The hosts and panelists of MS NOW’s “Morning Joe” broke down Tuesday why Republicans are internally worried heading into President Trump’s forthcoming State of the Union address.
“Americans do not feel, despite what Donald Trump may be telling them over the last year or so, like their lives are getting better, like things are affordable,” co-anchor Willie Geist noted Tuesday morning, while detailing Trump’s low approval ratings among multiple key demographics. “[It will be] a tall task for Donald Trump to sell that the state of the union is strong tonight,” Geist said.
“You guys have painted a pretty bleak picture for Republicans. I actually think it’s worse than what you painted, because it’s not just that he’s losing independents,” Axios CEO and “Morning Joe” panelist Jim VandeHei responded. “It’s not just that he’s underwater in terms of his popularity. It’s that you see a massive gap in the enthusiasm among Democrats, which is high, and Republicans, which is low.”
“He’s losing independents, he has an unmotivated Republican Party and a highly motivated Democratic Party,” VandeHei continued. “If you look at all of the local institution and state races over the last couple of months, Democrats are routinely outperforming their performance two years ago. That is a bad, bad sign.”
The Axios CEO added, “I can’t find a single Republican I talk to that doesn’t think they’re going to get clobbered in November.” You can watch the full “Morning Joe” segment yourself below.
VandeHei argued that the most distressing thing for Republicans is not their low approval ratings but the disconnect between the party itself and Trump. “Here’s the thing: Trump does not seem to care,” the Axios CEO explained. “When I talk to Republicans who are going in there, they’re like, ‘Please, please, please stop talking about tariffs. Stop talking about Venezuela. Stop talking about Greenland. Please, talk about affordability. We’ve got to win the House. We’ve got to win the Senate,’ and nothing. He just does not care. I think he thinks he’s killing it.”
“Republicans are always going to say great things about him in public, but in private, they are really, really worried,” VandeHei concluded. In response, “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough detailed many of the controversies and scandals that are plaguing the Republican Party right now. “It doesn’t mean Republicans can’t win. Six months is a long time,” Scarborough noted. “But I’ve never seen as toxic of a political situation for any party.”
“I’ve never seen a president of that party seem to care less about their fate. There seems to be this massive, massive disconnect,” Scarborough continued. “I don’t know what Republicans do, to be honest with you.” Building off Scarborough’s remarks, VandeHei said Trump’s one-man-show form of governing has only widened the gap between him and other elected Republicans.
“I don’t think he cares if he gets impeached because he knows he would never get removed from office,” VandeHei explained. “If you’re in Congress, you’re in a hell of a vice. You want to be so loyal to the president. You don’t want MAGA to turn on you. But you’re looking at the exact same polls we are, and for people who are skeptical of polls, maybe one poll is wrong. But if every poll over every week says the exact same thing on every topic, it’s probably what people think.”
