On MSNBC, Morgan Radford asked Steve Israel what's next in the government shutdown.
"When we talk about the $5 billion initially and we're coming down to possibly $2.5 billion, is this going to hurt the president when it comes to his base, Steve? How is his base going to react? Are they going to say, you didn't do what you promised as you promised it?" Radford asked.
"Look. The thing with Donald Trump's base is, they love him when they think he's right, they love him when they think he's wrong," Israel said. "So I'm not sure he has that much exposure with his base.
"His exposure is actually with independent voters. He's hemorrhaging independent voters. That's what happened in this last midterm election. He cannot go into 2020 having slightly disappointed his base, but having completely alienated independent voters. That's not a path to re-election. "
"He's also got to worry about those right-wing talk hosts who caused him to back down when he was initially gonna compromise, Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, all the people who attacked him," John Harwood said. "I think the base, as Steve Israel has said, probably can accept this. They know Donald Trump exaggerates and doesn't tell the truth, but when those conservative hosts start hammering on him, that is some exposure that he's concerned about."
