Washington Journal Open Phones addresses Iran's missile strike on a U.S. Navy vessel and the 2026 midterms, where polls show high voter certainty despite low historical turnout. Callers debate gas prices, gerrymandering's impact on Black representation, and Donald Trump's approval ratings, which remain strong among Republicans but plummeted with Independents. While Democrats lead on healthcare and AI, Republicans hold an edge on the economy, setting the stage for a defining election year. [Automatically generated summary]
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Six Months Until Election00:12:36
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C-SPAN.
Democracy Unfiltered.
And a very good Monday morning to you.
You can go ahead and start calling in.
Before we get to this question, just some of the latest news within the past hour out of Iran.
This is the Times of Israel, the headline.
Iran fired two missiles at a U.S. Navy vessel after it attempted to pass through the Straits of Hormuz.
It's citing the semi-official state FARS news agency in Iran.
Fars said that the U.S. vessel was, quote, targeted in a missile attack after ignoring a warning from the naval forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran.
Citing local sources, Fars reports that the vessel was hit by the missiles and unable to continue its course, though that reporting disputed.
Axios reporter, foreign correspondent Barack Ravid reporting just a few minutes ago that a senior U.S. official denies that a U.S. warship was hit by Iranian missiles.
So we'll just keep an eye on that.
Again, that's all within just about the past 30 minutes or so.
So as we do that, though, we want to hear from you on this question that we're asking this morning.
With the midterms coming up in six months and one day, six months from tomorrow, we're asking if you're voting in the midterms.
A lot of folks saying that they do plan to vote in the midterms.
A new Washington Post ABC news poll out, and it's on the front page of the Washington Post, asked the question whether you are certain to vote in election 2026.
Some 79% of Democrats saying they're absolutely certain to vote in the midterms.
Some 72% of Republicans, 59% of Independents saying that they will absolutely vote in the midterms.
Though, as we know from past history, midterm turnout usually is somewhere in the mid to high 30s and 40s.
Occasionally we'll hit 50%, but lower than in a presidential election year.
We'll all find out together in six months and one day.
As we look ahead to that and as we take you through some of these polls, let us know if you're planning to vote and what your top issue is.
Democrats, it's 202-748-8,000.
Republicans 202-748-8001.
Independents 202-748-8002.
We'll start in Michigan.
This is Herbert calling in, Republican line.
Herbert, you're going to vote in the midterms?
Yes.
And I'd just like to say to the American people, when are we going to wake up and remove these uneducated six-year-olds from office?
I mean, look at the mess around.
You know, all you hear is Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.
Well, that is bull.
I don't believe that.
I mean, he said the same thing about North Korea.
They now have one.
No one's ever going to use a nuclear weapon.
The only time that'll be used, and this is for you so-called Christians out there, when Christ comes back to earth, read your Bible.
Well, Herbert, coming back to 2026, you're calling on the Republican line.
How do you think Republicans are going to do in the midterm elections?
Again, asking this question because we're six months away.
I am going to vote in the midterms.
Yes, absolutely.
We have to remove these clowns from office.
They're uneducated.
They have no idea what they're doing.
And they're destroying this country.
That's Herbert in Michigan.
This is Diamond on Staten Island.
Democrat, Diamond, you voting?
I guess.
Good morning.
Thank you, C-SPAN, for taking my call.
I am definitely going to vote this midterm.
The way we're going, it's just ridiculous.
They kept saying Biden, this, Biden, that.
These are the Republicans.
Oh, Biden, Biden, and Biden.
The minute they come into power, what do Republicans do?
They want to take, take, take.
And you know who's benefiting?
Not me.
Not even Republicans.
Republicans are not even benefiting from their policies.
This is absolutely ridiculous.
Let's not even talk about gas.
Oh, my goodness.
And yes, yes, C-SPAN, I am Satan Islander, and I will be voting for the midterms.
Thank you so much.
That's Diamond.
There are 435 House seats up in the midterm elections, 33 Senate seats, 36 gubernatorial seats, and that Washington Post ABC poll taking a look at how Americans feel about which party they trust on various issues.
When it comes to health care, 42% of respondents in that poll saying they trust Democrats more, just 25% saying they support, trust Republicans more.
Democrats also winning on issues as in education and schools, the cost of living in the United States, the situation in Iran, and just barely on the issue of artificial intelligence and inflation.
Republicans have an edge on issues of the economy in general, taxes, immigration, and crime.
Again, this is the latest poll from the Washington Post ABC News polls.
There's a lot of them coming out right now just because of the timing of where we are with the election six months away.
