The hosts of MS NOW’s “Morning Joe” unpacked Thursday how the pro-Democrat results of a recent political poll reflect the ongoing fractures and problems plaguing the Republican Party.
In a Marist Poll conducted by NPR and PBS, 55% of the polled Americans said they would rather vote for Democratic candidates over Republican nominees if the 2026 midterm elections were today. Only 41% said they would vote Republican. “What Americans are saying is, ‘We’re not happy with the way things are going in this country right now,’” co-anchor Willie Geist said, calling the gap between Republican and Democrat support in the poll a “massive split.”
“Americans don’t like what they’re seeing,” Geist concluded, prompting “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough to lay the blame for Republicans’ current problems at the feet of President Trump. “They’ve gotten to 100 days in, and now they don’t have any plans,” Scarborough said. “Donald Trump’s knocking down the White House. He’s making these wacky deals with Argentinian beef people. He’s got the Saudi prince coming in. Again, the feeling is a huge disconnect.”
“What’s the difference between now and back during his first term? Well, the economy was chugging along pretty well during the first term,” Scarborough continued. “Today, look at all these numbers. The president can say it’s a hoax. People under 40 can’t buy homes. Grocery prices are still going up.” You can watch the full “Morning Joe” segment yourself in the video below.
“Morning Joe” co-host Jonathan Lemire chimed in to note how Trump’s previously unstoppable momentum has slowed to a crawl. “President Trump and his team had four years out of power and, with the help of Project 2025 and other matters, they came back with a game plan and experience to how to use the levers of government, the levers of power, and they did,” Lemire said. “They were a steamroller on nearly every issue for months, but that has really changed.”
“They saw the voters deliver their verdict at the elections a couple of weeks ago. We tick through the polls, [they’re] getting worse for the president by the day,” Lemire added. “There’s a real sense that he is distracted. He’s lost focus. He is thinking about things like the East Wing rather than driving down prices.”
The “Morning Joe” co-host went on to observe, “We’ve seen Democrats for the first time this year be emboldened, and we’ve seen Republicans start to be willing to challenge him, which in his mind hastens that lame duck status.”
In Scarborough’s opinion, there is no question why certain Republicans have begun to move away and publicly push back against Trump. “They see one of the most historic [polling] gaps between Republicans and Democrats and they know they’re in trouble,” he offered. “They all know they’re in trouble.”
