unrm have fully employed economies, and might threaten our culture. >> i'm from st. louis, missouri and i would like the p■eresi tae rder?w bse we are getting too many illegals in here,■o ova lot of crime. >> and the main thing i would like to see the president discuss is anything related to gaza and palestine. now. i see people choosing to look at it in one way. >> watch the state of the union address live thursday at 8:00 c-span, c-span now, our free mobile■ or online at c-span.org.

c-spand view of government. we are funded by theseompanies , including cox. >> -- is extremely rare. jdlbut friends don't have to be. when you are connected you are not alone. >> cox suppos c-span as a public service along with these other televisionviront row seato democracy. >> glad to welcome henry olson back to our program. author republican." henry olsen on the future of the republican party. i want to start with your thoughts on senator mitch mcconnell's decision lt■ week to step down as senate republican leader in november. what do you think that means for the future of the republican party? guest: ileader leader

can technically since 2007 but it was t clear he was slowing down by many steps. he is 82 yrss time for him to step down. i think what it will show is becoming more of a maga9@m part, that the senate is one of the last holdouts. but even there, maga friendly or hard maggot- maga caucus. : who will be sitting in that seat at the leadership tabl guest: that is one of the great things that one does ni hope ite tom cotton or marco rubio, someone who is respected on both sides of that divide. it could be somebody who comes out of left field. it could be the young senator from alabama, although she has

only been in the senate a year and a half so that would be a huge jump up. it cannot be somebody who would be a thorn in the side of the leipe point is to get unity, not re-create the dysfunction of the somebody who can be members, and helpgj■][ producer unity by giving the maga members avoice. that is what they should be aiming for and what i think they will get. host: relationship with donald trump shape his legacy? guest: i do think it will be a defining feature■; defining feature of him. i think over the years as he fades from the scene, we will ■uestions, which is, why didn't he use his bully pulpit more effectively to try to educate republicans or steer republicans/3 saw bothonald trump?

most people or the majority republicans think donald trump is a savthe fact is people in wn see a different side of him and mitch mcconnell always kept that quieter, which produced short-term unity but is helping produce long-term disunity we are seeing now. st have you seen that side of donald trump? guest: i never met the presidi heard about it from a lf people. want to share stories i have been told in confidence. suffice it to say he is not ■zalways the decisive leader he portrays himself to be. host: wis it time for nikki halo get out of this race if she as expected is expected to keep it close in any of these 15 states? guest: i think nikki haley is trying to preserve a seat for establishment republicanism inda maga dominated table. if she wins, four more states or

jurisdictions that includes the ve her name placed in nomination on the floor. that, that means she has something to bargain with donald tmp with hings like the issuance of a platform where the content of the platform or whether or not she offers her endorsement. trump respects strength. trump respects somebody who can go head-to-hway and exert some n him so i think he would be willing toeal if she has something to bring to the table, but rightow witho nominas acumen leading a few delegates but he would be nominated and control the floor and i think that is what he values. host define establishment republicanism and how much of establishment republicanism right now. guest:republicanism i would says substantial in voting numbers but almost insubstantial in

moderate remain, 10% to 20% of the party, people who sayheand also say the republican. they are pretty much unrepresented rijk now and are part of the old establishment. you have the pre-trump people to adhere to a view of they would o cast aside and it is probably rty so i think nikki haleyrepuby vote for truck, at least the old reaganites conservatives, but would like to have a larger seat at the table in the second term, and i think that is what she is fighting for. host: ago, you mentioned katie britt as a potential somebody who could have a seat at the in republican senator leadership. she is sent to give the response to the state of the union on thursday night. what should she say? guest: i expect katie britt will

articulate impassioned opposition to bideniery good at telling the problems that have arisen over the past as a 42-year-old mother, which means she is not one of the old generation people. she is squarely in the middle of the age!cracket, close to the median age of an american, somebody who cangenerational dit perspective suspect that is exay what she will do. back to mcconnell for a second, your recent piece, where we started this conversation, you said it is the signal for joe biden. his turn is next. ■÷t: poll after poll shows joe biden is massively in trouble.