Steve Philly, Independent, you gonna vote?
Yes, I will definitely vote in this election.
And let me remind you that this election, these midterms, unlike other midterms where people are normally passed, is going to be fiercely fought for the House and the Senate because this will be Donald Trump.
This is going to be a defining moment.
And also, I feel that the Democrats should have started rebuilding their party long before.
I know they've caught up in these battles now, but we will see what happens.
It's going to be a very fiercely fought midterm.
Thank you.
That's Steve in Pennsylvania.
Sherry, Germantown, Maryland, Independent.
Go ahead.
Yes, I thought this was open forum.
I was calling to ask: is anybody as curious as I am about why the press or any of the representatives have not asked Trump to institute the teleworking given the high prices of the gas?
You're talking about teleworking for federal workers?
Yes.
Are you a federal worker, Sherry?
No, I'm a retired federal worker.
But you think a federal teleworking requirement or some sort of change to policy would help right now?
I think it would help a whole lot given the high price of gas.
How much do you think the high price of gas is going to impact how people are going to vote six months from now, Sherry?
Oh, absolutely.
I don't think that will be forgotten.
That's Sherry in Germantown, Maryland.
Back to some of the numbers from that poll.
Donald Trump remaining popular with Republicans.
But as the Washington Post notes, the president has lost ground with independents, still with approval ratings in the mid-80s among Republicans.
We can see, though, dropping since a year ago among independents and others from just under 40% to just under 30%, losing some 10 percentage points over the past year with independents.
Democrats, no surprise, have very low approval ratings of the president.
Those numbers have stayed below 10 percent since the beginning of the president's second term.
Asking you, are you planning to vote in election 2026?
Democrats 202-748-8,000.
Republicans 202-748-8001.
Independents 202-748-8002.
This is Lewis, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, Independent.
Go ahead.
Hi, my name is Lewis.
Yes, I'm independent and I plan on voting.
But I think the problem with the voting is the so-called solid majority.
If the solid majority would do more for the country instead of sitting back and letting things go the way they are, nothing will never change, especially with the way they're dividing up the districts.
If that solid majority in those districts would do more for the country instead of just thinking about themselves, this country would be a whole lot better.
And dividing up the districts, you're talking about the gerrymandering fight around the country, Lewis?
Yes, exactly.
A lot of those people, I mean, it's clear that they divide them up like they're taking out a lot of the black folk by, you know, spreading out the districts.
But there are, well, good people in those districts that are not black, but they keep silent.
They don't speak up.
They just sit back and let things be the way they are.
Until the solid majority step up to the plate, nothing is going to change.
That's Lewis out of King of Prussia, Pennsylvania.
These issues that you're bringing up this morning, it was one of the issues that was brought up yesterday on a Sunday show.
So it was Face the Nation yesterday.
Senator Raphael Warnock, the Democrat from Georgia, was on Face the Nation, and he was talking about the Supreme Court ruling on majority-minority districts.
This is what he had to say.
The current Congress, statistically, in 2025, has a record high number: 66 black members, according to Pew Research, including five Republicans.
That's the most to ever serve in Congress.
People will look at that and say, we are in a different country than we were, as Roberts once argued, as you just pointed out.
Now that we are in this redistricting arms race that both parties are playing with here, do you think that will hurt black representation?
I think that the court sadly poured fuel on this redistricting arms race.
To be clear, you support redistricting that your party is carrying out.
I do because Donald Trump, who is better at dividing us than anybody I know, instituted an arms race and redistricting.
But I actually hate partisan gerrymandering.
I don't like gerrymandering.
But we could not unilaterally disarm.
He's the one who called Texas and said, literally, give me six more seats.
And so California and other states had to respond, Virginia in kind.
But the solution to this really is to ban partisan gerrymandering.
Gerrymandering turns our elections on its head so that rather than the people picking their politicians or their public servants, the politicians are picking their voters.
Right, exactly, which is why I'm asking you how you could support it.
But I understand you're saying the context of the moment is an emergency.
Let me ask you.
Well, we could, I have a bill, though, Margaret.
I have to say right now that would get rid of partisan gerrymandering.
And so far, I've had no Republican takers.
Senator Raphael Warnock, that was yesterday on the Sunday shows.
We're asking you this morning on the Washington Journal about election 2026.
It's six months and a day away.
And we want to know if you're planning to vote.
If so, what's your top issue?
202-748-8000 for Democrats to call.
Republicans, 202-748-8001.
Independents, 202-748-8002.
Matt, Annapolis, Maryland, Independent.
Good morning to the capital of Maryland.
