Fox News chief political analyst Brit Hume told Bret Baier on Monday, Oct. 19, 2026, that he is not sure President Donald Trump’s campaigning is making any difference for Republicans.
“The president has been out campaigning vigorously, but I’m not sure it’s making any difference, and what difference it makes, I’m not sure is helping,” Hume, 83, said on Fox News’ “Special Report with Bret Baier,” two weeks before the Nov. 3 midterms.
Hume pointed to the nickname Trump has given Texas Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico, “Tala-freak-o,” and suggested it misses the mark against a candidate running against Republican nominee Ken Paxton. “You see him, he seems mild-mannered, he seems pleasant, he’s not an unattractive candidate, whether you agree with him or not,” Hume said.
A Sanctions Suspension and a “Fiasco”
Hume also found fault with Trump’s foreign policy, he told Baier. “This cuddling-up to Vladimir Putin at this moment, and his turning his back seemingly once again on Volodymyr Zelensky, I don’t think that plays well,” he said.
Trump suspended a package of Russia sanctions Congress passed last month late Friday, Oct. 16, days after agreeing to buy Russian diesel, and he told reporters Monday that he is open to peace talks with Putin and Xi Jinping without Zelensky.
Hume called the White House press secretary episode a “fiasco.” Katie Zacharia left the press secretary job Oct. 16, after less than a week. “They sent the poor person out there with no time to prepare, really, only a matter of a day or two, and it didn’t go well,” Hume said.
A Big Washout, Like 1994
Hume had raised the specter of 1994 on the Wednesday, Oct. 14 broadcast, before the discussion turned to the network’s new numbers, recalling an unpopular then-President Bill Clinton touring the country and Republicans capturing both houses of Congress for the first time in four decades. That election was 32 years ago, and Trump, 80, is on the road now the way Clinton was then.
“The Republicans have to worry that something like that might happen to them in this race, where not only do they lose the close ones but they lose a lot that weren’t even thought to be close, and you get a big washout,” Hume said, with the election less than three weeks away and a Fox News poll on screen. He added: “I’m not saying it’s gonna happen, but I think it could happen.”
Democrats Lead on Inflation, Gas Prices
The network’s own survey put Democrats ahead of Republicans on foreign policy, 54 to 45 percent, on gas prices, 55 to 43 percent, and on inflation, 57 to 41 percent — the three biggest issues of the campaign, by Hume’s reckoning. Baier noted that Democrats now lead in areas where Republicans used to hold the edge, foreign policy above all.
Trump has insisted voters should treat the midterms as though his own name is on the ballot. Hume called that sensible for driving Republican turnout, but said it does less for everyone else on the ballot, given where the president’s numbers sit.
The 36 Percent Ceiling
The Fox News poll showed Trump at 36 percent approval, with 64 percent disapproving, and Hume said polling now available shows his support among Republicans has slipped since Election Day. That 36 percent may be close to all the vote Trump can drive to the polls, Hume said. “That is really bad at this stage when he’s out there front and center.”
Hume said Trump’s standing may lead some people to wonder whether he should be the face of the campaign at all. Trump has not scaled back; he has kept himself at the center.
Other surveys put him lower still. A Reuters/Ipsos poll released Monday, Oct. 19, found 31 percent approval, described as a new low for his political career, and gave Democrats a 12-point edge on the generic congressional ballot. A Washington Post-ABC News-Ipsos survey conducted Oct. 9-13 and published Sunday, Oct. 18, put approval at 33 percent.
Oregon Rematch Tightens in Rankings
Republicans are clinging to a narrow House majority, and Fox News’ own power rankings project Democrats to take the chamber back, with the Senate also up for grabs. The Power Rankings moved the Oregon governor’s race from Likely Democrat to Lean Democrat, where Republican Christine Drazan is challenging Democratic Gov. Tina Kotek in a rematch.
“I am grateful to have the Republican Governors Association as a partner in this race. They are investing in this race now,” Drazan said.
Hume did not call the race over, but he said Republicans are in a tough spot. “They may be able to overcome it, but it won’t be easy.”
