Chris Hayes accused Donald Trump of derailing a bipartisan housing bill, arguing the president refused to sign it because he wants Congress to pass the SAVE America Act first—so Trump can pursue “dictator” ambitions and election rigging.
Chris Hayes didn’t spend Wednesday waiting for the facts to sink in—he went straight for the motive.
During “All In With Chris Hayes” on Wednesday. the MS NOW host slammed Donald Trump for derailing a bipartisan housing bill. saying the president’s refusal to sign it had nothing to do with housing and everything to do with power. Hayes described a simple contradiction: a bill that could be sold to Americans as popular, yet somehow got punted.
“Why would Trump punt on what is by all accounts a very popular bill… And the answer is really, in large part — the main answer is that he just doesn’t care,” Hayes said. “He couldn’t care less. It would be impossible for the man to care less about whether your housing is expensive.”
Then Hayes laid out the reason he said Trump gave earlier, recounting that Trump told House Speaker Mike Johnson weeks ago: “No one gives a bleep about housing.” Hayes emphasized the “no one” was personal—“I don’t give a bleep about housing”—and argued that people actually do care about home costs.
From there, Hayes shifted to what he said Trump cares about most. He suggested Trump “only cares about two things right now. ” saying: “He cares about building a bunch of stuff. like his ballroom and his arch and the reflecting pool. and he cares about becoming a dictator – and rigging the elections in order to become a dictator.”.
Hayes also connected the dots to Wednesday’s decision point. He pointed to Trump’s stated reasoning for not signing the bipartisan 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act—Trump wanted Congress to pass the SAVE America Act first, Hayes said.
“His stated reason for punting on the ceremony today was he wants his voter suppression bill passed first,” Hayes said. “Okay, there’s a lot in there. I mean, the first is that he just cares about rigging the election. And sabotaging free and fair elections, right?. That’s what he cares about. And he’s not bluffing here.”.
He then argued this wasn’t only rhetoric, pointing to what he called “a lot of action behind it.” Hayes specifically highlighted that the Postmanager General recently said Trump is serious about restricting the delivery of mail-in ballots.
Hayes also went after Trump’s messaging about California elections. He said Trump lied about election rigging allegedly caused by mail-in votes in California. calling it “either lies or dementia or some combination of the two” and adding. “You never know. Self-delusion.” Hayes said there is “no evidence Trump actually altered the results despite his implication.”.
But Hayes’ central claim was that Trump’s public posture mattered even if the evidence didn’t line up with the accusations. “But the fact that you would make those comments publicly. boast about it. means he does not even care if you know that he would. and this is really important. he would rather cheat than win. ” Hayes said. “Think about what he did today. The midterms are coming up … A President who’s concerned about persuading persuadable voters would make a big to-do about signing a bipartisan housing bill.”.
Hayes said Trump didn’t do that because, in his view, Trump “doesn’t want to win, he wants to cheat.” He added that Trump “doesn’t actually care what the voters think,” arguing instead that he wants to “suppress the vote and control the electorate.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment, according to the report. “All In With Chris Hayes” airs weeknights at 8 p.m. ET on MS NOW.
Chris Hayes Donald Trump All In With Chris Hayes MS NOW housing bill 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act SAVE America Act Mike Johnson mail-in ballots election rigging midterms dictator voter suppression