Former MSNBC Hardball host Chris Matthews believes that President Donald Trump remains popular with the majority of Americans, despite recent polls showing a decrease in his approval ratings.
Appearing on the latest edition of A Charlie Rose Global Conversation, Matthews said he “doesn’t buy” the recent polls, arguing “the country is moving towards Trump!” A recent Gallup poll put Trump’s approval rating at 37%, while a CNN poll had him at 41%.
“[Trump’s] strength is still greater than the Democratic strength,” Matthews told Rose. “He is a stronger public figure than the Democratic people. I mean, [Barack] Obama still has tremendous charisma, but Trump has strength. And I think that’s what all voters look for. They want a president who is a strong figure. And he’s got it. It’s just there. And half the country buys it.”
He continued, “To be honest with you, the country is moving towards Trump! These polls, they come out and show him not doing well… I don’t buy that.”
In addition to the Gallup and CNN polls, the most recent Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll had Trump’s approval ratings at 40% in July. This figure is lower than that of other recent presidents at the start of their second terms.
Matthews seemed to not take the polls seriously, stating that Trump knows how to connect to the country on a cultural level. “He’s very good at knowing your condition, your worries, your insecurities. I mean, he’d be a great bully in a grade school, a Catholic high school or grade school. I mean, he’d be the scariest bully because he’d know everybody’s weakness,” he quipped.
“But he’s really good at the moment. I mean, he’s out there watching television and keeping up, and, ‘Is this the right thing to do, what we’re doing right now?’” Mattews added. “[Joe] Biden couldn’t do that in a million years, not a million years. [Walter] Mondale couldn’t do that. They don’t have the connection to the electricity of what’s going on in the country culturally. And he knows what works.”
While Trump’s approval ratings are down, the President continues to remain popular among his Republican base, despite recent backlash from MAGA supporters over Trump’s handling of the Jeffrey Epstein scandal. According to CNN, 88% of GOPers still back the president, and Quinnipiac has the figure at 90%.
“My Poll Numbers within the Republican Party, and MAGA, have gone up, significantly, since the Jeffrey Epstein Hoax was exposed by the Radical Left Democrats and, just plain “troublemakers,”” Trump wrote on Truth Social on July 20. “They have hit 90%, 92%, 93%, and 95%, in various polls, and are all Republican Party records. The General Election numbers are my highest, EVER! People like Strong Borders, and all of the many other things I have done. GOD BLESS AMERICA. MAGA!”