ABC News chief Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl didn’t see a confident President Donald Trump Wednesday night when he address to the nation.
Instead, Karl called it the most “defensive” he’s ever seen from a president. He added this is a sign of serious self-doubt, per Mediaite.
Karl and George Stephanopoulos talked about the speech on Thursday’s Good Morning America.
During his speech, in Trump promised “warrior dividends” of $1,776 checks for military service members.
He also said the U.S. was economically “dead” prior to his second term; now the United States is the “hottest” country in the world.
Karl called the speech as one of the most “hyper-partisan” addresses from a president. He pointed to more than a dozen attacks on former President Joe Biden and Democrats. He also noted this was not a speech that’s was expected during prime time.
“Look, George, when the president of the United States asks for primetime network air time to address the nation, it is usually either to make a statement about a national crisis, to announce a major new initiative, or to speak on an issue of war and peace,” Karl said. “This was none of that. In fact, I cannot recall a prime time presidential address that was as defensive and hyper-partisan as this one. By my count, President Trump mentioned Joe Biden and the Democrats 15 times over the course of that 20 minute address.”
Watch:
Karl said Trump was pushing “falsehoods” and “exaggerations” on the economy. He noted the inflation rate has stayed relatively steady around 3% since Trump took office.
The only “crisis” Trump addressed, according to Karl, was a “crisis of confidence” in handling the economy.
A Quinnipiac poll released Wednesday showed 57% disapprove of the president’s handling of the economy; 40% said they approve.
Karl added there was one “silver lining” for the administration. The survey revealed Americans still trust Republicans more than Democrats when it comes to economic matters.
“If the president was addressing a crisis last night, it seemed to be a crisis of confidence in his handling of the economy,” Karl said. “Americans are overwhelmingly unhappy with the state of the economic, and a clear majority in many recent polls are blaming Donald Trump.”
