‘Massive political failure’: Hayes and Wallace REACT to Trump prime-time address

Nicole Wallace is, of course, the host of Deadline White House, and she joins me now. The cherish it really got me. Just love it. Love that straight, like it's your own. What did you think of the speech?

Well, I mean, I think everything that needs to be said has been said by you and your brilliant panel. I would just say that if you back up to how and why a president addresses the nation at a time of war, it is traditionally out of a grave and solemn sense of duty to the families who have lost loved ones. And there are 13 families who have lost loved ones.

So in that regard, it couldn't have been more serious. And Trump couldn't have missed the opportunity to speak honestly and frankly to those families about exactly what has been achieved, exactly what will be the measure of success, exactly how long we will be there,

how many other families might walk in their shoes, and what the legacy of their sacrifice means. And to take it out of its primary mission, which it didn't seem to achieve, but again, those families and the military at large will be the judge of that, the political frame is undeniable. He said two prominent members of his own coalition questioned his mental acuity on television and podcasts. Laura Ingram asking if he was capable of taking in the information in his pre-Iran

war briefings or the briefings that have happened over the last 33 days. A prominent prime-time Fox News anchor, and Alex Jones, who I think has a video podcast these days, questioning his physical health. So there are things that have never happened politically to Donald Trump. And you know, you and I have been covering him for nine years. He is typically driven to action and to public performance by something in the political

arena, not the more grave or solemn responsibilities of the office he holds.

Yeah, it's a very good point he did. I mean, he really he sounded and looked quite old, quite low energy, quite exhausted and not particularly focused again, which is not that surprising. You know, there's this moment, you know, so much of this has reminded me of covid because it was a similar dynamic. There's a genuine high stakes life or death issue. And he's like salesman patter, try to get out of it. And there was a moment tonight where that COVID analogy

was almost like literal. I wanna just play that for you. Something he said about COVID back in 2020 and something he said tonight about the straight. Take a listen.

A lot of movement and a lot of progress has been made on a vaccine, but I think what happens is it's going to go away. This is going to go away. In any event, when this conflict is over, the straight will open up naturally. It'll just open up naturally.

They're going to want to be able to sell oil because that's all they have to try and rebuild

it just naturally. Don't worry about it. It's just going to happen.

Well, and you know what they have in common? And excuse my technical glitches. You're so nice to accommodate my remote appearance here. What they have in common, there are two situations that are out of his control. Now, President Obama, President Clinton, President Bush, all presidents deal with things that are out of their control.

And the American public doesn't actually judge a politician for the things that are out of their control. They are they judge a politician based on their candor in a moment when things are out of their control. And they judge a politician based on their handle of the facts as they exist. And I think, again, on those two marks, and COVID is a perfect example. Donald Trump was trying to will COVID into being something that fit his, at the time, re-election ambitions.

This is something that he is very much trying to will to fit into a midterm political calendar.

Yes, and the two to three weeks, which again was reiterated, which sort of hangs. The thing about that, and particularly this is true, I think for your point about addressing the first the family members of the fallen, but also all of the U.S. service members, that you've got a situation where the other audience for this is all of the people that are tangibly understanding that their gas has gone up.

I mean, I just found the way that he's treated this entire thing so bizarre. And again, this is a place where like will doesn't work. So he had this to say about bragging about our independence from Middle East oil, this is thought number two, which again, Michael Steele pointed out like,

what does that help us? But take a listen to this

we're now totally independent of the Middle East and yet we are there to help we don't have to be there we don't need their oil we don't need anything they have but we're there to help our allies.

You know, you can say that, and like, fine, but what does that get anyone who's very clearly seeing that we're not totally independent?

And to me, that underscores, and is like this sharpie underline for his two biggest political problems with the war. He makes clear in those statements that he makes tonight that this is a war of his choosing. We didn't have to be there. We just went to help. Help who? Why? No one – everyone that voted for you thought they were getting a commitment that we would

never do that again, a war that we didn't have to be in. And the second, when you ask people to disbelieve their eyes about what they are paying for gas—and the thing about gas prices is, even if you're not particularly—it is a massive chunk out of your budget if you commute or if you drive for work, but you could just be a passenger driving by and you see the price of gas, and it's a talker. Every single person, regardless of their political party and regardless of how they feel about

any other geopolitical issue, knows how much gas costs and is pissed off about it. So it is just one of these, you know, you beat some, you and I are little league parents, you beat some of the side, you don't know anything else about it, you can say, my God, there's, you know, $6 gas on the way. Oh, yeah, no, but I stopped there. Oh, there's a Costco. I mean, it is something that everyone is talking about and that everyone is feeling.

I think his political problems are in the fact that he's telling you something that we can all see for ourselves, we all pay when we stick our card in the ATM at the gas station. We know what it costs. He's telling you it's not true. And I think his political problem, the reason the polls, I think here,

it feels like year 77, it's probably just year nine of the Trump story. The reason other issues are cratering along with it is because if he's telling you not to believe the thing that you can see every time you drive by the gas station, the price for gas, what else is he lying about?

And I think it's why, you know, I was as exasperated as anyone when the Washington Post lie checker got to 35,000 and no one cared. And I was one of the people pounding my fists with the, you know, why don't the Pinocchios work? Well, I think there's a cumulative impact of the lies about the Epstein files and now the lies about what you are experiencing at the gas pump, which he again took this speech, which

he could have simply stayed in the lane of his solemn duty of paying tribute to the brilliant men and women of the military, and they are brilliant. But to try to gaslight people, no pun intended, about their paying for gas, was for Trump, who has sort of outfoxed people politically for nine years now, a massive political failure.

Nicole Wallace, who very, very, very gamely joined us late tonight. I really, really appreciate you sticking around for us. Thank you, Nicole. Thank you, Nicole.

You're so nice.