U.S. President Donald Trump reacts during an event with Artemis II astronauts at the WHite House (REUTERS)
MS NOW Anchor Nicole Wallace and panelists took turns ruining President Donald Trump’s look of impatience with voters while he obsesses over his various pet projects around the U.S. Capitol.
“This is who he is,” said Wallace, referring to a photo of Trump hoisting a design of his beloved White House ballroom and flaunting it to the media. “He doesn't give a hoot about your economic despair, couldn't care less and has no clue how much eggs cost or anything else. He’s angry at you for caring about the price of gas, is angry at you for caring about losing your health care, is angry at Marjorie Taylor Greene for caring about the promise about ‘no forever wars,’ is angry at Tucker Carlson for calling BS on him, betraying his voters on all those. All of the above.”
“But what does he care about enough to carry it around in his pocket?” demanded Wallace. “We've really never seen him produce a picture of any of his children or wife, for that matter. But he carries [a photo of the ballroom] around everywhere he goes.”
“It's not about the dollars,” said former Democratic Strategist Dan Kanninen. “It's about his focus — and it's not on you. In fact, to your point, he's angry that voters want to pull him away from this pet project, and he has loathing for them. I think that’s coming through [to voters] at this point.”
At this, Wallace played footage of an earlier interview she’d conducted with Bulwark Editor Sarah Longwell, where Longwell shared insight about souring reaction from people who had voted for Trump in 2024.
“The focus groups allow you to hear people say, ‘it makes me want to cry like it is causing me pain. I have to choose between whether I can get groceries or whether I pay for my kids to be able to, to, to participate on the soccer team,’” said Longwell, quoting respondents in Bulwark surveys. “Last year … [people] were like, ‘well, he's not fixing things, but Rome wasn't built in a day. We have patience. Give him some time.’ That is not how they sound now. Now they sound like, ‘What is he doing in Iran? What is he doing with the ballroom? Why is he focused on all this other stuff? Nothing's getting better for me.’”
“I mean, tragically, things aren't going to get better anytime soon,” Wallace estimated.