In this Substack Live, David Pakman talks with former Trump deputy press secretary Sarah Matthews about what it looks like inside Trump world when the president’s health and competence become a political problem. Drawing on her experience during Trump’s COVID hospitalization, Matthews explains how staff were misled and in turn misled the press, all in service of protecting Trump from any perception of weakness. She argues that the same instincts are visible now in the strange explanations for his hand bruises, light schedule, and on-camera lapses, and that Trump’s tightly controlled inner circle and compliant doctor make a long-running health cover-up entirely plausible. At the same time, she’s candid about her own regrets over defending Trump in the first term and how those regrets have shaped her more outspoken posture today.
The conversation then shifts to the Vanity Fair profile of Trump chief of staff Susie Wiles, whose comments about Trump’s behavior the White House is now trying to wave away as “out of context.” Matthews notes that everyone involved knew it was on the record and predicts Wiles will get a quiet warning rather than be pushed out, since Trump both relies on her and is reluctant in this second term to admit hiring mistakes with splashy firings. From there they zoom out to a Republican Party that’s starting, slowly, to tire of Trump: elected Republicans are more willing to criticize him as his policy promises go unfulfilled and his online cruelty, like the Rob Reiner post, turns off even some loyalists. Looking ahead to 2028, Matthews is skeptical that J.D. Vance can authentically inherit the MAGA mantle despite tech money and the VP slot, and says her own hopes lie with more civil, center-right figures such as Utah governor Spencer Cox—while acknowledging that someone like Marco Rubio is a more likely compromise choice in the party as it tries to move beyond Trump.
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