Former ‘Hardball’ Host Makes Surprising Statement About America and Trump: 'He's Got It'

Former "Hardball" host Chris Matthews couldn't even spin President Donald Trump's last six months in office and said that the "country is moving towards Trump," and explains why.

During the ex-MSNBC host's appearance on "Charlie Rose," Matthews said he's just not buying into recent polls showing Trump's approval at 37 percent and 41 percent, because America wants a strong figure and he's "got it." It starts at the 32:20 minute mark.

"To be honest with you, the country is moving towards Trump," Matthews explained. "These polls, they come out and show him not doing well — I don't buy that. His strength is still greater than the Democrats' strength."

"He is a stronger public figure than the Democratic people," he added. "[Former President Barack] Obama still has tremendous charisma — but Trump has strength. And I think that's what all voters look for."

"[Voters] want a president who is a strong figure," Matthews continued. "And he's got it. It's just there. And half the country buys it."

At one point, the host asked Matthews to rate Trump as a politician, and the former talk show host said Trump understands the feeling of the country at this moment, unlike any president we have ever had. It comes at 25:20 minute mark.

We have never had a president so instantly spontaneous that he knows this minute, if he had said at four o'clock this afternoon, he would say, 'You know, that's not really true anymore.' He will know the mood of the country. I once had a talk with him about the 'Zoolander' movie, Ben Stiller movie, and he said, 'Zoolander 1,' good timing. 'Zoolander 2' didn't work. I mean, he's instantaneous.

He went on:

But he's [Trump] really good at the moment. I mean, he's out there watching television and keeping up, and, 'Is this the right thing to do, what we're doing right now?' Biden couldn't do that in a million years, not a million years. Mondale couldn't do that. They don't have the connection to the electricity of what's going on in the country culturally. And he knows what works.

As my RedState colleague Sister Toldjah reported, despite the Wall Street Journal's latest poll showing some voter dissatisfaction with Republicans, "they were still viewed as the party that can better tackle the issues Americans face better than Democrats."

ALSO: 'Democratic Brand Is So Bad': Panic Among Capitol Hill Dems After Release of Devastating New Poll

SEE: 'X Isn't Real Life': CNN Data Analyst Floored Over Latest Trump Approval Numbers

New WSJ poll: The Democratic Party is 30 points under water with registered voters, considerably worse than the GOP (-11). https://t.co/pYOSfd3J2x pic.twitter.com/CWkGSGMWw8
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) July 26, 2025

She noted from the report:

On the whole, voters disapprove of the president's handling of the economy, inflation, tariffs and foreign policy. And yet in each case, the new Journal poll found, voters nonetheless say they trust Republicans rather than Democrats to handle those same issues in Congress.
In some cases, the disparities are striking. Disapproval of Trump's handling of inflation outweighs approval by 11 points, and yet the GOP is trusted more than Democrats to handle inflation by 10 points. By 17 points, voters disapprove rather than approve of Trump's handling of tariffs, and yet Republicans are trusted more than Democrats on the issue by 7 points.

The mainstream media continues to deflect, gaslight, spin, and lie about President Trump, his administration, and conservatives.

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