have an allegiance to this country. How do you see this debate playing out in these final days? Well, it's clear you're speaking of focus groups. I mean, Mike Rogers knows that the two things that he might have going for him here if he hits his opponent on that piece, which we know that some voters, different voting groups have been talking about, right, El-Sayed's allegiances or his ties that he has said are not accurate in that debate.

56:54And he said we're beneath the Constitution when Rogers made it at him. But the second piece of this also is Rogers continuously trying to make it seem like El Syed is going to be a communist candidate, someone who's going to drag the Senate to the left. And that is a point that many Republican candidates are making around the country. The same thing happened in Kansas, for example. You had Roger Marshall continuously. I think he brought up Chuck Schumer's name like 17 times during the debate, even though his opponent, Adam Hamilton, said that he would not vote for Schumer for leader if he were a senator.

57:27It just shows you where Republicans think they have the advantage and the scare tactic in telling voters, you might not like me, but will you like the opposite? Yeah. Corbin, how do you see al-Sayed's response to this? Do you think it's enough to turn the page in these final days? He's talking about what our lives are like. He's talking about the fact that we can't afford our health care. He's talking about the fact that housing is expensive. He's talking about getting money out of politics because it's influencing the way decisions are made. and then that is impacting our lives. There's corruption that seems rampant and unstoppable.

58:02What Abdul is talking about is people's lived daily lives. And what the Republicans are talking about all over the place is something else, whether it's, you know, jihadi this or whether it's immigration that, you know, there's not a coherent strategy that's coming from the Republicans about how to fix my life. Jesse, what about that? And the fact that affordability is what people care about, whether it's Michigan, whether it's Ohio, whether it's any of these states. I mean, like, we're hearing from guys who run super PACs talk about removing money from politics being the winning message for this election cycle.

58:34So I don't buy that. I think that Mike Rogers hammered home the message that he needed to last night, which was that Abdul El-Sayed has a problem with telling Michigan voters the truth. He told them that he was never a supporter of defunding the police. And then we produced evidence that he was—CNN produced evidence, rather, that he was a supporter of defunding the police. He tells Michigan voters that he's going to bring their gas prices down. But there are reams of video of this guy talking about how we have to divest completely from fossil fuels. But that's different from this question over the Muslim Brotherhood.

59:00And this, as Julie said, what seems like a stereotype. I mean, he told you that he had nothing to do with the Muslim Brotherhood or suggested to it to you when you interviewed him about it. And then the New York Times confirmed the Washington Free Beacons reporting today that he signed a letter in support of a Muslim Brotherhood crackdown on journalists in Egypt who had a problem with the Muslim Brotherhood. So I think this is going to be an issue for him. And he can't get around the fact that he brought a campaign surrogate to his state that said that America deserved 9-11. There's a lot of voters concerned about the radicalism of Abdul El-Sayed.

59:28And he will bring the Senate to the left if he gets elected. I think he'll bring the Senate to sanity. He'll bring he'll first of all, he'll bring the age way down, but the sanity way up. So you think he'll overperform Jocelyn Benson then? I do. All right, guys. OK, we'll see about that. Bookmark it. OK, we'll have to see what happens. We're out of time. Great conversation. Thank you all, Julie, Corbin, and Jesse. We're back tomorrow with more Meet the Press Now. There's much more ahead on NBC News Now.

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