Iran literally has Trump over a barrel — of oil
The GOP is admitting that President Donald Trump's minor efforts to present a strong economic agenda ahead of the midterms are dead on arrival, according to The Hill, as they are unable to distract from the 24/7 global economic crisis of his own making in Iran.
"Republicans are facing an increasingly difficult political environment in a midterm election year where their majorities in the House and Senate are on the line," The Hill explained in a Wednesday morning report. "The Iran war has been a drag on President Trump’s approval ratings while lifting prices for gas, undercutting GOP arguments on affordability and inflation... In the battle for the House, Republicans have a razor-thin margin and can afford to lose no more than two or three seats, depending on vacancies, to keep their majority. The president’s party generally loses seats in a midterm election, underscoring the difficulty."
Voters have consistently ranked issues like the economy, affordability and the cost of living as the biggest on their minds heading into the midterms. They have been consistently souring on Trump's economic agenda, with his tariff obsession and military interventions overseas being seen as actively driving inflation despite his being reelected to help lower costs.
Speaking with The Hill, Republican sources admitted that Trump's efforts to champion his positive economic impacts have not been enough to get voter attention off soaring gas prices caused by the Iran war. The recent stunt involving Trump tipping a DoorDash worker to promote his "No Tax on Tips" policy was singled out as a recent example of his too-little-too-late efforts.
"We’re already [facing] headwinds in terms of just history itself," an anonymous GOP strategist told The Hill. "Voters were already telling us they were concerned about affordability, and that was even before the conflict,” the strategist added, calling it “a growing momentum of affordability concerns. That’s a real political problem."
Trump is set to make visits to the swing states of Arizona and Nevada in the coming week to tout his economic agenda for midterm voters. Republican allies of the president have tried to spin his war with Iran as a "short-term pain for long-term gain," and argued that oil obtained from Venezuela will help mitigate soaring gas prices, though these supposed benefits have yet to materialize and it is unclear that they will before the midterms, if they do at all.
"Nobody’s going to be able to drive that message at this moment," the strategist continued, speaking about the GOP's ability to tout a pro-affordability agenda. "I think it’s very hard to have brief moments talking about no taxes on tips when the country is still riveted to what’s happening overseas, maybe not because they’re watching news 24/7, but because of all of the fallout as it relates to the economics of it."