An endorsement from Donald Trump was once a Hail Mary. Now, some Republicans fear it’s the kiss of death.
GOP politicians locked in competitive midterm races are fretting over whether to campaign with the president, 79, whose record-breaking disapproval ratings have all but confirmed a blue wave in November.
One Republican House member locked in a tight re-election campaign told NBC they did not foresee featuring Trump in their campaign ads or inviting him on the campaign trail. The House Republican also scoffed at the National Republican Congressional Committee’s decision to dub its midterm campaign the “MAGA Majority” amid Trump’s floundering performance.
“I got a few text messages from people, a few vulnerable members, who were like, ‘Eh, I don’t know if this is the best strategy,’” the lawmaker said. “You can tell some of these folks, on some of the comments they’re making, they’re nervous.”
Another state GOP chairperson conceded to NBC that Trump’s omnipresence isn’t easy.
“I think he can help with things like turnout, but there is some room for backfire on something like that,” the person said. “It would have to be the right audience, and I think folks here would be OK if that did not happen.”
Another GOP strategist stressed that the White House has made it even more difficult by not flaunting its accomplishments amid rising prices.
“It seems as though Trump’s strategy thus far has been, ‘The Democrats are crazy,’” the strategist told NBC. “He might very well be right, but that’s not something that’s necessarily going to sell, especially when gas prices are $4.50.”
White House spokesperson Kush Desai pushed back at the mere suggestion that the president was problematic.
“President Trump was resoundingly re-elected to the White House precisely because he understood how Americans were left behind by Joe Biden’s economic disaster, and restoring prosperity for everyday Americans has accordingly been a Day One priority for this Administration,” he said.
“While the President has been clear about short-term disruptions as a result of Operation Epic Fury, the Administration is focused on implementing the proven Trump agenda of tax cuts, deregulation, and energy abundance to keep America on a solid economic trajectory. As traffic in the Strait of Hormuz normalizes again, Americans will again see gas prices plummet, real wages grow, inflation cool, and trillions in investments continue pouring in.”
That campaigning with Trump is a contentious idea should come as no surprise to his administration. Just Wednesday, CNN data guru Harry Enten revealed that Trump has now recorded the worst net approval numbers of all time.
“These are the ugliest numbers I have ever seen on inflation, and it’s not just one poll, Johnny Berman, it’s many polls,” Enten said in typically animated fashion. “Just take a look here. Presidents’ net approval on inflation: The five worst polls ever, for any president, they all belong to Donald John Trump, and they have all occurred in the last month.
“The CNN poll, one of them 48 points below water on the net approval rating. So what we’re talking about here is the worst numbers ever in multiple polls now belong to the president of the United States, Donald Trump. It is a record, simply put, you do not want to have.”
One of the biggest drivers of Trump’s approval ratings has been the war on Iran the president launched in coordination with Israel—without congressional approval.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party’s campaign arm is growing increasingly confident in its ability to reclaim the House majority from Republicans. On Monday, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) announced it was expanding its “Red to Blue” program to a new round of candidates looking to unseat Republicans.
Democrats need to gain only three or four seats to retake the House majority in November—and, in turn, gain the power to slam the brakes on Trump’s agenda.