Blue Wave and Energy00:06:23
Yes.
Thank you for taking my call, John.
Gerrymandering is basically the corrupt form of democracy.
It's extreme, it's pure and simple.
It's corruption.
Like the man said in the interview, is a politician choosing their voter.
When you take a block of, you know, a voting block and you chop it up into tiny pieces, you take this piece, you put it somewhere else with the Republican district.
Well, that little tiny piece cannot make a difference in that new block where you put them.
You know what I'm saying?
So it's literally, literally, is corruption.
The most destructive and corrupt form of democracy.
Plain and simple.
And then the other, two more things that I want to comment on why I'm on this call.
The gas prices.
I'm no fan, I call the Democrat man a lie because I tend to lame Democrats, you know, especially in this time period.
I'm no fan of Trump.
I personally don't like Donald Trump, but I can't figure out why is what's going on in the Middle East or Iran and the United States is causing the gas prices to rise.
And we're paying high prices here, but there's no shortage at the pump.
In a capitalist society, in a free market economy, the price shouldn't go up at the pump if there's an actual shortage.
That's Matt in Annapolis, Maryland on gas prices and the war in Iran.
Let me switch over to ABC's this week.
Yesterday from the Sunday shows, it was Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy who was asked about the length of this conflict and its impact on energy prices.
Here's that exchange.
Well, I think if you listen to Secretary Hegset and Raisin Kane, our general who's orchestrating this war, militarily, they've been wildly successful.
The president's been successful in executing the military operation.
Again, we're now navigating the safety through the Strait of Hormuz and also trying to navigate the nuclear material that Iran has.
And that's taking a little bit longer.
And that's going to play out over the next several weeks.
But per Chris Wright's point, again, you're going to start to see immediate relief.
Once the straight opens and supply flows again, we are going to be in a way better place.
I will say this, Martha.
It's important for Americans to understand we have a tremendous amount of energy in America.
And so, yes, it is priced globally, oil and gas is.
But in America, we're not going to have supply shortages because we produce so much here.
And that is a net benefit to the U.S. as we look at, for me, jet fuel prices or even the supply chain for energy at the pump for American citizens.
We have deep supply here.
And I think that can't be forgotten because President Trump has focused on American energy and American energy dominance.
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy yesterday on the Sunday shows, this is the front page of today's Wall Street Journal.
If you are a follower of President Trump's true social page, you know this news.
President Trump saying Sunday that the U.S. would start guiding commercial ships out of the Strait of Hormuz, where they've been trapped by the war between the U.S. and Iran in an arm's-length effort to unblock the vital supply route.
The story noting the new mechanism is effectively a coordination sell to move traffic through the strait involving countries, insurance companies, and shipping organizations, according to two senior U.S. officials.
It doesn't currently involve U.S. Navy warships escorting vessels through the strait, the officials said.
Although, again, there was that reporting out of the Middle East, the Times of Israel and others reporting that Iran's semi-official state news agency saying that it had shot two missiles at a U.S. warship in the strait.
The U.S. denying that the ship was hit, but that could impact this plan that the president posted about on his true social page yesterday.
We're all finding out together.
We'll keep an eye on it for you as we hear from David in Millville, Delaware, Republican.
David, go ahead.
Hey, good morning.
It's first time I got through in 25 years.
I'm stunned.
David voted in the midterm elections?
I'm glad you did, but sorry that it's taken 25 years to get through.
Usually it doesn't take that long.
I literally call it for 25 years on and off, and it's always busier.
It calls and it drops before it even rings because the line is so full.
Definitely voting in midterms.
I'm from Maryland, but I moved to Delaware a couple years ago.
The gerrymanding thing is just so insane.
Listening to Adam Schiff saying that this court decision will allow for racial gerrymanding when it absolutely prohibited it.
That's the entire point of it.
I just don't know how those kind of comments get made.
We have a delegate McBride here, Democrat, up and for the only delegate we have in Delaware and definitely looking forward to voting in the midterms.
That's David in Millville, Delaware.
Don't let it take 25 years for you to call in again, David.
That's David.
We'll go to Deshaun, Bishopville, South Carolina, Independent.
Go ahead.
Deshaun, you're with us.
Got to stick by your phone, so we will head back to Annapolis, Maryland.
Shea, Democrat, go ahead.
Hey, can you hear me?
Yes, sir.
What is the question?
Can you repeat it again?
Are you planning to vote in election 2026?
Oh, absolutely.
I think we're going to be heading for a blue wave.
I think this Republican Party is, quite frankly, I think they are just being held up basically afloat by Donald Trump.