Here are some of the week's biggest political stories from NJ.com.
Tucker Carlson broke sharply with Trump this week, calling for him to be immediately removed from office. The fracture runs deeper than one commentator, with allies of JD Vance going public over an alleged 2028 sabotage plot and asking whether their opponents think they are stupid. Republicans are also struggling to explain themselves elsewhere, as a Trump ally got cornered on Mitch McConnell's whereabouts and was told flatly that his answer was not believable. The pressure is showing up in the numbers too, with a shock poll revealing a stunning number of Gen Z Trump voters who now regret their 2024 vote. And fresh polling suggests Trump's midterm nightmare is shaping up to be even worse than expected, pointing toward historic losses.
00:00 Intro 00:05 Tucker Carlson calls for Trump's removal 00:39 Vance allies expose 2028 sabotage plot 01:17 GOP cornered on McConnell's whereabouts 01:51 Gen Z voters regret 2024 02:30 Polling points to historic midterm losses
Read the full stories at NJ.com.
Here's what's making headlines today.
Tucker Carlson said President Donald Trump should be immediately removed from office
if he is considering using nuclear weapons.
Carlson emerged as one of Trump's fiercest critics after the president launched a war
against Iran on February 28th, despite repeated promises not to get the U.S. involved in a
foreign military conflict.
He said he was strongly opposed to the first two impeachment attempts but would support
an effort to remove Trump if he talked about using weapons of mass destruction against
Iran.
Carlson also said any world leader who floats using nuclear weapons is unfit for office
and that such a leader has forfeited his right to lead.
J.D. Vance allies say his team is sounding the alarm over alleged efforts to derail his
chances of winning the next GOP presidential nomination.
Insiders who spoke to The Bulwark described repeated attacks over Vance's hesitancy on
Iran and the backlash to his push for a permanent deal with the regime.
A Vance ally called the effort an op, while another said it was pretty obvious and aimed
at stopping J.D. Vance in 2028.
Donald Trump said at the end of the day, we need to elect J.D., but also said, I think
he's great, but we're way too early to even be thinking about that.
Scott Jennings was arguing over Iran's nuclear program on CNN's Newsnight when the conversation
turned to Mitch McConnell.
Caroline Sunshine said she did not believe Jennings had spoken with McConnell by phone
and Jennings called her a garden-variety conspiracy theorist.
Sunshine pressed him again, asking, how is he?
And have you talked to him lately?
Jennings replied, yeah, on Wednesday.
Trump also shared an AI-generated image on Truth Social with signs reading Mission Not
Accomplished 2001-2021 and Mission Accomplished 2026.
A recent Navigator report says nearly one-third of Gen Z voters who backed President Donald
Trump in 2024 now regret that choice.
The poll found 31 percent of those voters feel that way, followed by millennials at
28 percent, while 20 percent of Gen X voters and 10 percent of baby boomers also regretted
their vote.
Gen Z was also the most likely to disapprove of Trump's job performance, with 65 percent
disapproving and 67 percent disapproved of his handling of the economy.
The poll surveyed 3,000 registered voters from June 4th to July 27th and has a margin
of error of plus or minus 2.2 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence interval.
Polling suggests Trump's midterm outlook could worsen into historic losses for Republicans.
Poll averages tracked by RealClearPolitics show Republicans trailing in eight major battleground
races for the U.S. Senate.
In key Senate races, Republicans are down in Alaska, Georgia, Maine, Michigan, Ohio,
New Hampshire, North Carolina, and Texas.
Democrats hold three battleground seats up for grabs, while Republicans control the other
six.
