The vice president got a rare reality check on friendly turf when a Fox News anchor confronted him with ugly numbers on Trump’s economy.
America’s Newsroom anchor, Bill Hemmer, pressed Vice President JD Vance Wednesday on the grim polling dogging President Donald Trump’s handling of the economy. Hemmer warned that it could be the “issue that might clip” the administration ahead of the midterms.
The 41-year-old vice president appeared on the network to recap Trump’s State of the Union address. Instead, Hemmer came armed with dismal data.
Citing a slate of recent surveys, Hemmer, 61, laid out the bleak landscape: A Fox News poll conducted Jan. 23–26 found just 40 percent approve of 79-year-old Trump’s handling of the economy, while 59 percent disapprove.
Fox also displayed the Wall Street Journal’s survey from that same month, which showed 45 percent approval to 54 percent disapproval. And rounding out the bleak numbers, a Washington Post poll from Feb. 12–17 found 41 percent approval and 57 percent disapproval of Trump’s economy.
Hemmer didn’t sugarcoat the reality to the vice president.
“You’ve got nine months to turn it around,” he told Vance, likening the task to “pushing a car uphill.”
For a brief moment, Vance conceded the administration’s daunting task ahead.
“In some ways, we are pushing a car uphill,” the vice president admitted.
Vance’s moment of reflection was short-lived as the vice president quickly pivoted to blame the widespread dissatisfaction with the economy on former President Joe Biden.
The vice president argued that the Trump administration inherited “such a disaster of an economy,” rattling off failures he attributes to the Biden admin, such as elevated peacetime debt and “skyrocketing inflation.”
Still, Vance insisted brighter days are just around the corner. He claimed Americans have seen a $1,200 increase in take-home pay under Trump compared to what he characterized as $3,000 in losses during Biden’s tenure.
Looking ahead, he said optimistically, “We’re about to get over the hump.”
Trump struck a similar tone in his State of the Union address Tuesday night, blaming Democrats for the current state of the economy while simultaneously boasting that “inflation is plummeting, incomes are rising fast, the roaring economy is roaring like never before.”
The president’s reassurances on the economy aren’t translating to electoral success, even months before the 2026 midterms.
During the president’s controversial State of the Union speech, three Democrats won special elections for House seats in Pennsylvania and Maine.
With Hemmer’s grim warning about the looming midterm elections, Vance urged disapproving Americans to remain patient with the administration.
“Let us continue to fix this mess, make your life better,” he said on Fox, arguing that Trump remains laser-focused on repairing the “inherited” economy.
Vance’s comments come as the president is criticized for delivering a State of the Union address that bore a remarkable resemblance to Biden’s final address.
On Tuesday night, Trump said that “inflation is plummeting,” and added, “Incomes are rising fast.” Two years ago, Biden said, “inflation keeps coming down,” and added, “Wages keep going up.”
The Daily Beast has reached out to the White House for comment.
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