The Republican midterm convention that President Donald Trump promised would be “really HOT” is facing a new setback.
The GOP has scheduled the convention to run at the same time the NFL kicks off its season on Wednesday and Thursday night. While Trump’s MAGA base has raged at the NFL on and off throughout his decade dominating the Republican Party, declaring several boycotts of the league that never really came to be, the NFL remains far more popular with all Americans than the GOP.
CNN chief data analyst Harry Enten appeared flabbergasted by the convention’s poorly timed scheduling.
“This idea is so ill-conceived,” Enten said on CNN News Central.
“You can just see it by the fact that they’re doing it when the football season is starting. Who does that? My god. And when you look at the numbers, no, that is not the part of the party in which you actually need to motivate,” he said.
He also pointed out that Republicans have low enthusiasm going into the midterm elections, with the party expected to face a wipeout at the ballot box as polling suggests that Democrats are slated to take back control of the House, and potentially the Senate.
Enten cited a recent CNN poll showing 60 percent of Democrats are “extremely motivated” to cast their ballots in the November election, while only 41 percent of non-MAGA Republicans expressed the same enthusiasm.
“The ones who are not motivated to vote are the non-MAGA Republicans,” Enten said. “The people who are far less likely to approve of Donald Trump, the people who think that Donald Trump’s Republican Party probably should be the end of it.”
He explained, “That’s where the problem is. So no, it is not, in fact, the hardcore Republican base that needs that motivation. It is other folks that this convention, simply put, won’t be reaching — because they’ll probably be watching football, like most Americans.”
Trump’s midterm convention is expected to be a flop even without the NFL kickoff game happening at the same time.
Several Republicans in tight districts are skipping the convention.
Republican strategists are also concerned about Trump’s midterm strategy, as the president, whose approval rating has sunk to one of the lowest of any president, has said he will focus on his own record as a strategy. He is the keynote speaker both nights of his address, which Enten also said is a problem for the GOP.
“It’s like, ‘Oh, let’s focus in on Donald Trump!’” he said. “But in fact, the people who are the least motivated to vote are the folks who are the most likely to disapprove of Donald Trump.”
