Exposed: GOP 'messaging bust' can’t sell Trump’s wildly unpopular spending bill

20 June

President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump on June 12, 2025 (The White House/Flickr)

After Donald Trump narrowly defeated Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris by roughly 1.5 percent and Republicans flipped the U.S. Senate in 2024, quite a few pundits argued that Democrats had a messaging problem.

Some were right-wing media pundits who, as progressive ex-MSNBC host Mehdi Hasan pointed out, seriously exaggerated the size of Trump's victory. Others were Trump critics like "Real Time" host Bill Maher, who leans liberal but believes that "woke identity politics" and "political correctness" are detrimental to the Democratic Party.

In an article published by the Washington Monthly on June 19, however, journalist Bill Scher argues that Republicans are the ones with a messaging problem during Trump's second presidency — specifically, when it comes to Trump's "big, beautiful bill," which passed in the U.S. House of Representatives in a narrow 215-214 vote and is now being considered in the U.S. Senate.

"All year, we’ve heard from pundits and even some Democrats that the Democratic Party has a 'brand problem,'" Scher explains. "For longer than that, Democrats have been awed by Donald Trump's ability to deliver pithy, punchy messages without accuracy or substance. At the same time, the Democratic Party struggles to communicate nuanced points about its past governing record and future agenda. But Republicans are the party with the immediate and consequential messaging bust. Polls show that Trump and congressional Republicans have failed to sell the 'One Big Beautiful Bill,' which could make its passage a pyrrhic victory — if it passes at all."

Scher cites three recent polls. KFF found that 35 percent of respondents had a favorable view of the One Big, Beautiful Bill Act of 2025, while only 23 percent of respondents supported the bill's "tax, spending, and Medicaid policies" in a Washington Post/Ipsos poll.

When Quinnipiac University asked, "Based upon what you have heard or read about the legislation, do you support or oppose the One Big Beautiful Bill Act?," only 27 percent of respondents supported it.

"These responses didn't emerge in a vacuum," Scher emphasizes. "You can't find much media coverage of the bill’s Medicaid provisions that don't mention the prospect of folks losing their insurance. The data comes from the Congressional Budget Office, controlled by the Republican majority. Republicans can't wish it away with mere message repetition."

Scher adds, "Insisting that all 8 million Americans who could be rendered uninsured are Medicaid fraudsters isn't clicking with voters. Republicans are once again being reminded of some basic political lessons. Governing is hard, and messaging while governing is harder than messaging while out of power. Policies can't always be reduced to slogans."

Read Bill Scher's full Washington Monthly article at this link.

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