Prof. Lawless Talks Matos’ Edge, Trump’s Troubles and (Jill) Biden’s Gaffe
Sunday, April 09, 2023
University of Virginia Political Science Department Chair Jennifer Lawless discussed the race for outgoing Congressman David Ciciline’s seat, former President Donald Trump’s arraignment, and current First Lady Jill Biden’s big gaffe — this week GoLocal LIVE.
The dates of the special election to fill the seat that will soon be vacant in Rhode Island’s first congressional district were recently announced, and the Primary Election will be held on Tuesday, September 5, 2023 and the General Election will be held on Tuesday, November 7, 2023.
For Lawless, she sees Rhode Island Lt. Governor Sabina Matos as leading the pack of contenders.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST“It seems to me with such a crowded field, Matos is the obvious front-runner not only because of name recognition, but because of political experience. That’s not to say that some of these other candidates wouldn’t make good candidates — if they had two years to campaign,” said Lawless, of the shortened time frame for the special election.
“It’s possible you could get somebody who is able to self-fund, or somebody from sort of the political past who decides they want to throw their hat into the ring and really give Matos a run for her money,” said Lawless. “But the key here is that person would have to emerge if not as a front runner, you know, an obvious person who’s different than the rest of the pack right out of the gate, and it’s not obvious who a person like that would be at this point.”
Trump’s Troubles — and Jill Biden’s Gaffe
Lawless discussed Trump’s arraignment this week on 34 charges — and how his rallying cry to the American public differs greatly from when he first ran for office.
“Donald Trump is his best when he’s playing the victim. The question is, how long are the American people at his base, in particular, going to be willing to listen to the airing of the grievances,” said Lawless. “If you think back to 2016, and to some extent in 2020 when he ran, he was sort of airing the grievances that he perceived the American people had and then explaining that he should be the leader to help them better their lives.”
“Now, it was nothing to do with the American people. His speech on Tuesday night had nothing to do with people. It had all to do with him and his airing his own grievance and he wants to be back in power so that he can rectify the situation,” said Lawless.
“I don’t know how compelling a message that will be,” she added. “It looks like it’s sticking right now, but people might get tired of it.”
Lawless also talked about the backlash regarding First Lady Jill Biden’s comments that both the loser of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship - Iowa, a predominantly white team, should join the winners — LSU, a predominantly black team — at the White House.
“I think this is one of those circumstances where she was trying to be nice and didn’t realize it could be perceived as quite offensive,” said Lawless. “But I do think the dual invitation could be seen as a little bit of a slap.”
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