Megyn Kelly turned on President Donald Trump on Thursday after new polling showed Democrats gaining ground on the economy, telling viewers, “You’re effed.”
Kelly said Americans feel like they gave Trump “a year-and-a-half” and now “don’t tend to like the tariffs,” “don’t like the war,” and “don’t like what’s happening in their bank accounts.” Her warning came a day after a poll showed 52 percent of registered voters favored Democrats on the economy, compared with 48 percent for Republicans.
The numbers were worse for Trump in the same survey. Sixty-six percent of respondents disapproved of his handling of the economy, 63 percent disapproved of his handling of Iran and 72 percent opposed his handling of inflation. Kelly said Americans prefer Democrats to Republicans on the economy “for the first time since 2010,” adding, “first time in 16 years.”
That matters because the economy has long been Republicans’ strongest argument, and the latest polling suggests Trump is losing that edge as the midterm fight comes into view. The Cook Political Report also found Democrats hold a 6-point advantage over Republicans in toss-up congressional districts, even though Trump won those districts by an average of two points in 2024.
Kelly, who endorsed Trump in 2024 and has more than four million subscribers on YouTube, has repeatedly criticized him since then, especially over the Iran war. Earlier this week, she called him amoral and “extremely petty and thin-skinned,” and said he was “bamboozled” into launching the war. Trump last week called Kelly a “low IQ person.”
On Thursday, Kelly said Trump has “cratered” and that his support is “done,” urging him, “You need to adjust something ASAP.” She added that “it’s important to talk about it now, when we’re several months in advance in the midterm, maybe something could be done.” On Friday, Axios co-founder and CEO Jim VandeHei said Trump’s polling numbers likely signal trouble ahead.
The message from Kelly was blunt, but the math behind it was blunter. If the numbers hold, Republicans enter the midterm season with a weaker economic case than they have had in years, and Trump has already become the liability that message writers usually try to avoid naming aloud.