trump was ahead by five points nation.let's remember with a tin the electoral college waublicanp does not need to win the popular vote at all to be reeedhe only a couple points or less, so to be leading by five points suggests joe biden is looking at electoral wipeout. many people say he is too old. another question from the poll that shows a large majority of americans think joe biden is to all. he is going to age mitch mcconnt now. his rt himself to be very well served if he were to step down at some point in august and permit an open convention, but politicians being politicians, they have sp decades climbing the greasy polls to get to the top. joe biden is at the top. it is very hard to walk away when you are at the top. host: you mentioned the new york times paul. the latest one is out today.

d>ñthe question that was asked o is joe biden too old to be an effective president? 73% say they ífeihat agree with that or strongly agree with that. guest: yeah, look, it is a glaring issue for the president. he is clearly■@ somebody who has lost many steps, and i am■÷e is, which are the sorts of things you hear conservative media, but it is clear this is ait is y struggles undercoherent -- t cy or at least speak coherently. the world . he is not going to get any better. one to recognize one's limit. top, the ability may help preserve your legacy. host: with 20 outfes

by the front or times were you confused one for another. do you think that is effective? host: it isry guest: it is starting to get through but . 75% say he isit is not somethine said. the glare months in a way it has not been since his presidency. if donald trump continues to do things like mess people's names up or put dates out of order or so forth, i think tha might come up right now it is the sort of message thathe partisans, the already converted are talking about, but it will takea me and more examples for the swing voter in the middle to say maybe we have half an hour untd of our program and a half hour ethics and public policy center. republicans, it is (202)

democrats, (202) 748-8000. independents, (202) 748-8002. we will start on tt onrindependf 10,000 lakes,gary hung up in mi. to in arlington, virginia. good morning. caller: good morning. i am independent. calling aut comme and earlier caller made that there were no athe on january 6. that is of the republican party, and it is wrong. there were guns found on capitol grounds. some man had been charged with th, it is very important the only deadly weaponsus othere found on capitol grounds and inside the capit, including aerk

devices, an officer and caused the officer to have a heart attack. various kinds of chemical sprays. what was sprayed on an officer who the next day had two strokes and police batons werelice, ryan sh. flags■xere us as weapons, including being thrown as experienced. firextinguhers, meíytal signs, metal rods, metal fences, poles, hockey sticks, and firecrackers. so there were many weapons that wereound on cal grounds and in the being used by the rioters. also, you have to remember a large numberf were so many, thy

were not able to be apprehended they were charged much later, so they could have had weapons. host: to your point aboutout lah with new january 6 footage that s been released showing a riot or firing a gun in the air du capitol attack. that attention if you weeks ago. henry olsen on the ongoing legacy of january 6. guest: it wasn't a terrible, awful day. thele's house in a way that even the white house is in. officers to break their way in because you have been deluded that something occurred that d occurredit wy who went into the capitol is equally guilty. some people werehe moment. other people knew exactly what they were doing and should b■ arged and published to the

full extent of the law. host: now we will try gary in minnesota, independent. go ahead. caller: yes, i was just calling about the capitol. the capito not protected that good. they should have doors that automatically steel doors, and every story should have windows that they can because this is just an example that happened. e if all of these protesters were not that trump said he put in there, which was wrong,ut why don't they do some more securiti woult come out of the stted co■ñming,e people. host: got your point. he, on this idea of protecting the capitol -- it cop every once in a- putting up a fence around the u.s. capitol, how you make this the

people's house, having a balance access and security on capithiln more in the news s j 6 but not something we did not talk about before that. guest: right. k you need to have access. i do not want to see thereateste worldand treated like it is a cl of some that said, we need to have and y was not secure on january 6. people pointed fingers in different directions but the fact is there were not enough peopel hold back the crowd, and it wasa crowd like tha unconscionable te security situation on january 6 was allowed to deteriorate to rather easily force their way in

and create the mayhem that they did. host: in wisconsin, alan, independent. good morning. caller:first i should point outi actually am runng for student ln issue. i will cancel failed big governe is no way they can win this elthere are 40 million people wo are underwater on their student loans. more halfindependent or republid they will. without happened ino and nevada and 2020 and it will only get worse for the republicans. henry and his republican they fe colleges, the department of education !and to cancel what is interest in toys

