Republicans Panic Over Trump Dooming the Midterms
Alarm bells are going off within the GOP as the fallout from Trump’s political liabilities spreads across the country.
A wave of panic is gripping the Republican Party as political burdens weigh increasingly heavily on President Donald Trump—burdens that could drag the party toward a crushing and humiliating defeat in the midterm elections.
Jonathan Martin, Politico’s national political correspondent, notes that the specter of an electoral rout—akin to the 2006 wave when Democrats wrested control of both the House and Senate—is increasingly haunting Republicans across the country.
The Midwest is a major source of concern for the GOP; the support Trump once enjoyed among the region’s farmers has steadily eroded, according to Martin, who has been traveling the country ahead of the November elections.
“He’s in serious trouble in farm country,” Sen. Kevin Cramer, a Republican from North Dakota, told Martin. “He being Trump—and Trump is us. I’m not very optimistic.”
In states like Ohio and Iowa, Trump has given voters mounting reasons to turn against him, including his trade wars, rising tensions with Iran—which have caused diesel and fertilizer costs to skyrocket—and his decision to import foreign beef in hopes of lowering food prices.
“The beef thing, are you kidding me?” Cramer, 65, said. “The one ag producer making money for a change and you shrink his revenue.”
Republicans also fear a “contagion” spreading beyond their traditional strongholds, fueled by the high cost of living, Trump’s unpopularity among centrist voters, and the Democrats’ significant advantage in voter mobilization. Martin notes that states such as Maine, Texas, North Carolina, and Alaska could all turn into a nightmare for the Republican Party.
According to the political journalist, GOP officials fear that voter discontent could become entrenched and difficult to reverse, as Trump continues to prioritize his personal whims over focusing on what might boost the chances of his party’s vulnerable candidates.
The 80-year-old president has focused his attention on a series of high-profile projects in Washington and on sporting events—such as UFC fights and IndyCar races—as well as on personal battles driven by a sense of grievance; this includes a recent dispute with Canada that led him to demand that “Lake Ontario” be renamed “Lake America.”
“I would remind [Trump] that Canada is our friend, our closest ally and our biggest trading partner,” Republican Sen. Susan Collins, who is fighting to hold onto her Senate seat in Maine, told Martin. “And that our economies are so linked that if you try to hurt one, you end up hurting Maine and other border states.”
However, party strategists are frustrated—not only because Trump will not commit more campaign funds to support Republican candidates this autumn, but also because he has provided them with few themes or messages upon which to build their campaigns, according to Martin.
While the party plans to hold a “midterm election conference” in Dallas next month to refocus attention on the Democrats and make them targets for criticism, a Trump advisor acknowledged to Martin that the actual message would depend on “whatever off-the-cuff remarks the president might make.”
