MS NOW host Nicolle Wallace made a guest appearance on Thursday’s edition of “Morning Joe” and unpacked the irony of President Trump being unable to “recognize” the current economic moment, following his recent speech at a Republican rally in Las Vegas.
“Republicans who preceded Donald Trump were not responsive to what voters in the Republican Party were saying in ’08, in ’12 — that they didn’t want forever wars, that their economic reality was not what they wanted it to be,” the former White House Communications Director for George W. Bush said. “That’s how Donald Trump prevails [in 2016]. He doesn’t hijack the Republican Party; he is the reaction to voters feeling like politicians weren’t responsive to their needs.”
Wallace used that historical context to turn her attention to the current moment, a time in which many everyday Americans feel squeezed by the country’s economy. Trump, however, praised the country’s economy during a rally appearance in Vegas on Wednesday.
“The fact that he’s now creating the exact same dynamic on the other side is — I know we live in post-truth America, I know we live in post-irony America — but it is, to me, one of the great ironies,” Wallace explained. “His inability to recognize this moment.”
Wallace again marveled at the growing disconnect between the president’s ongoing messaging and the state of everyday Americans’ lives.
“Trump doesn’t seem to know where he is,” she noted. “Trump used to be very good at speaking to that economic anxiety and tying it to some crazy stuff. Last night, he didn’t appear to know what state he was in.”
For his part, “Morning Joe” co-host Jonathan Lemire echoed Wallace’s thoughts about the president.
“He’s lost touch. He used to have — like him or dislike him — the guy had a real finger on the pulse of [what] the country, or at least his base, cared about,” he said. “I think that has really faded, in part, because of this bubble he lives in now. Frankly, it’s striking that he’s out in the country at all. He so rarely does that.”
“His priorities are not helping the American people. They’re not trying to deal with affordability, but rather just monuments in Washington or things to enrich himself or his friends, and we’re seeing him lash out,” Lemire added. “That’s just reinforcing the idea — and polls reflect it — [that] Americans think he simply is out of touch and doesn’t care about what they’re going through.”
