TIRED ACT

Trump’s Worst Nightmare Comes True as His Own Voters Check Out

Republicans are not feeling enthusiastic about the midterms.

Donald Trump is practically begging his supporters to pretend he is on the ballot this November, but a new poll suggests the pitch is falling flat.

The president, 80, has repeatedly urged Republicans to treat the midterms as a referendum on his second term, apparently betting that putting himself at the center of the elections will energize the MAGA base and drive Republicans to the polls.

At a rally in Nebraska on Monday, he made that message explicit.

“When I am on the ballot, people show up and we always win,” Trump said. “I am asking you to do me a favor and pretend I am on the ballot.”

Later, he put it more simply: “In a true way, I am running. We have to keep it going.”

But a new Reuters/Ipsos poll points to a potentially serious problem for that strategy: Trump voters are far less enthusiastic about voting than the voters he defeated in 2024.

Just 30 percent of people who voted for Trump in 2024 said they were “very enthusiastic” about casting a ballot in this year’s midterms. Among voters who backed Kamala Harris, the figure was 48 percent.

That 18-point enthusiasm gap could be particularly consequential in a midterm election, when turnout is typically lower than in presidential contests.

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And among voters who are enthusiastic about November’s election, opposition to Trump appears to be a more powerful motivator than support for him. Sixty-two percent said they were excited to vote against Trump, compared with 36 percent who said they were eager to support him.

Republican strategist Charlie Gerow acknowledged the challenge, telling Reuters: “The enthusiasm has to be ginned up among Republicans because turnout is what’s going to determine the outcome of these midterm elections.”

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The poll also found that Trump’s supporters are less settled on their congressional choices. While most Trump and Harris voters intend to support candidates from their respective parties, 13 percent of Trump voters said they were still unsure who they would vote for, compared with 7 percent of Harris voters.

That is not the only poll that has shown such a result.

A New York Times/Siena poll last month found Democrats held an edge in voter certainty, with 61 percent saying they were absolutely certain to vote compared with 56 percent of Republicans.

For some Trump voters, the problem is not simply a lack of enthusiasm—it is outright disengagement.

Jim Pasek, an 80-year-old Michigan voter who has supported Trump twice, said the president’s recent statements leave him confused and frustrated.

“He’s not making sense,” Pasek told The New York Times. “It confuses me, and then I just get disgusted and tune out.”

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In Texas, 24-year-old Brandon Tremaine, who voted for Trump in 2020, went even further after Trump urged supporters to vote as though he were on the ballot.

“President Trump has been saying, ‘Vote as if I was on the ballot,’ and that’s exactly what I’m going to do—not vote,” Tremaine said.

Republican organizer Doug Koopman said the problem is visible on the ground, too, describing low energy among volunteers in Michigan and saying campaign literature was sitting untouched at party headquarters.

“There’s very low energy on the Republican side,” he said.

It comes as polls suggest the Republicans are set to face a difficult midterms.

Pollster Angus Reid has Democrats up 16 points on the generic congressional ballot—their biggest lead yet, although other polling organizations put the lead at around 9 points.

Many believe that is because voters are not impressed with Trump’s leadership.

Political analyst Charlie Cook has argued that the election is not about a rising Democratic tide, but a weakening Trump brand.

He described the dynamic as a “red undertow” that could “pull many Republicans under.”

The tide has been turning against Trump and his party ever since he launched his deeply unpopular war on Iran in February.

The war has caused energy prices to spike. AAA figures show the average price of fuel in the U.S. at $4.37 a gallon, while diesel stands at $6.32.

Food prices have also risen, with ground beef up 7.2 percent over the past 12 months, while seafood, sugar, and coffee are all up around 6 percent, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

And Americans—including Trump voters—are not happy about it.

“He says it’s chump change. No, it’s not! It’s killing the people,” Pasek said about gas prices. “He’s losing touch with the American people,”

Tremaine told the New York Times: “You do not campaign on being the ticket of peace and start a war of choice that is directly hurting Americans here at home and gotten Americans killed overseas.”

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Al Pscholka, a Republican and former member of the Michigan House of Representatives, added: “People are tired. The whole ‘divider-in-chief’ thing has gotten to the point where it’s just exhausting.”

The Reuters/Ipsos survey showed that Trump’s approval rating sits at just 32 percent.

And among men—a group Trump carried in all three of his presidential campaigns—Democrats now lead Republicans 43 percent to 39 percent when voters are asked how they would vote in a congressional race.

The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.

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