News & Views

Meredith College pollster Professor David McLennan (Courtesy photo)

We’re now more than three months into the second Trump administration and to say that it’s been a tumultuous period would be a vast understatement. From the precipitous economic decline, to the mass firings of federal workers, to the rise of an immigrant deportation program that has cast aside traditional norms of due process, the national news has been chockful of unprecedented and highly controversial actions.

So how has this drumbeat of controversy impacted the views of North Carolina voters? A new public opinion survey from the Meredith College Poll indicates that people are very concerned – both about the direction the country is headed and the performance of the Trump administration. And recently NC Newsline’s Rob Schofield caught up with poll director David McLennan to learn more.

Click here to listen to the full interview with David McLennan.

Sen. Lisa Grafstein (Photo: NCGA)

After several weeks of conducting business at a steady, manageable pace, the North Carolina General Assembly suddenly shifted into high gear. This past week, legislative committees rapidly considered and okayed scores of brand new, never before-heard bills on an array of topics, while at the same time Senate Republicans were unveiling and advancing their proposed version of a new two-year state budget.

So, what is the average lawmaker to do at such a time – especially if you’re not a member of the majority party? For Wake County state Senator Lisa Grafstein, the path has been obvious – read each proposed new law as quickly and thoroughly as possible and do your best ask questions, offer amendments and speak up on behalf of average North Carolinians whose interests are so often ignored. Last week Newsline’s Rob Schofield caught up with Grafstein at her Legislative Building office for a special two-part conversation at which they discussed an array of issues starting with a review of the Senate’s new budget proposal.

Click here to listen to the full interview with state Senator Lisa Grafstein.

Former U.S. Rep. Wiley Nickel (D-North Carolina) speaks at Wake Technical Community College in Wendell, North Carolina.(Photo: Galen Bacharier/NC Newsline)

We’re now three months into the second Trump administration and, as so many experts had feared and warned, the chaos – in the global economy, in the federal government, in our courts, and on the ground in scores of communities across the nation – is palpable. Between the seemingly random economic tariffs, massive and crude cuts to public services, and cruel and unlawful treatment of lawfully present immigrants, the national mess is already looking as if will be bigger than it was during the first Trump administration.

Not surprisingly, however, resistance to the administration’s policies seems to be growing and gaining steam and earlier this week Newsline’s Rob Schofield caught up with a former North Carolina state Senator and U.S. representative, Wake County’s Wiley Nickel, who says, that while he sees some encouraging signs, he also believes it’s time for caring and thinking people to redouble their efforts.

Listen to the full interview with Wiley Nickel here.

State Rep. Maria Cervania (Photo: NCGA)

It’s been more than six months now since Hurricane Helene devastated much of western North Carolina, and while there’s been a great deal of heroic recovery and rebuilding effort at all levels of government since then, recent actions in Washington are raising red flags in many corners.

At the North Carolina General Assembly, for example, lawmakers like Wake County state Rep. Maria Cervania have expressed deep concern that big Trump administration budget and staffing cuts to federal agencies, along with big price hikes caused by new Trump tariffs will wreak further havoc in the region. And recently NC Newsline caught up with Cervania from her Legislative Building office to discuss her concerns for western North Carolina, as well as her take on some other front burner issues – including the shape of our state employee workforce, the right’s crusade against diversity, and her efforts to reduce nicotine use by kids.

Click here to listen to the full interview with state Rep. Maria Cervania.

NC State Professor of Political Science Steven Greene (Photo: NCSU)

The Trump administration continues to enact, retreat from, and then renew dozens of norm-shattering policies that threaten to alter and undermine the fundamentals of our economy and even American democracy itself. From the massive and unilaterally imposed budget and staffing cuts to key federal agencies, to the on-again-off-again economic tariffs, to the unprecedented and deeply disturbing disappearances of immigrants, Trump has unleashed a fusillade of controversial actions.

So, what does it all mean and where might it all lead? Recently, NC Newsline’s Rob Schofield got a chance to discuss these questions with an expert who’s been monitoring developments very closely – NC State University professor of political science, Dr. Steven Greene.

Click here to listen to the full interview with NC State political science professor Steven Greene.

Journalist Kevin Hardy (Courtesy photo)

Recent federal government budget and staffing cuts imposed by the Trump administration and Elon Musk’s so-called Department of Government Efficiency are having devastating impacts in dozens of areas, but one that’s received less attention than it probably deserves is agriculture. As journalist Kevin Hardy of the national news outlet Stateline reported recently, the administration has yanked funding for programs that allowed schools and food banks to buy fresh products from small farms.

Originally funded under the Biden administration’s American Rescue Plan, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s local food programs aided some of the nation’s most disadvantaged farmers and ranchers, including newcomers and small farmers and those who have faced racial discrimination, while channeling fresh food and produce to schools and food banks. Now the programs are gone and as Hardy told NC Newsline when we caught up with him earlier this week, the damage being inflicted is widespread and deep.

Click here to listen to the full interview with Stateline journalist Kevin Hardy.

Leighton Ku, lead author and Director

As NC Newsline has reported at length recently, Republicans in Congress are seeking to enact massive and unprecedented cuts to two of the nation’s core social safety net programs — Medicaid and SNAP food assistance. And while it’s not hard to show how such cuts will impact the people in need who depend on those programs, a new report from the Commonwealth Fund and The George Washington University School of Public Health points to another big and worrisome likely impact. It warns that the proposed cuts could trigger severe economic consequences — including the loss of a million jobs, a $113 billion decline in the gross domestic products of U.S. states, and $8.8 billion in lost state and local tax revenue in 2026 alone. And recently, to learn more, Newsline caught up with the report’s lead author, the Director of the Center for Health Policy Research at The George Washington University, Professor Leighton Ku.

Click here to listen to the full interview with Leighton Ku.

Jason Husser (Photo: Elon.edu)

As has been well-documented in recent weeks, the Trump administration is implementing a massive and chaotic bloodletting of the federal government. From the attempted elimination of the Department of Education to the evisceration of several other key departments — including the National Weather Service and the Department of Veterans Affairs — President Trump and Elon Musk have moved, without legislative authorization, to end or dramatically reduce funding for a host of programs and initiatives.

So how is this playing with North Carolina voters? According to new survey data released by the Elon University Poll, not so well. As NC Newsline learned in a recent special extended conversation with the poll’s director, Prof. Jason Husser, North Carolinians are skeptical of the cuts and deeply divided over the President’s mass immigrant deportation initiatives and his overall job performance.

Click here to listen to the full interview with poll director Jason Husser.

Rep. Lindsey Prather (D-Buncombe Co.)

It was six months ago that Hurricane Helene devastated much of western North Carolina with record-breaking rainfall and flooding. Since that time, federal, state and local officials have worked in determined — often heroic — fashion to help communities recover.

Click here to listen to our full interview with Rep. Prather.

Journalist Sara Murphy (Courtesy photo)

The devastation wrought by Hurricane Helene in western North Carolina six months ago was, in many communities, enormous. Few aspects of normal life escaped being upended, and one very important such area was child care.

As journalist Sara Murphy detailed in a recent report published by NC Newsline and the national news site, the Hechinger Report, six months after the storm, many young children and their families are still struggling with the disaster’s consequences. At least 55 early child care centers were damaged in the storm, and several remain shut or are operating out of a temporary location. And the ramifications for kids, parents and the region’s economy continue to take a toll.

Click here to listen to the full interview with veteran journalist Sara Murphy.