'Tells us so much': Surprise as Trump's 'remarkable' speech catches insiders off guard

President Donald Trump's speech at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool was a revealing one, according to CNN observers.

Trump held a small press conference at the pool Monday to deliver his "closing message" ahead of the midterm elections. The most recent polls showed Democrats not only retaking the House of Representatives, but also likely retaking control of the Senate as well. Democrats have said one of their primary objectives would be to impeach Trump if they were to regain power.

During the speech, Trump meandered through claims about how beautiful Washington, D.C. has become during his second administration, and pointed to the Reflecting Pool behind him as an example of it.

Hunt could barely keep it together while she discussed the "remarkable" speech during the opening segment of "The Arena."

"Laughing aside, it tells us somuch," Hunt said.

"It's infront of a pet constructionproject that, let's be real, theteam he hired botched. The average price of a gallon of gas has soared above $4 across the country. Trump wasnot in a battleground statealongside a Senate candidate. Hewas not at a big, energetic MAGArally. Instead, it was just aman. He's in there somewhere,standing in front of a pool,asking you to love it," Hunt said.

Kristen Holmes, CNN's White House correspondent, told Hunt that sources she spoke to were surprised about the content of Trump's speech. Earlier in the day, a White House press official said that Trump would "contrast" his accomplishments against the Democrats.

Instead, viewers were treated to a meandering speech, where the first 22 minutes were dedicated to talking about his Reflecting Pool renovation project, which has been mired in scandal.

"Iwould say this is targeted to avery niche audience and not onethat I think is probably goingto be going out to vote in themidterms," Holmes said.