‘That’s Below Freezing!’ Chris Hayes Stunned by New Trump Poll Amid Revolt

MS NOW host Chris Hayes was stunned at a disastrous new poll for President Donald Trump amid a GOP revolt over his “slush fund,” his ballroom, and his revenge moves.

This week, Trump is facing pushback from GOP lawmakers over his $1.776 billion slush fund, funding for his ballroom, his endorsement of Ken Paxton in Texas, and taking out Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA) — one of the Republicans who voted to convict Trump after Jan. 6 — as well as Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY).

On Thursday night’s edition of MS NOW’s All In with Chris Hayes, the host opened the show with a commentary roasting Trump over the “catastrophic” revolt — and marveling at a new poll that puts Trump’s approval at just 31 percent:

CHRIS HAYES: It could not be clearer that Trump has completely alienated Senate Republicans, and many may want revenge of their own. In fact, today one anonymous member of the Senate GOP caucus after this catastrophic caucus lunch they held today, texted a Punch Bowl reporter to say the majority is “melting down.”

Trump already lost that war powers vote in the Senate, I think a few days ago, right? It seems entirely plausible the Democrats would have the votes to pass a bipartisan bill to block his slush fund for January 6th insurrectionists and God knows who else. I mean, just listen to retiring Senator Thom Tillis on Trump’s sedition fund.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Do you believe this is legal what the president is trying to do? What the Department of Justice is trying to do?

TILLIS: I’m not going to be an attorney and judge its legality, but I think it’s stupid on stilts.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why?

TILLIS: Because it will invariably put us in a position where your taxpayer dollars and my taxpayer dollars could potentially compensate someone who assaulted a police officer, admitted their guilt, got convicted, got pardoned, and now we’re going to pay them for that. That’s absurd. The American people are going to reject this out of hand.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAYES: Stupid on stilts. Senator Bill Cassidy also put out a statement against the slush fund, saying it should be put before Congress. And I’m sure Republican Susan Collins of Maine, who is locked in a tough re-election battle, is probably very excited about the possibility of proving her supposed independence to voters.

So, this puts Senate Majority Leader John Thune between a rock and a hard place. Not only does he not have the votes to affirm the slush fund, he likely does not have the votes to stop a bill blocking it. He also does not want to have to stick around Washington, D.C. and keep answering questions about what is, let’s be honest, essentially an indefensible heist of the public trust.

And what’s more, senators are starting to make some noise about the thing Trump really cares about, his ballroom.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SEN. BILL CASSIDY (R-LA): There’s no architectural plans. There is no environmentals. There’s no engineering. There’s no sense of — when we ask, how did it happen to cost exactly a billion? Well, we have an RFI out, meaning they put out a request for information, but they don’t have anything else, but somehow they know how much it’s going to cost. And in my mind, that is — it could cost a lot less, it could cost a lot more. I just don’t get it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HAYES: By the way, a good point from Cassidy, who came in third in the Republican primary on Saturday, by the way, which is why he’s probably speaking so honestly about this. Like, where’s the price tag come from? Is there actually a plan for it? No. No. No.

All right. So, you have Senate Majority Leader John Thune, right? And you’re squeezed right now. You got a rebellion in your ranks. You know what the president’s like. He’s vindictive. He’s petty. He’s obsessed with like two things which is like a bailout slush fund for his insurrectionist buddies and maybe you know himself and his family and also his ballroom. So, what’s the big plan? How is John Thune going to dig his way out of this gem? How’s he going to extricate from himself?

Well, he came up with a brilliant idea today. Ready for this? He just sent everyone home for the rest of the month. That’s it. We’re done. Throwing in the towel, right? We’re not going to do it because you can’t have a vote against the slush fund if the Senate isn’t in session. The problem is it’s not going to go away. In fact, it’s likely to get worse as we get close to the Midterms, especially because Donald Trump seems to get less popular by the day.

His approval rating is already in the 30s. Today, he hit a new low of 31 percent approval in one poll. That’s below freezing!

And also, in case you filled up your car recently, gas isn’t getting any cheaper. But Trump wants you all to know everything is totally fine.

Watch above via MS NOW’s All In With Chris Hayes.

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!