they will most likely still lose i polling is any indication, we don t know. they could lose by a historic margin to a front runner, who, let s be, clear has spent more time in court attending his civil fraud trial this week than he has in the state of iowa. even if now it feels inevitable we ve come to this, it was not inevitable. it really wasn t. there was a time in winter 2020, one after january 6th, when donald trump was being impeached for inciting the capitol insurrection, his approval rating hit an all-time. low it looked like very well be sent to do a period of political exile. then he came back, the 2022 midterms, the elections worked out poorly for most trump endorsed candidates. he backed losers in a ton of winnable races and there seemed to be a daunting wherein us in the republican party that he was politically toxic. in 2024 could be a wide open race for republicans. all those folks gotta because if i was beautiful. not now. trump is polling at 54%, or 30 point
officially opens in 24 hours in iowa, where it s cold outside, but the race for the republican presidential nomination is catching fire. right now, the leading gop contenders are making their final pitches to voters, ahead of tomorrow s caucuses in the state. and despite facing a mounting of legal issues, donald trump appears to be the overwhelming favorites, pulling nearly 30 points ahead of his closest rivals, nikki haley and ron desantis. according to the latest nbc news des moines iowa, des moines register iowa poll, out of iowa, in just a few minutes, i ll talk to the chair of the democratic national committee about that. and, about iowa, and about the caucuses colliding with martin luther king holiday tomorrow. and about what his party needs to do, to not just unify against the eventual republican nominee, but to bring disaffected democrats, black voters specifically, back into the fold, ahead of november. let s check on the latest from iowa, however, with nbc s priscil
good morning. happy new year. welcome to a special new year s day edition of morning joe. we re on tape this morning with some of our top, recent conversations. we begin with a discussion about donald trump s increasing use of authoritarian language in his speeches and social media posts. in recent months, trump has repeated fascist rhetoric, including saying immigrants are, quote, poisoning the blood of our country, and referring to his political enemies as vermin. we pledge to you that we will root out the communists, marxists, fascists, and the radical left thugs that live like vermin within the confines of our country. the threat from outside forces is sinister, dangerous, and grave, more than the threat from within. donald trump echoing the words of 20th century authoritarians at a rally earlier this month. joining us now, national affairs analyst john heilemann. special correspondent at vanity fair and host of the fast politics podcast, molly jong-fast. and co
and arizona, and one month after pennsylvania voters go to the ballot boxes. the trial, of course, involving 34 felony counts related to the stormy daniels hush money case. trump has pleaded not guilty in that case. also tonight, florida governor ron desantis will announce his candidacy tomorrow in a rather unconventional way, appearing in a live conversation on twitter with elon musk. we are getting word donald trump and his allies are making plans to offend that announcement. maggie haberman will join us in a moment. just a reminder of how wide open and unpredictable these races are, take a look at the republican primary polls from this month back in 2015. marco rubio and jeb bush both led the pack. donald trump, he stood at 3%, tied with george pataki, and speaking of polls, fast forward to right now. you see the numbers show that republicans, they smell blood. president biden s approval rating just hit 40%. the lowest number since last summer. it s also lower than trump s
anderson, thank you very much. and good evening, everyone. tonight, the nation is facing a situation that has never been contemplated in its history before. a former president will sit trial as a defendant in the middle of his campaign for another term, which means that jurors and voters will be deciding his fate at exactly the same time. donald trump appearing virtually in court today as a judge sets his trial date for march 25th of next year. and in case you re wondering, that is 20 days after super tuesday, six days after florida, ohio and arizona and one month before pennsylvania voters go to the ballot boxes. the trial, of course, involving the 34 felony counts related to the stormy daniels hush money case. trump has pleaded not guilty in that case. and also tonight, florida governor ron desantis will announce his candidacy tomorrow. in a rather unconventional way, appearing in a live conversation on twitter with elon musk. we re already getting word that donald t