'Shellacking': NBC anchor sounds alarm for Democrats over 2022 midterm election, forecasts major losses

NBC News anchor Chuck Todd forecasted Wednesday that Democrats are headed for a "shellacking" in the upcoming 2022 midterm elections.

Breaking down the latest NBC News poll, Todd demonstrated how three key metrics squarely paint Democrats in "dangerous territory." According to the poll:

• 71% of Americans believe the country is "headed in the wrong direction";
• President Joe Biden's job approval rating is only 40%;
• Republicans hold a lead over Democrats on the generic ballot, indicating more voters favor the GOP over Democrats for the upcoming election.

Todd explained the negative figures are historic for NBC's poll, which has been running for decades.

"The current wrong track in our poll: 71%. What is really striking is third straight poll where the direction of the country has been above 70% — only been one other time where've had that in our poll. It is not a good time [for Democrats]," Todd said. "Look, 65% wrong track is a bad number. 71%? That’s why it is in the shellacking category."

Poll Numbers Push Democrats Into ‘Dangerous Territory’ In Midterm Meterwww.youtube.com

Regarding Biden's job approval rating, Todd pointed to the 2006 midterm election — which resulted in Democrats winning the House and Senate — as a possible analog.

"When you start dipping below 45%, you’ve got a problem, and you’re gonna have midterms that are in the bad-to-shellacking ratio," he explained. "President Biden is at 40. George W. Bush was at 39% in 2006. We know how that turned out. So, you see, that’s also in shellacking territory."

The NBC poll found that voters favor Republicans over Democrats on the generic ballot 46% to 44%. According to Todd, that figure deceivingly suggests Democrats are better off than they really are.

"The bottom line is, generic ballot, if the Democrats are losing, it means they’re gonna get walloped," Todd said.

In fact, the 2010 midterm election was the last time Republicans held a two-point lead over Democrats in the generic ballot in NBC's poll. In that election, Republicans gained a whopping 63 seats in the House and six seats in the Senate.

If "shellacking," "dangerous territory," and "walloped" are not intense enough predictions for Democrats, Republican pollster Bill McInturff, who helped conduct the NBC poll, had one more powerful description of what the NBC poll means for Democrats.

"What this polls says is that President Biden and Democrats are headed for a catastrophic election," he said.