During a Monday appearance on Special Report, Fox News chief political analyst Brit Hume linked President Donald Trump’s reported wealth growth and his family’s business activities to public unease over government corruption. He made the point while discussing the midterm elections in which Republicans suffered sweeping losses.
Anchor Bret Baier brought up a Fox News poll that showed strong voter attention to the issue. In the survey, 55 percent of respondents called government corruption “crucial” to their choice in congressional races, while another 36 percent labeled it a “major factor.”
Baier highlighted the combined total. He said, “That’s a massive number, if you think about it. We saw nine in ten people, essentially, say this was important or a factor.”
Hume connects economic strain and family business reports to election concerns
Hume responded that the matter mattered to voters in one form or another. He described a period of major economic change in which prices remain high even as jobs are plentiful, leaving many people struggling. That situation, he said, factored heavily into how people voted. The pressure on Republicans had been building for some time, with Trump’s approval hitting a new low before the GOP lost control of Congress in the midterms.
He then described the picture voters see when they look at Washington. Hume said they see a president who was already a rich man and has never been afraid to talk about how rich he was and is, now suddenly several billion dollars richer according to Forbes magazine. They also see his sons involved in cryptocurrency businesses that are netting them a large amount of money, and they do not like the look of that.
The segment also referenced recent remarks by Calley Means, a former Trump administration adviser who resigned last month. On Joe Rogan’s podcast on Friday, Means accused senior officials of “doing things for other reasons, particularly in many cases to enrich their families.”
Hume said the claims “only add to the equation.” He added, “I’m suspicious of them, but they may have the ring of truth to people who are disillusioned by what they’re seeing in Washington generally.”
Baier next turned to Trump’s Sunday interview on 60 Minutes with Ross Douthat. In the conversation, Douthat asked about the president’s net worth rising by $3 billion since he returned to office. He also pressed on why Trump had not divested from the family’s cryptocurrency ventures, including World Liberty Financial, which has drawn foreign investment.
Trump replied that his sons handle the businesses and that he knows little about how they operate. Hume commented, “I don’t think the president really has a good answer on this subject. Really, he doesn’t.”
He went on to note that Trump appeared stuck when explaining why he did not simply divest, given that he is already extremely wealthy. Hume said Trump never really answered the question, and it was very well put to him by Ross Douthat.
Published: Nov 10, 2026 05:30 am