Republican activists and politicians are already privately blaming Donald Trump for expected losses in Tuesday’s midterm congressional elections, Politico reported on Monday. The outlet’s sources predict that some party politicians will publicly turn against Trump.
Citing a dozen or so members of Congress, party activists and candidates, Politico writes that there is a widespread feeling on the right that the president’s conduct, and above all the war with Iran, has weakened their position and may sink their chances in the election.
“Early this year there was a moment when we truly felt we could defy history,” said one Republican in the House of Representatives, referring to the rule that the president’s party usually loses the midterm elections. “But then Trump bombed Iran. And ever since, it’s been one thing after another,” he added.
Republican consultant T.W. Arrighi mocked the president’s rally performances and his frequent praise of the buttocks of Republican Sen. Jon Husted.
“I think Jon Husted’s butt and Nicki Minaj’s (the president has praised her buttocks as well – PAP) make for a great closing message for the campaign,” he said sarcastically. He predicted that people would “go after” Trump following the election.
Other Republican insiders compared the president unfavorably with Barack Obama (under whose leadership Democrats also suffered a painful defeat in the 2010 election).
“At least he screwed over his enemies, never his friends,” said one of the congressmen quoted.
According to critics, Trump’s actions have done the most damage in places where elections crucial to the balance of power in Congress are being held this year. The war with Iran drove up fuel and fertilizer prices, which has affected races in the Midwest particularly strongly.
Tariffs and the trade war with Canada are a serious problem in battlegrounds on the Canadian border, such as Maine and Michigan.
Excesses by agencies enforcing immigration law have hit border states with large Latino populations, such as Arizona and Texas, especially hard, while the revocation of Temporary Protected Status for Haitians and Venezuelans has enraged voters in Florida.
Politico predicts that if the party suffers a truly severe defeat, “quiet accusations of blame could turn into public criticism,” and Republicans will focus on how to win back voters in 2028 and on fighting for their own place in the party in the future.
Polls indicate that a heavy Republican defeat is possible.
According to the latest series of Siena College polls for The New York Times ahead of Tuesday’s election, Democratic candidates lead in each of the seven key races that will decide the balance of power in the Senate.
These and other surveys suggest that the opposition also has a chance even in deeply conservative Republican strongholds such as South Carolina and Nebraska.
From Washington, Oskar Górzyński (PAP)
