News organizations have been credulously amplifying the White House’s spin that sending troops into Los Angeles is great politics for President Trump. But the evidence isn’t cooperating. On Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt lost her temper amid tough questioning about Trump’s threat to unleash “force” on protesters. She snapped that one reporter had asked a “stupid question,” and seethed angrily at a second reporter’s legitimate query, showing how weak the White House’s arguments on this have truly become. And a new Quinnipiac poll finds Trump’s approval tanking, crucially including some surprisingly bad numbers on immigration. We talked to Jennifer Rubin, editor in chief of The Contrarian, who has a new piece arguing that California is a test run for the whole country. She explains why the media needs to do better at conveying just how unpopular Trump’s authoritarian tactics and agenda truly are—and why failing to do so could embolden him. Listen to this episode here. A transcript is here.