FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Donald Trump gestures after delivering remarks at Red Rock Casino Resort Spa in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., August 5, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo
President Donald Trump is living in a delusional fantasy about his own popularity, Punchbowl News' Jake Sherman told MS NOW on Friday.
Sherman recently sat for a bizarreinterview with the president. Speaking to an MS NOW panel, Sherman registered his "one regret" from that interview, which was not to push back on Trump's insistence about how popular he is.
"The president's approval ratings are not good," said Sherman. Yet Trump seems to believe the only reason the GOP is in trouble is that "voters are angry at Republicans," even though they still like him. "Obviously, I think they are angry at him. And I think polls continue to bear that out. But he is acknowledging that Republicans are bearing the brunt of the anger from the voting public ahead of a midterm."
There's also the simple reality, said Sherman, that presidents almost always lose midterm elections, but Trump can't accept or take accountability for that. "He says, well, I've done a good job. Why should I be? You know, why would it happen to me? And that's his view."
The bottom line, he added, is that "the winds are howling in his face" and "something extraordinary would have to happen" to save the GOP in Congress this year. "And Republicans are effectively banking on having passed one tax cut bill. Plus, now they have a war, which is tremendously unpopular. So that was my takeaway, effectively."