The GOP Needs to Get President Trump Out There for the Midterms, Says Former Bush Speechwriter

It's really one of the biggest blowout skyrocketing job numbers that we've seen in a long time. Trump's policies are working, and it's very visible in the data. I just don't accept that fact that no one's feeling the benefit. I'm glad that there are jobs being created, but it doesn't do a lot of good to have a job if you can't afford gas, you can't afford groceries because those prices are skyrocketing. Well, the economic report, the jobs report out today much exceeded expectations. If you look at the labor report out, 162,000 jobs gained, the expectations were 56,000. The unemployment rate stayed at 4.1%. Wall Street Journal writes it this way, U.S. adds whopping 162,000 jobs in a bright spot for the economy. Federal Reserve officials had already made clear that inflation data more than anything else would help them decide whether or not to raise rates at this month's meeting, even if the strong August employment report doesn't change that calculus, it does remove an objection to raising rates. The president says bring them down. Let's bring in our panel, Fox News contributor Mark Thiessen, Democratic strategist Taryn Rosenkranz, and Axios political reporter Steph Kight. Okay, Mark, obviously this is a bright spot. They didn't see it coming. Yep, no, absolutely. Look, except for gas prices, the economy is actually quite strong. Productivity is up, core CPI is about 2.5%, which is a little bit higher than we'd want it to be. And it's a very different situation from the last midterm elections in 2022 under Biden, when you had the worst inflation in four decades, worst crime wave, worst foreign policy debacle, the border crisis, and he did pretty well. In this case, Biden had the Afghan thing hanging over his head. Today, Iran is turning around. We've got control of the strait, where there's almost as much oil going through as pre-war levels. And Trump had a very good message when he went out and said to the American people, look, I know gas is high at $4, but that's the price of stopping Iran from having a nuclear weapon. That's gotta be a key message, because Americans, if you explain to them what the stakes are and ask them to support you and make a sacrifice for the security of the country, they'll do it, but you have to ask. The markets kind of spooked. They went down because, you know, the fear of rates going up. The president doesn't like that dynamic. He talks about it all the time. He did again today. Every time you have good numbers, the stock market goes down. When you have bad numbers, it goes up because of the stupidity of the way they think about inflation. And growth does not cause inflation. Stupidity causes inflation. And we have to change our ways. And obviously, he took to True Social saying, lower the rate or I'll stop trading with countries with which we have a deficit. A not so veiled message to the new Fed chair, Kevin Warsh. Yeah, I mean, this has been a long saga of the president wanting to see these interest rates go down. He's put a lot of pressure on the Fed to do so. And of course, he's preemptively frustrated at this news, worried that it could go in the opposite direction that he wants. And he's taking extreme measures now threatening trade. And it goes to show just how even a good moment, it's really hard for this administration to focus on that and tout the jobs numbers because it always comes down to inflation. We saw that in twenty twenty four, especially. It doesn't matter to many American voters if the job numbers are great. They want to be able to afford things at the grocery store. And it comes back to the affordability issue, which Trump knows instinctively is still going to be an issue. And I think you're getting some of that frustration. Yeah. And obviously, Democrats are running with that in pretty much every race around the country. There is an upside down. If you look at money raised with Republicans and Democrats, as we look towards the midterm, the president was asked about that today and his super PAC, if he's spending it. When will your super PAC, MAGA, Inc. start spending on? Can you spend more? Well, I have I think I have like a close to a billion dollars in the super PAC and allocating probably four or five hundred million dollars. So I'll be spending and obviously be in Texas next week for the midterm convention, the first of its kind. Are Democrats worried about the disparity on money? I know the message they've got. They talk affordability a lot. But what about the money spending on campaigns? I think they're very worried about money. I mean, we all are when you see this onslaught of advertisements that are going to come in between now and Election Day. And I do think that they're going to keep talking about what the impact is and what we need to do and how we get there. And that's going to mean a change at the ballot box. And so I think people are going to want to make sure that message is out there. I know they're feeling it and I know they're doing it, but it's a lot when you got a lot of things pouring at you constantly, 24-7 and social media and on the airwaves. So I think there's definite