PORTLAND, Maine — It was another busy week in politics. From former President Donald Trump's comments on Vice President Kamala Harris' race to the GOP targeting Rep. Jared Golden, D-Maine, to a historic prisoner exchange that freed Evan Gershkovich, our analysts shared their opinions on the top stories.
Trump comments on Harris' race
Former president Donald Trump is facing backlash for comments he made a National Association of Black Journalists conference this week, in which he falsely called Harris' race into question. The Harris campaigned responded accusing Trump of being "unhinged."
ZACH: "Now we know the former president says whatever he wants, but isn't this a little too far?"
GARRETT: "You know, let's take a look at who Kamala Harris is and who she purported to be. This is a woman who grew up in Montreal speaking French. She moved to San Francisco when she was elected to statewide office. The San Francisco Chronicle heralded her as the first Indian-American senator from California. The first thing she does when she gets the presumptive nominee is she goes to Atlanta and speaks in a southern accent. I mean, this is typecasting. It's cultural appropriation in a different way. I mean, there's a lot of things you can say about Donald Trump and what he was calling attention to was what the reporters and voters have said about Kamala Harris for years is that she's fake. She's inauthentic, and she's trying to be all things to all people. You can say whatever you want about Donald Trump, but he's real. He's authentic. And that's what he was drawing attention to."
ZACH: "But Ken, this was in a room of Black journalists saying something that was not only false but racist."
KEN: "First of all, he's a lunatic. He was unhinged. I watched that. I could not believe what I was hearing. She has always said that she's mixed heritage. She's always said her father was from Jamaica. She has an Indian heritage. She has a Black heritage. She is held up, but she has a pretending to be something else. And to say, you, she turned black. I didn't know you could turn black. That was interesting. He is unhinged. He's insane. And he's absolutely panicking because of the nomination. And he's. And he's going to lose black voters. He was gaining black voters. This is not going to be good and be right in a convention of black journalists. This is your audience. I think you need to know what your audience, who your audience is."
GARRETT: "But I think President Trump showed up. Kamala Harris did not. And either the organizers of that event lied to the Trump campaign, or Kamala Harris just didn't care enough to show up to that audience."
KEN: "Donald Trump. Donald Trump says."
GARRETT: "The organizer said that that was not that was not from Donald Trump. But, I mean, the point is this is Kamala Harris being fake and not realistic. I mean, she didn't show up to a group of journalists that she purports to champion."
KEN: "She doesn't have to. And second of all, he won't debate, so I don't want to hear it."
GARRETT: "Oh, he'll debate her."
KEN: "If he's smart he won't."
GOP takes aim at Golden
The Maine GOP and Austin Theriault's campaign are going after Congressman Jared Golden, accusing him of "playing both sides" and being a "flip-flopper." It comes after the Golden campaign released an ad appearing to align him with former President Donald Trump and several republican issues.
ZACH: "Garrett, what do you think?"
GARRETT: "I mean, I think that Jared Golden has become an incredibly effective politician in Maine politics. You know, I think Jared's very good at saying the right thing at the right time. And he's been a very independent operator. That being said, he has sided with the Biden administration many, many times. And I think that, you know, deteriorating campaign is trying to draw attention to that. And as they should. There's definite questions about some of the votes taken about Social Security. There's definite questions about items on the border. Maine's a border state, and people don't like to hear that. But that's definitely an issue that's going to come up in this campaign. I think the Theriault campaign is very much trying to align himself with former President Trump, and Congressman Golden has some questions to answer."
ZACH: "Ken, does the Golden campaign really think it can attract Trump voters?"
KEN: "No, but I think they think they can attract independent voters who are not sold on Donald Trump and who he supports, and I think gets hit right on the nail from a political perspective. You've got to go for both sides. And he has been someone independent. Remember Susan Collins, who's viewed as a moderate, voted Republican 85% of the time. So, I mean, he did vote conservative and against Biden on some important issues. He did flip-flop or change his position on guns after the Lewiston shooting, but that was an appropriate thing, I think, for him to do. I think he's being smart and he's doing the right. If you want to get elected, get as many votes from both sides as you can. That's the name of the game in the Second [Congressional] District."
Gershkovich released
A historic prisoner swap led to the release of Bowdoin College graduate and Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich. Former Marine Paul Whelan was also among those released. Both men were being detained in Russia. In exchange, eight Russian nationals who were being held in the U.S., Slovenia, Germany, Norway and Poland were released.
KEN: "Well, it's a great day whenever you get Americans out of prison in Russia. The downside, of course, is does that encourage people to kidnap Americans? But they do it anyway. And and Putin is notorious for this. And the people they released to Russia are really, really bad people. Do you make the trade? Yes. I think you have to get Americans out when you can. I don't like it. It's like negotiating with terrorism and terrorists. But what's your alternative? Let them rot in jail and in Russia. Not a good prospect. So, yes, I applaud it. It's good. It was a good day."
GARRETT: "Yeah. It's great to see Americans come home. I mean, I can't imagine how their families are feeling or how they're feeling. It's very exciting. However, I agree with Ken, it is hard. And I'm thankful I'm not in those type of positions. But it is negotiating with terrorists and the people that got released on the other side out of Germany. They are dangerous people, and they are going to come after Americans again. It's hard to say if it was the right call, but I think one thing that we can agree on: We can celebrate that they're home. The means on how they got here we can talk about, but it's a difficult call."
You can watch Political Brew every Sunday on The Morning Report at 6 a.m. You can also catch it any time on NEWS CENTER Maine+.