Veteran Democratic strategist James Carville has predicted trouble for President Donald Trump ahead of the midterms.
Carville, 81, said cracks in GOP loyalty to Trump could emerge before November’s midterms if key primary results go against him.
The former consultant for Bill Clinton shared his thoughts during Thursday’s episode of his podcast Politicon, co-hosted by journalist Al Hunt.
He spoke as a growing number of MAGA voices are turning on the 79-year-old president over the Trump administration’s attack on Iran, and as Republicans prepare for a bruising in the upcoming midterm elections.
When asked by a listener, “At what point do [Republicans] consider loyalty to Trump to be a liability?” Carville pointed to some GOP primary contests he said could test MAGA loyalty.
“Let me tell you, the two big races we talked about. These are really big races with real national implications,” Carville said, pointing to Republican state Senate primaries in Indiana and the contest involving the president’s GOP nemesis, Rep. Thomas Massie of Kentucky.
Trump has endorsed challengers against seven Indiana state senators who resisted efforts to redraw the state’s congressional map, turning the May 5 primary into what the Associated Press described as “an unlikely test of Trump’s grip on the Republican Party.”
Carville suggested the outcomes of those races could prove a nightmare for Trump.
“If let’s just say four of the seven win, and Massie wins his primary, they’re going to start s---ing on him before Election Day,” he said. “I’m not saying that Massie is going to win, and not saying that all seven, I don’t know, but I advise anybody who has a real interest in national politics to pay deep attention to the Republican state Senate primaries.”
Massie, 55, has repeatedly publicly split with the president, dating back to Trump’s first term.
Trump’s frustration escalated last year after Massie opposed his budget bill and slammed his foreign policy approach in the Middle East. Massie has also pushed for the full release of files related to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Carville argued that Trump’s influence within the GOP has relied heavily on fear of political retaliation.
“Basically Trump’s greatest strength is the fear element,” he said. “I mean, the word was… gosh, look what happened to Liz Cheney. Look what happened to Mark Sanford. You can’t stand up against him.”
But that dynamic could shift if candidates who defied Trump still win their primaries, Carville added.
“Well, if four or five of those state senators in Indiana and Tom Massie, particularly in Kentucky, win after standing up against him, win in Republican primaries, there are going to be a number of other people say, ‘Hey, you know what? Maybe you can stand up against him because we really don’t think he’s very good.’”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
