GOP Insider Warns of Trump’s Downhill Course: ‘Republicans Better Buckle Up’
Rick Wilson said Trump’s efforts to assuage economic concerns were a swing and a miss.
An influential member of the Republican Party has warned that Donald Trump’s presidency is on a downward spiral and that Republicans should brace themselves for the shock.
Rick Wilson, a former Republican strategist and fierce critic of Trump, wrote on his blog “Against All Enemies” on Wednesday about the chaos that followed the president’s rally at a Pennsylvania casino on Tuesday night. The rally was supposed to reassure Americans about their purchasing power.
“The outreach tours are supposed to connect the president’s message to the lives of ordinary people,” Wilson wrote. “But this one only reminded America that Donald Trump’s favorite subject, and his only real concern now and forever, is Donald Trump himself.”
He concluded: “If this is the high point of this pathetic charade about purchasing power, Republicans should prepare for the decline… because it’s imminent.”
Summarizing the highlights (and lowlights) of Trump’s speech, Wilson analyzed the administration’s efforts to “reframe the narrative” on poor economic performance and present it as a “real success.”
The political consultant, calling Trump the “worst president in American history,” said that his charisma had faded and that his attempts to rally support after the collapse of his popularity, by returning to the stage in front of his constituents, were ill-advised.
“He is doomed to fail by spending the first year of his second term handing out billions of dollars in tax cuts to struggling American billionaires and imposing economically devastating tariffs on farmers, small businesses, and consumers,” Wilson wrote.
Wilson criticized the president’s attempt to address economic concerns, pointing to Trump’s reliance on divisive rhetoric and tired slogans to deflect criticism.
He specifically highlighted Trump’s escalating racist attacks against Representative Ilhan Omar, whom he urged to “leave the country,” a tactic he “systematically resorts to when he’s in trouble.”
While this tactic may galvanize his base, it doesn’t resonate with suburban voters yearning for a return to normalcy, Wilson asserted.
He wrote: “If you’re a Republican running in a district Biden won in 2020, you watched this performance and felt the weight of destiny.”
Trump’s return to the political stage Tuesday night in Mount Pocono, Pennsylvania, saw the 79-year-old president continue his attacks on the issue of housing costs, calling it a “hoax” despite widespread concern across the political spectrum.
The president’s speech veered away from the grievances he was trying to address and devolved into a vicious, racist attack on Omar, a Somali refugee who became a U.S. citizen in 2000.
Trump then revived his previously disavowed “shithole countries” remark, calling countries like Haiti, Afghanistan, and Somalia, Omar’s country of origin, “devastated places.”
He said: “Send us good people, please? But we’re always getting Somalis, people from disaster areas, right?” He added: “Filthy, smelly, disgusting, crime-ridden. Their only talent is attacking ships.” Omar responded to the president in a post on X.
She wrote: “Trump’s obsession with me is truly bizarre. He needs help. Having no economic policies to offer, he resorts to repeating divisive lies. He remains a national disgrace.”
