A report that Donald Trump will be leaving the White House and hitting the road in the next few weeks to boost his wretched polling numbers drew a laugh from a Democratic strategist and a comment that the White House is in panic mode.
Two days ago Politico reported that Trump will start campaigning surprisingly early, and on a weekly basis, as his poll numbers flounder and he drags the Republican Party down with him.
Speaking with Sarah Matthews, who served in the first Trump administration, MS NOW 's Chris Jansing said, “I mean, traditionally, when a president is unpopular, members of his party actually don't want him to come visit.”
“I would tend to think right now that having him out on the campaign trail is probably music to Democrats' ears,” Matthews quickly replied. “I think that normally, in past election cycles, when Trump hasn't been on the ballot, it has been useful for Republicans to have him out there. He's able to excite the base and get low-propensity voters out to the polls, even when he is not on the ballot.”
“But the thing is that, heading into the 2026 midterms, even though Trump is not on the ballot, his policies will be and proven to be very unpopular, as we've seen in this polling,“ Matthews added. “So if I'm a Republican running in the 2026 midterms, I probably don't want to be campaigning with Trump because I think that it would be tough to explain to voters when Trump is out there giving speeches saying that we've defeated inflation and that the economy is great.”
“How do you square that circle with voters who are not experiencing those things?” she asked.
Turning to Democratic strategist Yasmin Radjy from Swing Left, Jansing asked, “Is him going on the campaign trail week after week after week, music to the ears of Democrats?”
“You know, I think it's great for Democrats,” she replied with a laugh. “We welcome him to visit every competitive swing district because, just as Sarah said, he is so unpopular. It's poll after poll of where he is with swing voters.”
Turning back to Matthews, the MS NOW host asked, “I wonder if you think this decision to have him go out in January versus what they did the last time, which is wait until after Labor Day, is an indication that they know within the White House they're in trouble.”
“Yeah. As you mentioned, it's a tale as old as time when it comes to Donald Trump in polling,” she responded. “And if it's a favorable poll to him, then it's the best poll ever. But I think that this decision by the White House to have him out on the campaign trail so early shows that they are worried.”
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