Fox host struggles to defend Trump economy as guest delivers stark on-air warning to GOP

Fox News host Bret Baier was struggled to defend President Donald Trump in a segment about the economy.

The conversation was with former Gov. Nikki Haley (R-S.C.), who is cautioning members of her party that the November midterm election isn't looking good for them and they should adjust accordingly.

The Mirror's US site noted that Haley specifically cited recent polls showing Americans don't agree with the president's optimism on the economy.

The new Fox News poll from January show that Americans are broadly dissatisfied with their elected leaders.

Among the findings is that their economic situation is either the same or worse than it was when Trump took over a year ago. Only 24 percent said they are better off today, while 39 percent say they are worse off, and 36 percent reported no change.

Americans are worried about the stagnant inflation, Haley said.

"There has not been enough focus on the affordability issue for Americans," she said.

"You still have too many kids living at home, you still have people who can't deal with rent, you see people, they have less money in their wallets, and you can't look at the stock market and say the economy is doing well," Haley said.

"We're looking at now $39 trillion in debt. Social Security is going to run out in over six years, leaving 75 million Americans having to make a choice. Something needs to be done," she urged.

The former United Nations Ambassador now serves as the Walter P. Stern Chair for the Hudson Institute. The report noted that there has been no mention of "fiscal conservatism" since Trump took office.

"Fiscal conservatism has not been talked about at all during this administration, and I think now is the time to focus on the value of the dollar, which is weakening," she concluded.

Compared with the new Fox poll, a Gallup survey found that, for the first time in history, American optimism about the coming years has fallen below 60 percent.

The January 2026 jobs report was released on Wednesday, showing that the U.S. added 130,000 jobs, but the unemployment rate only fell slightly. They also issued a revision for the jobs that they said were added in 2025. According to the numbers, 2025 saw 584,000 new jobs. It has now been revised to create a total of 181,000 jobs that year, a CNN reporter posted. That's a 70 percent reduction.

The unemployment rate fell to 4.3 percent in January, the lowest since July. That number is down from 4.4 percent in Dec. 2025, so it moved one-tenth of a percent.

She told Baier that the GOP will lose if they don't get it together. But Baer showed Haley her Oct. 2024 comments in which she said that her daughter couldn't afford groceries.

"With Donald Trump, we know what we're gonna get," she said.

Baier said there are those in the Trump administration reassuring people of "hope" that things will get better later this year.

Viewers remarked that Republicans in Congress are too focused on "dumb" bills clogging Congress, The Mirror reported.

"Nothing worse than a Trump economy, Bitcoin has crashed and died, the stock market crashes every [third] day, the Main Street economy is braindead," wrote one critic.