, some are harmed becausethey ce

colleges have no skin in the game and admit marginal at best candidates for college. people borrow five-figure loans have no skin in the game.eges i think if colleges want to get the benefit of subsidized student loans, they need to have skin in the game so the risk if the people they admit do not end up is that it's much more harmful for of gd into college without knowing what they do and then burdened with $15,000 in debt than it is somebody who graduates from law school and has a large debt but also has a large income. will ir colleges to change their pricing structure and this loan structure? guest: federal action. the thing i colleges are -- most colleges in not pri. particularly the ones that have the largest number of students

that are alson their admissions bcket and will take federal action that forth some r endowments or current incom people that fault on their debts that incur them at those instutions and if you gave colleges skin in the game, they would find a way to rejigger their balance sheets that they were continue to operate and educate the people who can complete a degree as opposed toy know at the outset are going to. host: about 20 minutes left with henry olsenics public policy center, frequent guest on this program. eastern. by the way, expecting a decision to come around 10:00 a.m. easte. the expectation is that that 14th amendmentcess case, the colorado case that was

the supreme court, super tuesday is tomorrow. colorado is onef those es that is part of the super tuesday state. what's your expectati f case that comes down at 10:00, what do you tnk henry olsen? guest: both based onave said ann the questioning, it would be■ay. the question is going tomber ofa 6-3 or 7-2 decision? or will it be unanimous that the democratic justices goes along with that. a unanimous decision has to move in a way that makes]s those justices happy. i would expect that we will possibly see that unanimous decision. but i think there are many grounds on which they couldentet that will permit trump to be on the ba know which one of those they're going to

take. host: on donald trump thfar do u guest: i do not think thet president is above the law. i do not should be prosecuted for official decisions that they made without serious knowledge that t intended to violate a law, especially if that law were something that were not politicallfrch is to say in the reagan years■é we had the boland amendment that banned aid and he always argued he did not knog the boland amendment. that's a political thing and he shouldn't be held liable for that. but certain things the president does that are notithin the scope of presidential duties or doing something nonpolitical law like theft or

murder or should be held liable. we're a nation of laws, not■ of human beings. i think the president as a human being needs to be subj without o sos arguments trump hasd the been making are wayoo broad for any reasonable dick republic to admit. if you■ henry olsen, mentioned you're senor fellow of the policy and ethics center, remind people what the mission of the guest: looking at applying juded we do that on education and quesons of life and we do that on questions of tech regulation. we do that on a h issues and i think we do it very

well. host: eppc.org if you want to check them out. calling from the republican line. caller: i want say i disagree with everything biden's done but i'll for one thing, he said that he promises. on the other hand, trump promised wall. wall.ilt actually 44 miles of what he built is slag, you see them cutting through it. number two, he promised to obamy taking the tax off of it. he promised and ran up a $8.7 trillion debt in fn money from nato and getting money from tariffs. he ran zero percentage rates to boostllion dollars in credit card debt and a t a halft

loan debt. so in that case, i don'te eithee guys to turnaround next election and the guy that ■b desantis, it's a shame because he's the only guy in my opiniona that would have kept his promises and straightened this country out. like it should have been. and one last comment. on t s, you let these colleges assume the risk. you lethem t their own interest rates, givey think has the best chance of getting th will also bring tuition down at the same time because when the government gets involved, whether it's in housing, food, education, and that starts coming in, the price keeps raising up for everybody.

host: thanks. a call from tampa. henry olsen,ack to student loans. guest: ron desantis got in the t into the race with a significant public backing and basically the race losing support,to dona. that's something he has to look at. why is it he notg# only didn't make a sale to republican vo why did he lose support as he was going on? he had a verst governor of florida but it didn't translate on the himself why. again, on student loans, i think this is a ques[#tion of if peope are going to be uncertain whether they want to go tostandr likely employment afterwards, they are being sucked into taking out debt because they enrolled and the it while

interest forgiven or deferred depending on the program and the sort of loan that they have. and the ofessional schools have no skin in the game. this encourages people to take out too much debt and encourages colleges#v and other entities to lure these people in and think both of these are significant problems but especially the one where the entities gethe of los, admitting a marginally qualified student gives you a marginal gain as a college or university or professional school and you're not on the hook for the person who defaults. i think that's wrong and i think congress needs to that. host: to abby out of chicago, independent, good morning. you've got to turn your tv down for me. caller: yes. host: make it a lot easier to

