now. good day, i m chris jansing live at msnbc headquarters in new york city. the major twofold test for president biden as he travels abroad but with big political implications back home. can he showcase unity among western allies over the wars in ukraine and gaza while u.s. voters are increasingly skeptical, and how much will the push to preserve democracy really resonate come november? plus, more high drama in delaware as hunter biden s ex-wife takes the stand in his federal trial, what she just finished telling the jury, her brief testimony under subpoena including talk of drug paraphernalia, rehab, and infidelity and whether it s likely to help or hurt her former husband s defense. a pair of critical races taking place 2,000 miles apart, but providing new clues to one of the most consequential political questions of 2024. will democrats hold on to the senate, or can republicans take it back? we ll break that down in the senate contests in montana and new jersey
that in the 2012 cycle. i want you to put on your hat, if you will, matt, back when you were communications director at the national republican congressional committee because you know a little something about ground game, money, messaging, what would it take for republicans to beat jon tester? i think, honestly, an even atmosphere, right? as you put at the start of your segment, trump won this by 16. so tester needs to win a lot of trump voters. so he only won by about 18,000 votes. you re right, it was against a relatively lackluster gop candidate in an era where trump was not on the ballot and he was very unpopular, 2018 democrats won back the house as well. the nrsc senate committee projects about 50,000 new right of center voters in the state of montana, a lot of those during covid. those in and of itself could be enough to push him over. he has to do a lot of work.