U.S. President Donald Trump shows the signed Hershel "Woody" Williams National Medal of Honor Monument Location Act at the National Medal of Honor Museum in Arlington, Texas, U.S., September 10, 2026. REUTERS/Evan Vucci
President Donald Trump is staring down the barrel of an unfriendly midterm as he gears up for the second night of his party convention in Dallas, said Bob Cusack of the conservative Washington Examiner in an interview on C-SPAN Thursday.
He looked in particular at the new Morning Consult poll, which had voters disapproving of Trump by 55 percent, disapproving of his handling of the economy by 54 percent, and only approving of him on national security by 46 percent.
"Those are bad numbers, there's no doubt about it," said Cusack.
The key takeaway, he said, is voters are angry on the economy, and Republicans don't have a good idea of how to turn that around.
"Republicans thought, okay, when we get into office in 2025, the Big Beautiful Bill will improve the economy, and we're going to sell that in an election year. But ... we interviewed many players, including Senate Majority Leader John Thune. And John Thune said there had been a lot of 'distractions' so that they have not been able to sell the Big Beautiful Bill as much as they wanted."
Those "distractions," he said, include the war in Iran and the endless controversies over the Jeffrey Epstein trafficking case files.
"After he signed the Big Beautiful Bill into law, they were in a situation room two weeks later ... talking with J.D. Vance and the president and other big principles, how they're going to deal with the Epstein files. So really, the message has been very muddled for the GOP," said Cusack.