Fox News contributor Kaylee McGhee White on Friday shared some dubious theories about President Donald Trump and his plummeting approval ratings, arguing that they’re dismal because of Democrats — and because Trump himself has set too high a bar for his own success.
White appeared on “The Five” in a segment titled, “Dems Scramble To Find Their Trump.”
“Across the aisle, on the Republican side, there is enormous unity around President Trump, and I think we’re obviously starting to see there are obviously real questions about who will pick up the mantle from him after the midterms,” said Fox News contributor Charlie Hurt.
White chimed in to add that Trump “has an 87% approval rating among Republicans,” citing an unspecified poll.
“And I think, you know … this is part of what we’re seeing from the Democratic side of the aisle,” she continued. “It’s a lot of cope over the fact that they don’t really have a vision, they don’t have a next-generation leader who’s gonna step in and take the place.”
White then argued that this is the primary reason “we hear a lot about how Trump’s approval ratings are cratering,” before making her point that the president’s own past accomplishments have dampened current enthusiasm.
“I think in some ways Trump is a victim of his own success, in that voters expect a lot from him because they know that he can deliver on it,” she said.
“You look at some of his biggest policy achievements from this past year — the elimination of Iran’s nuclear capacities, cracking down on the southern border, basically eliminating illegal immigration across the southern border, keeping women’s spaces for women — these are all issues where he is not just above water with voters, he’s overwhelmingly supported by 80% to 90% of Americans on these key issues.”
An end-of-the-year Gallup poll published earlier this week showed that, specifically, 89% of Republicans approve of the president’s job performance. However, Trump’s overall standing among U.S. adults is only 36%. His lowest approval rating of 34% notably came in 2021 — after the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riots.
Trump won last year’s election after promising to fix the economy after a period of high inflation under former President Joe Biden. Inflation has persisted under Trump despite his claims to the contrary, and his tariffs have increased overall costs for everyday Americans.
Former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly warned the administration in November that they “better get something going” on affordability or risk losing the 2026 midterms. Mere days later, Trump crowned himself “THE AFFORDABILITY PRESIDENT” on social media.
