MSNBC's Morning Joe panelists could not hide their surprise Wednesday at how poor the numbers were for Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton in a new poll.
A Quinnipiac University poll released Wednesday morning spelled trouble for her campaign. The poll found Clinton losing to major Republican candidates Jeb Bush, Scott Walker, and Marco Rubio in the swing states of Colorado, Iowa, and Virginia.
"Wait- that's among the general electorate? Hillary is upside down by 23 in Iowa?" host Joe Scarborough said. "She's upside down by nine in Virginia which she has to win. She's upside down by 23 in Colorado! And Mika, I think we just, in that one snapshot - have shown... - why somebody like Donald Trump attacking politicians is actually getting support!"
"Only in Virginia are her numbers significantly higher than Trump's," said host Mika Brzezinski. "Those numbers are stunning," Scarborough said.
President Barack Obama won all three states in the 2008 and 2012 general elections.
Meet the Press' Chuck Todd said that if it was not for the media’s fascination with Donald Trump, the biggest story of the summer would be Clinton’s continued struggle "solidifying herself" among the Democratic base. The poll found self-avowed socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) doing better than Clinton against Republicans in Iowa and Colorado.
"What we're seeing here, I think, is both parties are seeing its populist base flex its muscles in different ways, Trump is tapping into it," Todd said.
Referring to Hillary Clinton's shockingly low numbers, Todd said, "This fits another pattern of hers. Whenever she's been out front as the face of the Democratic Party, her numbers have gone down. They always have, whenever she is the focal point."
When asked why that is, Todd answered Americans like Clinton more when she is in a supportive or operative role.
"You could just simply say she doesn't wear well," Todd said.