A seasoned Fox News political commentator offered a blunt assessment when presented with polling data showing President Donald Trump's poll numbers coming back down to earth.
Trump began his term with majority approval following his election win.
But he now finds himself trailing his predecessors as he approaches the 100-day mark of his second administration – with tariffs and the economy evidently driving the drop.
'So much of what he’s undertaken remains a work in progress and, you know, they haven’t got any trade deals yet. The tariffs are out there and people are worried about them and don’t like them. We don’t know how that’s going to play out,' said Fox political commentator Brit Hume.
He was discussing Trump's 44 percent approval rating, which is a point behind where he was at the same point in his first term.
By contrast, President Joe Biden was at 54 percent, Barack Obama was at 62 percent, and George W. Bush was at 63 percent – indicating that the second-term Trump is not enjoying any kind of comparable political 'honeymoon.'
'We don’ know how the foreign policy endeavors are going to pan out. We don’t have peace between Ukraine and Russia, which he promised,' Hume continued. 'So there’s a lot of work to be completed which, if done successfully, I think would dramatically elevate his current approval rate.'
In a sign that the poll hit home, Trump raged at Rupert Murdoch's media empire, which includes Fox, in a Thursday morning post.
Fox News commentator Brit Hume had a grim responded to new network polling showing Trump's public approval rating running well behind his predecessors at the 100-day mark
'Rupert Murdoch has told me for years that he is going to get rid of his FoxNews, Trump Hating, Fake Pollster, but he has never done so. This “pollster” has gotten me, and MAGA, wrong for years. Also, and while he’s at it, he should start making changes at the China Loving Wall Street Journal. It sucks!!!'
The Journal's editorial page has been hammering Trump's tariffs. Murdoch is Chairman Emeritus of Fox Corporation and News Corp, which control both outlets.
The Fox poll reflects public concern with the economy – an issue that helped propel Trump's reelection.
It follows a multi-nation trade war that Trump instigated when he slapped tariffs on Canada and Mexico, then imposed a 10 percent tariff on all imports, and slapped individual 'reciprocal' tariffs on more than 60 countries, only to then pause them for 90 days.
Markets tanked, only to shoot up on days when Trump or his team have talked up the potential for deals like they did Monday and Wednesday. Overall, the S&P 500 is down about 10 percent for the year.
A polling average produced by The Hill has Trump's approval just under 45 percent, with 52 percent disapproval. The Hill's pollster, Chris Stirewalt, says he was fired from Fox News after the 2020 elections after making the controversial decision to call Arizona for Joe Biden, who won the state and the presidency.
In another troubling sign foe the president, a Reuters poll last week gave Trump just 37 percent approval on the economy.
'He’s way down on, right at the moment on the economy and even way down further on tariffs, which are of course part of that,' said Hume. 'So, you know foreign policy rating isn’t good and and so on.'
He noted that the one issue where Trump had high approval was on the border – where there has been a stunning reduction in apprehensions since Trump took office.
Trump raged at Rupert Murdoch, Chairman Emeritus of Fox Corporation and News Corp, and blasted network polling
Trump came in lower than he did at this point in his first term
'Everything else, including immigration, which for some reason was separated from the border in this particular poll, a little bit underwater on immigration,' he said.
That could reflect controversy over other elements of Trump's migration policy.
An Economist/YouGov poll had 50 percent support for bringing back Kilmar Abrego Garcia, the Maryland man and Salvadoran immigrant who was deported to a notorious Venezuelan prison last month despite a judge's order not to remove him.
Although Trump lashed out at the poll, he has appeared responsive to market moves in recent days. This week he said he had 'no intention' of firing Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell, and spoke about lowering the 145 percent tariffs that he slapped on China.
