MSNBC's Meet the Press Daily, hosted by Katy Tur, began with a concise explanation of the political reality of the 2018 midterm elections.
"A new year is coming, along with a new political reality, but the same president is calling it a bunch of fake news," Tur noted. "President Trump is heading into 2018 talking about a political landscape that arguably doesn't exist."
"In the last few days, he's dismissed the toxic political environment as 'fake polls,' he claimed his insider polls are strong, that good Republican candidates will win big, and nobody is going to beat us. He says the GOP tax plan is very popular and that Democrats are going to get on board with him on health care and infrastructure," Tur recounted.
"And by all accounts, he thinks the Russia probe is going to be over soon. That too, he argues, is a big phony hoax based on a big phony dossier" Tur explained.
"But, guys, the polls aren't fake -- the president is historically unpopular. He's dragging down Republican candidates as the party enters an election season that is historically very bad for the party in power anyway," Tur fact checked. "His tax plan is not popular, there are seemingly more Democrats supporting impeachment than supporting his agenda, and the Russia probe is only getting hotter."
"There's a lot we don't know, but we do know this -- the two biggest political stories as we end 2017 are shaping up to be the two biggest stories in 2018," Tur predicted.
"The first is the toxic political environment for Republicans under President Trump, and the second is the Russia investigation," Tur concluded. "Which brings me back to the president's recent comments. It seems either he has no clue about the reality he is facing or he knows it better than anyone."
Tur introduced former Rep. Tom Davis (R-VA), the former director of the campaign arm of House Republicans.
"Do you think the president realizes the political reality he's facing?" Tur asked.
"I think so," Davis replied. "He's got smart people around him, I think, that tell him this as well, but the Virginia results were absolutely devastating."
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