Fox sounds the alarm on Trump as deranged rally goes off the rails

David Pakman (0:00)

Coming up today, Fox News is sounding the alarm about Republicans. A longtime conservative analyst is warning that Republicans could lose not just the competitive seats, but even races no one thought were in danger, which I agree with. Meanwhile, Trump's new White House press secretary, Katie Zacharia, has a real problem. Suspicions that she may not be an attorney appear to have been confirmed. She has never passed the bar exam as far as multiple investigations have found. When Trump was asked about it, it was really weird.

Trump then spends eight minutes at a rally bragging about cognitive tests and suggests that those who leak information should be shot dead. We also have extraordinary comments about the pope's lung cancer, a remarkable interview about Vladimir Putin. And we will speak to Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, who's in the middle of a reelection campaign, all of that and more today.

If we have time for it.

Something fascinating is happening at Fox News. We now have longtime political analyst Brit Hume, a right wing guy by all accounts, raising pretty serious concerns about Donald Trump's approval rating, what it means for Republicans in the midterms that are now just days away. And what I think is most notable about this is Brit Hume isn't just talking about, oh, Republicans might lose a few competitive races. It might just like by a little bit, it might go in the direction of Democrats. He is saying we may be on the precipice here on the cliff of a broader electoral shift, including races that Republicans would consider safe. It's not just toss ups that might go a little bit to the Democrats. Safe Republican districts may go to Democrats. Hume's been covering politics for decades. He has seen more. If you're not familiar with him, he's more like the traditional conservative analyst on Fox News. And when he starts openly questioning, you know, should Trump even be on the campaign trail? Is he helpful or is he hurting Republicans when he shows up? I think it's worth paying attention to if you're a Republican. Let's take a listen to what Brit Hume had to say.

SPEAKER_2 (2:29)

Big Senate races, also some governors races.

But if you look at our poll, the new poll out tonight, which party would be better to handle? And you ask a list of questions, foreign policy, gas prices, inflation and prices. And you see Democrats with pretty significant leads in places where Republicans have been, especially when it comes to foreign policy.

Brit Hume (2:52)

Absolutely, Brett, I mean, those are the three major issues right there.

And the Republicans are way underwater by any number of points there that the polls reflect. And the polling is similar about the president himself. He's out there saying he wants everybody to act like he's on the ballot. Well, that's fine if you're simply trying to turn out Republicans. But the polls, the polling that we now have show that his support among Republicans has diminished since election day. And they're also showing that his approval rating is, what, 36 percent?

That means you might get 36 percent of the vote out. But look, 64 percent disapproved, that is really bad at this stage when he's out there front and center. And it may raise the question in the minds of some people whether he should be out there front and center the way he is, given his standing.

David Pakman (3:51)

That's exactly the question.

This is an accurate analysis. Like I know it's Brit Hume on Fox News. He's basically right. Trump's approvals are around 36 percent optimistically. There's one poll that has him at 29

That's bad, whether it's 29 or 36, it's bad. And then it's a question that George W. Bush faced back in 2008 Do I help or hurt my party if I'm out there campaigning, campaigning for John McCain? And should Trump be be as visible as he is? The argument is a very straightforward one, and it is a difficult one for Republican candidates to make because they have to decide in these final days of the campaign. How closely do we want to associate ourselves with Trump? Trump is a major figure in the Republican Party. There's no one more powerful than Trump, even as unpopular as Trump is. You can't look at someone else and go, here's a more powerful person in the Republican Party. He does get attention. He can bring in fundraising. He can generate enthusiasm among the slice of the Republican electorate that likes Trump. But the other side to the calculation is if a president is unpopular with the broader electorate to make every race a referendum on that president is risky. And you could be creating problems for candidates who might actually do better if Trump doesn't get involved and they just focus on local issues. And what Brit Hume is acknowledging is that there is attention there. But then he goes further.