I spoke to Allan Smith of NBC News about the “Let’s Go Brandon” phenomenon and what to make of its sudden ubiquity.

“At its core it’s a genuinely funny viral moment of broadcast TV, filtered through a meme culture that shown an affinity for Trump and the MAGA sensibility, and embraced by a party whose highest goal at this point is to trigger the libs,” Liam Donovan, a lobbyist and former Republican operative, wrote in an email.

Read the full piece here.

I spoke to McClatchy‘s Dave Catanese for a piece in the Lexington Herald-Leader about Republican Leader Mitch McConnell’s game of chicken with congressional Democrats on the debt ceiling.

For the moment, McConnell’s bet is that because Democrats are in power, they will shoulder more of the blame if the country somehow stumbles into default. Among Republican voters, it might even be a bigger risk to accommodate more Biden-branded spending.

“Who the median voters will blame if things go south is an open question — and in part a function of how you guys cover it,” said Liam Donovan, a Republican strategist. “But your average Republicans will not object to the conference playing hardball here, and for GOP members there may be more immediate risk if they are seen as capitulating on the debt limit and facilitating the Biden agenda.”

I spoke to CNN’s Mike Warren about the GOP primary dynamics, and the cautious approach by Senate leaders vis a vis Trump.

McConnell’s political team has greeted other Trump endorsements in open primaries with cautious accommodation — including Sean Parnell in Pennsylvania, Mo Brooks in Alabama, and Ted Budd in North Carolina. None could be described as McConnell’s ideal candidates, said one Republican consultant, but none would significantly diminish the GOP’s chances of winning next November.

And in the case of Nevada’s Adam Laxalt, Trump has thrown his support behind a candidate McConnell worked to recruit himself.

“Except, arguably, in Georgia, Trump hasn’t picked anybody who can’t win, and there aren’t any competitive races where an establishment alternative would be a slam dunk,” said Liam Donovan, a Republican strategist. “You don’t wade into a primary proxy battle against Trump for sport — there has to be something to gain.”

Read the full piece here.

I spoke to NBC News‘ Sahil Kapur about the brutal September gauntlet shaping up for Democrats on Capitol Hill.

“Late September stands to be a train wreck for congressional Democrats, with their dual-track strategy on a collision course, but it also presents a faint silver lining in the form of a familiar foe,” said Liam Donovan, a lobbyist and former Republican operative. “There’s virtually no way the reconciliation package can be ready in time to satisfy all the promises that have been made by leadership, meaning President Biden will have to play a more active role as peacemaker.

“The question is whether the muscle memory of fighting Republicans on the debt limit and the rest of the policy cliff helps paper over the party’s divisions and heal intramural wounds,” he added. “Either way, it’s the biggest inflection point left in what might be the last fruitful year of the Democratic trifecta.”

Read the full piece here.

I spoke to TIME‘s Molly Ball for her profile of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and how he has thus far kept his paper thin majority on track.

The result is a bill that nobody loves but most can tolerate, stuffed with pork for Senators to tout back home and propped up by budgetary gimmicks. Despite an intense late campaign against the bill by Trump, 19 GOP Senators, including McConnell, supported it. “It’s a win for everybody–the Republicans, the Democrats, the White House,” says GOP lobbyist Liam Donovan. “Trump didn’t believe in the idea of a win-win. For him, you win when the other guy loses, so he can’t conceive of a piece of legislation that’s a win for Biden that isn’t inherently bad for Republicans. But that’s how government and legislating are supposed to work.”

Read the full piece here.