CNN host Kaitlan Collins has warned that Donald Trump is making a potentially “risky” move ahead of the midterms.
The 80-year-old president is heading into the Nov. 3 elections with his personal popularity at an all-time low. A CNN poll gave him a net approval rating of minus 32 percent, and the Republican Party overall a minus 21-point rating.
Collins also flagged “voter anger” over the rising cost of living and Trump’s “seemingly never-ending” war with Iran, which has pushed gas prices sharply higher.
Trump held a Rose Garden dinner on Wednesday for Republican lawmakers, where he talked up how actively involved he promises to be in the midterms. Polling suggests the GOP could lose both the House and Senate.
However, Collins said the “big elephant” in the Rose Garden was that “vulnerable Republicans” who had come to the dinner wanted Trump to “open his wallet” for their campaigning—“but don’t want him making their races too much about him.”
On Wednesday, Trump said he planned to spend the final 30 days before the midterms traveling to campaign for MAGA candidates in 35 highly competitive House and Senate seats.
“I’m gonna go to every one of those 35 places, and we’re gonna see if we can get everyone elected,” Trump said.
Collins also played a new Republican ad campaign, which featured wall-to-wall footage of Trump, ending with the line, “He’s fighting for you every day. Help him finish the job.”
“You might be forgiven for thinking the president himself is on the ballot,” she said.
Collins noted that the new ad “barely even allude to Congress or really the Republican Party at all,” adding, “It could be a potentially risky strategy given the president’s own approval rating is at a historic low.”
Citing that “underwater” approval rating, Collins said it may explain why many Republicans are declining to attend the president’s midterm election convention in Texas next week, which has been dubbed “Trump-a-palooza” in GOP circles.
A Politico survey of over 70 Republican candidates and members found that most are either not planning to attend, or still deciding, while others declined to reveal their plans.
Rep. Tom Barrett of Michigan told Politico, “I just felt I’d be more useful in my district,” rather than head to Texas.
When asked if Trump’s statements at the event could cause him political grief, he added, “I can’t control what the president’s going to say at the convention, but I can control where I’m at, what I’m doing.”
Divisive Ohio Rep. Max Miller, said he was “invited” but was “staying home to campaign and spend time with family.” Miller has seen his campaign shaken by allegations of domestic abuse against his ex-wife and toddler daughter, which he denies.
Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks also said she planned to stay in Iowa. “I have a district that I have to be in and take care of, so I’ll be in my district,” she told the Bulwark.
Trump said on Wednesday, he had “put up a lot of money” for the Texas convention.
“I don’t care because we’re saving the nation and it’s going to be fantastic,” he claimed.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
