Fox host admits midterms ‘will be hard’ for GOP as Trump’s unpopularity weighs down party

Fox News host Kayleigh McEnany was forced to admit Saturday that Republicans faced an uphill battle in the upcoming midterm elections, remarks she made as President Donald Trump’s historic unpopularity appears to be hurting GOP candidates at the ballot box, The Hill reported.

“I think there’s a sense he’s doing things,” McEnany said, who previously served as Trump’s White House press secretary during his first administration, according to The Hill.

“Not to put too rosy a picture on it though, midterms will be hard for Republicans. It’s just historically difficult to win when you’re in power, but I would like my odds more with this president than prior presidents.”

After launching a war against Iran in late February, Trump’s favorability among Americans has sunk to the lowest level of his political career, reaching a net approval of -21.4 as of Thursday, per the polling aggregator FiftyPlusOne. The president’s waning support has appeared to impact GOP candidates’ election prospects, with “many Republican leaders” now “privately” conceding the midterms to already be lost, the Associated Press reported Friday.

While defending Trump in her remarks, Kayleigh appeared aware that the current midterm outlook for Republicans was grim.

Trump’s favorability has slipped gradually throughout his second stint in the White House, though it reached new lows in the wake of the U.S. war against Iran, which remains “broadly” unpopular with a majority of Americans.