hear you. caller: good morning. am i on? i'm just calling to ask a question about why is the guest, henry olsen's opinion not foundy to have a message that resonates a little better or find really any messaging that resonates tro maybe some of the population is historically aligned with more -- the democratic party and they've had many yes to understand the trump voting base. i'm curious what he thinks about why the democrats haven't been able to tap in to atome of these voters and their problems and concerns. thank you. guest: a democratic analyst ruiz texeira and he writes about those who care more about economic issues and takes them

out american opinion and particularly for working class people and says you're in a hole, stop digging and said the democratic partyj/ continues to dig and president biden seems unwilling to directly confront that and say you can be a democrat and say this but you can also be a democrat and beeve this. and what we've seen is that former democrats who were democrats all of their lives for most of the time until 2010 are not interested in looking at the party that they feel left them and voters of color are in the last four years increasinglyic party and yet the democratic party leadership which is largely white progressives seem to wanto got them there. that's a real problem and don't know how they're going to change that p. host: this is how your colleague puts in "the washington post" the paradoxes that will shape the 2024 election. if the paradox of bidenism, he

says, the president sqjees himsf as a champion of the working class but can't rely on its support to win re-elections to prevail and will need a mountain of ballots in the college metropolitan side. and the paradox is the republican party which depends on whiteorking class votes which demands on small towns yet their policies are geared towards the interests of high earners and investors and many have fled the party e outcough the election in 2024. guest: e.j. hit it right on then power and gives the republicans a little bit of an edge, particularly since trump does take positions on some issues these voters care about.bout reg immigration and trump respects and echoes that view. they do ce ab and he says we're not going to touch entitlements and while i would prefer a republican party that more extensively addresses

working class economicisks. the fact is trump is good enough the economic issues working class voters are concerned about, that the paradox that e.j. talks about is more likely to be felt if trump wins re-election and the republicans win control of congress than it will in 2024. host: palmetto, betty, democrat. good morning. caller: good morning to you. i'm soon to be 92 years old and all of us came on this earth with our mother and father, so why are they constantly saying president biden is too old. we hav old parents and why so many people throw their parents away in a nursing home because they're too old. it just sounds so ignorant for people to be saying he's too old. i can't believe it. i'll be 92 years old and i'm happy i raised seven children of my own, my grandchildren, and

they all huddle around me like i'm 15 years old p. i can't believe everybody would rather put somebody to get up on the washington boulevard and say all this stuff. trump don't have respect0p for nobody. he seems like somebody that doesn't know his a, b, c's. and i'm a black woman and came from the same people but still, they can read and write, regardless. he seems like somebody tt r had schooling the things he says and people hover around him. i'm sorry, i've not known to put people down same to go on in front of the young people and they take everything, whatever you say and they're not going to vote for he can have og in the grave, if i'm living, that's who i'm going to vote for. thank so you much.

host: betty in florida. henry olsen, back to the age issue. guest: look, all we can say is americans have seen president biden in action foryears now, ad a few minutes ago, 73% say that he is too old to be president. they see him in action and don't say he's too old to have a productive life but the presidency requires a degree of energy and a degree of focus, it requires a degree of articulateness that he seems not to that is why people say he's too old. i don't think they want to send don't want the white house to be the country's nursing home. host: good morning, you're on with henry olsen on the republican line. you have to stick by your phone. jerry from wisconsin, independent. good morning.

caller: yes, am i on? host: yes, sir. caller: i need to ask a question about the republican party andme republican party, are they following trump and how he feels about veterans, calling them losers and suckers. i'm a disabled vet, my wife is a vet, my childreare vets, and i just take it very much to heart what he calls veterans. host: henry olsen? guest: i think people are very upset by what the president has said. that said, i also think there are a lot of people who don't think that he means it or don't think that it matters in how policy is going to run. so you south carolina where of course his comments about nikki haley's husband were used by nikki haley and it showed people who were or

voted almost idly to the "dentie people who weren't. but many people look to what donald trump said on that and decide just as they do w it's ng that they think will really govern the way he aroaches the particular issue or in this case, this particular group of people were he to become president again p. host: a question via twitter from viewer maverick. what has the republican party done to increase its base? it seems to him, more people are willing to call themselves democrats or independents, a lot more than republicans. guest: one of the interesting things about this election is the democrats' k in voter preference is shrinking and historically since 1932 the democrats had edges over

