Jim Antle, the magazine’s executive editor, brings to life the pages of the Washington Examiner magazine in the show Inside Scoop. Each episode features exclusive insight from the article authors and expert analysis.
Since a swath of past anti-Trump characters have lost Democratic primary bids, Antle breaks down what the new Democratic Party could look like. Antle says many of the “Resistance figures” lost to a socialist Democratic primary opponent.
“The resistance wanted to return to pre-Trump political norms, whereas the socialists want to overthrow those norms entirely,” Antle said. “The resistance was horrified at a visceral and emotional level by Donald Trump, whereas the socialists have a sort of grudging admiration for Trump’s ability to overthrow his own political party’s establishment. They would like to do the same thing within the Democratic Party and are starting to have some success at doing so.”
Antle warns the change could have consequences for Democrats’ ideology and leadership within their own party.
“But they are also more radical, and they want to overthrow, in addition to the political and social order, the existing economic order,” Antle said. “They are to the left not only of Bill Clinton on economics but also Barack Obama, and they threaten the positions of the existing Democratic leaders in Congress.”
Next in the show, Antle speaks to Jay Caruso about his article on Vice President JD Vance’s recent economic departure from the free-market traditions.
“Vance has kind of morphed into this position now, where he is advocating a more significant role for the federal government in the economy,” Caruso said. “The only difference with him is that it’s kind of a situation where it’s good as long as it benefits the right people.”
From there, Caruso argues Vance’s “Hamiltonian” turn isn’t just a personal shift but a preview of a larger fight inside what Republicans’ economic policies will look like heading into 2028. Caruso says one of Vance’s ideas being floated for working parents is if the mother stays home to raise the children, then they would get a $9,000 subsidy paid for by taxpayers.
“Some conservatives have called this Republican socialism, basically big-government conservatism,” Caruso said. “The results of these policies, they always sound good on the surface. But essentially, what happens is that consumers are the ones that wind up getting hurt.”
President Donald Trump’s promise to give people $5,000 if Republicans win in November brings with it an array of logistical and political challenges.
“Going through Congress to get the $5,000 payments enacted would take an enormous amount of political capital,” economic reporter Zach Halaschak said. “That is because the national debt just hit $40 trillion while inflation is already rising. The optics of adding to that at a time when bond yields are up and interest rates are high would be damaging to the economy, something lawmakers don’t want to have tied to them.”
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Halaschak also adds there are broader structural economic concerns at play, which would make it difficult for Congress to pass such payments. For instance, Social Security and Medicare are heading to must-act deadlines in the coming years.
Tune in each week at washingtonexaminer.com and across all our social media platforms to go behind the headlines in the Washington Examiner’s magazine show, Inside Scoop.