Key Points – Fox News co-host Jessica Tarlov this week highlighted President Trump’s significantly poor polling numbers on key issues, citing data showing him down 16 points on the economy, 14 on foreign policy, 26 on handling tariffs, and 32 on the cost-of-living.
-Tarlov also noted that Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” faces substantial opposition, even among some Republican Senators, and predicted Democratic wins in the 2026 midterms.
-While Trump’s overall approval rating in the RealClearPolling average (currently -2.1 net) has slightly improved from April’s tariff-induced lows, he remains consistently underwater, with most individual polls reflecting negative sentiment.
Trump Polling Problems?
Ever since it launched in 1996, Fox News Channel has had liberal and Democratic-leaning guests and contributors, often appearing on the network to argue with the network’s conservative stars.
For many years, this was exemplified by Alan Colmes, the liberal cohost of Sean Hannity on “Hannity and Colmes,” whose job was compared to that of a pro wrestling jobber, or the Harlem Globetrotters’ opponents, the Washington Generals: His job was to go on TV and lose arguments.
The Onion once mocked this dynamic, with the 2006 headline “Alan Colmes’ Death Goes Unreported on Hannity and Colmes,” although to his credit, when Colmes really did pass away in 2017, Hannity did indeed pay tribute to his former partner on his show, declaring “he always put others ahead of himself.”
Fox News has continued to put liberals on the air, mostly of the Colmes variety, and occasionally, nominal Democrats whose advice is always for the Democrats to capitulate to whatever the Republicans want.
But with Jessica Tarlov, the co-host of the Fox show The Five since 2002, Fox may have hired its first-ever liberal host who’s good at arguing. Even if she is on a show where most if not all of her co-panelists are on the other side.
Tarlov on the Polls
In a segment this week, as reported by Mediaite, Tarlov discussed Donald Trump’s sluggish favorability ratings.
“The truth is that the Democrats are very unpopular,” Tarlov said on the show Wednesday. “But so is a lot of what Donald Trump has been doing. So, in polling, Marquette, Fox News, all the goodies, he is down 16 on the economy, down 14 on foreign policy, 26 on handling tariffs, and 32 on cost-of-living.”
She added that Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” isn’t exactly popular at the moment either, with several Republican Senators opposing the bill for a variety of reasons.
“And this reconciliation bill that they’re trying to pass through the Senate right now has opposition from more senators than they can handle.” She also predicted that Democrats would win in the midterm elections.
Still Underwater
According to the RealClearPolling average, as of Thursday, Trump’s approval rating remains underwater by 2.1 points, with an average of 49.8 percent of respondents disapproving of his job performance, and 47.7 percent approving.
That average has had Trump consistently underwater ever since mid-March, although the numbers aren’t as bad for him now as they were during the tariff chaos in April, when he went as far as -6.6 in the average.
Recent individual polls have been quite volatile. The latest from Rasmussen Reports has Trump at +5, while the newest poll this week from The Economist/YouGov puts the president at -6. Quantus Insights, as of earlier this week, has him even. The most recent poll from InsiderAdvantage had Trump at +11, while Reuters/Ipsos had him at -10.
Down in April, Rebounding in May
The Hill this week looked at why Trump’s numbers have improved in May, after they cratered in April, even as he remains underwater overall.
“Taken together, the data suggests that as tariff uncertainty recedes and Americans see the other side of Trump, that of ‘dealmaker in Chief,’ his approval ratings may continue improving, or at least stabilize,” the report said, citing the averages from RCP.
“In that same vein, the House of Representatives’ passing of Trump’s ‘big, beautiful bill,’ with its associated tax cuts, may provide an additional boost for his approval numbers, particularly on the economy,” The Hill added.
However, that assumes no backlash against the numerous spending cuts, including to Medicaid, in the version of the bill that passed the House. Whether those all survive in the Senate version is unclear.
About the Author:
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has authored thousands of articles that focus on politics, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
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