people say they're democrats than republicans but when you ask independents, more people say they lean mocrat tindependent -. that edge virtually eroded every poll you look at. it's either one point or so for a historic low, or the gallup poll from 2023 showed an edge for the first time in years. the republican party is not growing the base but the democrats are turning off voters and if the republicans win and govern in a way people view as tough, we should see something that we've in my lifetime or really the lifetime of anyone under 92 years of age, which is to say a republican voter plurality. host: about five minutes left in our program today. the supreme court is expected to issue a decision at 10:00 a.m. eastern. we'll see what case that is, so

a lot of expectation it's the 14th amendment ballot access case and news out this morning that for donald trump is set to give remarks at noon today from mar-a-lago, likely reacting to the supreme court opinion t. so we c all watch the news unfold together, in the time we have left, though, a few more calls for you, henry olsen. it's jeff in philadelphia, democrat. good morning. caller: hi, henry, as aneth usist, i'm interest -- ethicist, i'd like to hear about the republicans who gave their sense of morality to a man by the name of donald trump who has at best an awkward sense of ethics. most recent examples of that surrender are the immigration and ukraine bills. but in general, i'm curious, en you see a party appear to

surrender its other than sense of morality and right and wrong to donald trump, first of all, what is the role politics and how would you grade the republican party on that? guest: those are interesting questions. i'm not an ethicist but at an institution called the ethics and public party center and i'm a writer and political analyst and■á have no)s special trainins an ethicist. i would say the republican party has afraid. they're afraid of their economic position. they're afraid of their religious position or social position. they're afraid of what's to happen overseas. and as a result, what they have been wling to do is look for somebody who seems to understand the depth of their fear and is willing to fight the forces they

perceive as causing that fear. and it is unfortunate that people who feel de a champion wf the flaws, many of the flaws driven by that sense of fear and had somebody else in 2016 recognized what was going on in tends of of voteers' minds they might have been able to capture their hearts and not bring along the sorts of ethical confusion or ethical transgressions that donald trump brings along. but the fact is people are afraid. they have many reasons to be afraid. and the politicalness needs to responsible to that and as long as they fail tre they'll be looking for champions who are unwaveringly in their corner regardless of the other qualitthat they may possess.

host: spokane, washington, laura, republican. good morning. caller: good morning. me is i don't know how it can be ethical when it's only when i hear from you, only one point of view, and that is seems to be without any kind of due diligence. whatever, he's not too old. he's too corrupt. and there's a mountain of evidence that proves that. i don't hear anything about that. we have this squad going over to cuba to concluded with the communist regime. nothing is said about that. mr. biden's illegal e.o.'s, executive orders, a wyond our lr constitution, and nothing is said about that. so i wonder, sir, where is the

due diligence here where we can see with an open eye to all things. host: henry olsen. guest: that's a very common view by republicans and not without cause is that it seems there are are trained on one side of the political dispute and not actually acting as trying to ferret out truth or trying to hold all sides in the political dispute to strong ethical standards and as a result, that increases the division and decreases the trust of tse for themselves and say look, not only are they not fair towards me, they aren't even talking about the other side. and the fact that there are journalistic voices that to do that simply means the silence is even louder, that you can look and say somebody else is resoury

don't you look at it, too. when people don't look at it, people lose respect for those institutions and knows individuals. host:en, making his 53rd appearance on the c-span's networks, his first appearance in appreciate your time on the washington journal and catch up with his work at eepc.org. thank you, sir. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2023]

announcer: a live picture from mar-a-lago this afternoon where former president trump is to address the supreme court ruling in his favor for his ability to be on theallot in colorado. it originated from a group of colorado voters saying the president engaged in a insurrectionnd was notified to r section 3 of the 14th amendment. the former president running a bit late and was scheduled to start at noon will have live con it starts on c-span.

in the meantime, a look at this morning's washington journal. host: independents, 202-748-8002. we'll take this openum until about 9:15 eastern time. one thing we can talk about is super tuesday. the previews are in today's papers for tomorrow's super tuesday, as "the wall street journal" notes, 15 states are set to cast their votes for thr rtn. they also note it could mark the end for nikki haley's long shot bit to stopal the republican nomination. more than a 1/3 of all delegates are up for grabs. most of the states, they abort them on a winner takes all basis. here's the states that will vote tomorrow