Strategists on latest Trump, economy poll

Well, those are not great numbers, obviously, but the big winner in the poll might be neither because neither party seems to have a clear answer for how to get this inflation picture and this cost of living, affordability, whatever you want to call it, in check. So the president's policies have just taken effect, so we do have to play it out and see how long this will take. But a lot of the anxiety in that poll was also seen over the weekend in Eric Schmidt being booed at a commencement speech, where he's talking about the future of AI and how it's going to be for these graduates, or Ken Griffin at Citadel saying he's already replacing PhD-level, seven-figure executives. This is scaring everybody. Everybody's worried about the economy. Neither party seems to have a really good answer for it right now. So there is a window where if the economy improves in the short term, Republicans do still have a chance at the midterms, but it's a tough picture right now. Yeah, if you're delivering a commencement address, don't mention the benefits of AI, apparently. The kids do not like it. Michael, I have a question for you, but first, I want to play some sound of Pennsylvania Democratic Governor Josh Shapiro. People are struggling as a result of his tariffs and as a result of his war of choice in Iran, which I oppose and which is driving up the cost of food and fuel and much more. I'm fighting every day to put money back in people's pockets. Unfortunately, Trump keeps taking it out. So what do you make of that, the governor there tying economic concerns directly to the president's policies? But should Democrats spend more time perhaps discussing their own plans about what to do about it rather than attacking the president? Yes, absolutely. I think we can't rest on this notion that voters will tire of Trump. I think that elections are about change. The last couple of elections have all been about change. They've all been defined by change. So Democrats need to articulate why they are different from what's being offered today by the Republican Party, and they need to articulate how they're going to legislate affordability. We can't just say the term affordability over and over again. You have to articulate how you're going to make life more affordable for people. And I think, judging by your poll, the public doesn't seem to view Democrats as a definitive alternative to what we have now. If they did, those numbers would look a little different. And given the conditions for the president, for the Republicans, Democrats have all the tools in the toolbox to have a big wave election year with recruitment, with money, with organization. But that's not reflected so far in the polling, and that's a little bit of a concern. And, Kevin, President Trump railed against Kentucky Republican Congressman Thomas Massie in a Truth Social post we want to show to our viewers. And now we want to play some sound of how Massie responded on ABC News yesterday. I think that's going to help my fundraising at ThomasMassie.com. Every time he tweets about me, it's good for some money coming in because people don't like that. And we just saw Senator Bill Cassidy lose his primary in Louisiana. Massie, of course, has been behind the release of the Epstein files in Congress and a bipartisan approach to pressure the administration to release more documents. So how worried should he be and, really, any other Republican who chooses to openly defy the president? Well, Massie is a very unique case. He's kind of a unicorn in that he occupies this very specific corner of the libertarian-aligned right and that sometimes sides with Trump and sometimes doesn't. So he's gotten a lot of outside-- well, he's gotten a lot of small-dollar money, and he's facing a lot of outside, big-donor money in that race. It's a very expensive race now, and it's become personal between Trump and Massie. It will be interesting, but it's hard to broaden that out to other-- Cassidy was a bit of a different situation. He voted for impeachment. He defied the president a bit on the RFK selection. So yeah, the Massie one will be fascinating to a certain segment inside the Republican Party, but he really is on his own bloc.

But it's a fascinating moment on the Republican side. And, Michael, this question will be for you because even with the president's poor ratings on the economy, his endorsements still propel candidates to victory. So how concerned should Democrats really be about what's coming in November? Yeah, it's a factor that Democrats need to take into consideration as we're looking at the map. As we saw in Indiana, Louisiana-- there's another test for the president on Tuesday. But the loyalty to him and his agenda and his coalition seems to be very durable. And if he can transfer that over in the fall, the Democrats will face a tough time. So I think that it's definitely something that Democrats need to consider going forward and to look at how united at least the Republicans are internally, and that was not the case when President Biden-- when we lost the House in 2022. President Biden's popularity wasn't as popular among Democrats as Trump's are among Republicans.

We'll see what unfolds. Kevin Sheridan and Michael LaRosa, thanks for being with us.