CNN commentator Scott Jennings reacts to President Donald Trump’s White House address on Wednesday, where he touted the economy.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN HOST: Scott Jennings, I mean, you’re very in touch with the president’s base and what those voters want to hear. Do you think they heard that tonight? SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN COMMENTATOR: Well, I think they wanted him to get back in the ring and start defining the contours of the election. I mean, I think he spent a lot of last year on foreign affairs to great success, but now we’re moving into an election year and the first line, I inherited a mess and I am fixing it, reminding people that we were in a deep hole and that’s why he got elected in the first place. He is going to have to ask for some forbearance from the American people, but you can tell he does have a story to tell here. Some of it is in the big, beautiful bill that is the centerpiece of his domestic policy agenda. The tax cuts are good and he does have villains here. The health insurance companies are a good villain. The Democrats being at an 18% approval rating, that’s a good villain. And so when you’re going into an election, I think it’s got two jobs. One, sell what you’re doing, but two, you got to post up against the alternative. The American people just rejected the alternative a year ago and now he needs them to reject the alternative again. So I guess for Republicans, he’s their salesman and he has not been leading the sales fight on defining the contours of the election, but now he is and I think you’ll see a lot of Republicans saying, okay, the salesman in chief is back. He’s our leader. Let’s get behind him.

RealClearPolitics Videos