concern. I think that's the biggest concern that Democrats are feeling right now. Yeah. And while I have you, I mean, in the midst of this, Republicans are jumping on the socialism and DSA candidates and the focus on socialism. And this is the time that Chicago chooses to have a socialism conference. Yeah. We had a reporter there and here's some of that. We'll have the majority on our side one day or another. The only way that we're going to get through those barriers and those obstacles is to believe and have hope. What do you think about Leader Jeffries and Schumer? I think they collaborate way too much with Trump. We've never had full communism. So we've only had capitalism in our lifetime. So it actually could be so much better. Do you think this is a small part or a big part of this election? I actually think it's a small part of this election. I think we all know what it's saying. All politics is local and we're going to really feel that in races across the country. And it's going to come to those kitchen table issues. It's going to come to the economic impact that people are feeling. We can't just tell them it's a rosy economy. Jobs are coming. They need to feel like they have enough extra money. As you said, with these record gas prices and then the most expensive travel weekend, people feel that. And then they're going to keep feeling that every time they go to the grocery store, every time they're getting their medicine from the pharmacy. So I think no matter what we say and do, I think that socialism is about putting money back into people's pockets. That's a very small group. That convention wasn't even put on by the Democratic Socialists of America. I think it's just such a small part. And you're seeing the excitement around it in very, very liberal places. And that's not where these races, these hard-fought races are really going to be when it comes to November. Although there's a couple of them that are really high profile. Michigan. Michigan is in a small place. And so yeah, I think socialism is going to be a big issue because one of the things that Democrats have, the mistake they keep making with Trump is to make it about Trump. That if you just, he's so unpopular and he's so toxic that that'll get us over the top and people will not vote for you if they don't like the alternative. You're presenting. And right now the alternative, the Democrats presenting by association is the DSA and socialism. And so, you know, it's a problem for them. They have to present something that American voters are going to want to include as opposed to what they want to exclude. Do you think that we're going to see at this midterm convention, this kind of turn that the president is on the ballot and he is going to go around and defend everything the administration has done to try to lift up the MAGA base, especially in these places where getting out the vote is going to matter? Absolutely. He's treating it like he's on the ballot. I think he's going to go to 35 states, 35 states in 35 days or something like that, or 30 for 30. Um, he's, he's having a convention, which was going to, obviously he's going to be the highlight of it. Best thing that can happen for the Republicans is to get him out there. Because again, a lot of these elections these days, it's, it's, it's about bringing out your base. It's a play, especially in midterms when there's, when it's an off year election, the, the, the goal is to energize your base more than the other side's base. And the Republicans already have the money advantage and they've got a Trump advantage. Uh, and if they use both of those and Trump spends that 400, 500 million dollars, which I want to see that happen, uh, the, the things could turn out better than they think. Yeah. Elon's putting in money too. Um, go ahead. Well, I was going to say, I think Republican leadership is hoping that Trump changes his tune and does become more focused on in the terms. I think there has, you know, Republicans I talked to, they've been nervous and feeling like the president has been distracted by DC construction projects, by the war in Iran, by some of these things that they don't view as particularly helpful. They want to see him talking about what they've accomplished more. And they want to see that MAGA Inc money start flowing, especially in a race like Texas that should not have been competitive competitive, but now is because of the candidate there. So I think, you know, I think that is the hope that this midterm convention kind of turns things around. But I hear from a lot of Republicans who hope the president does kind of lean in on their successes. I think he does have to talk about the war, but he has to be here because the war to some extent is, is, is dragging down the Republicans because people are upset that they have high gas prices, but they need to understand why they're doing it. Why are you paying more at the pump right now? All the other indicators are good, except gas prices are a little bit too high. It's to stop Iran from having a nuclear weapon. He has to say that not just once he has to say it over and over again and explain why they're sacrificing. And catch full shows streaming now on Fox one.