National Review conservative reveals clear truth about GOP internal polling

President Donald Trump speaks at the Republican National Midterm Convention in Dallas, Texas, September 9, 2026. REUTERS/Evan Vucci

With only weeks left until the midterm elections, a growing tide of Republican candidates is distancing themselves from President Donald Trump, with the trend becoming so apparent that it even made headlines at the conservative National Review.

Writing for the outlet on Wednesday, senior correspondent Jim Geraghty wrote that Republicans are taking a line from the band The Police when it comes to handling Trump: "Don't Stand So Close to Me."

"GOP candidates running for office could only appear connected to a president with a high-30-something job approval rating for so long," he wrote. "This week, everywhere you look, Republicans are emphasizing that they want the war against Iran to end, and will do whatever it takes to bring down unleaded gasoline prices and diesel prices. Whether or not you believe the current public polls suggesting GOP doom accurately represent the mood of the electorate, Republicans who want to win in November are acting like their internal polling matches those public polls."

Geraghty proceeded to compile an extensive list of all the Republicans trying to get some distance from the president, both loudly and quietly, starting with Florida Rep. María Elvira Salazar, who turned heads with a recent ad critiquing Trump for going too far with his mass deportation agenda. He also mentioned Byron Donalds, the Florida gubernatorial nominee, who was caught scrubbing his website of Trump mentions, following a similar tack to Rep. Young Kim, "who often faces tough reelection bids in her R+1 southern California district."

Michigan Senate nominee Mike Rogers, oft noted as a longtime war hawk, broke with Trump in a new ad where he state, "The war in Iran needs to end, to bring costs down."

"Iowa GOP representatives Zach Nunn and Mariannette Miller-Meeks joined in a vote to limit Trump’s war powers last week," Geraghty added. "Both lawmakers represent competitive districts, and this marked the first time either one had voted to rein in Trump’s Iran war powers. Nunn wrote on X, 'With the negotiating window closed, sustained combat operations now require congressional authorization. Having deployed multiple times and flown over 700 combat hours in the Middle East, I will not support another open-ended war.' Ashley Hinson, a GOP representative who’s running for governor in Iowa, wrote on X Monday, 'Iowans are being squeezed and shouldn’t have to foot the bill at the pump or the checkout line for the war in Iran.'"

Other examples listed included Wisconsin gubernatorial candidate Tom Tiffany, Colorado Rep. Jeff Hurd and New Hampshire Senate nominee John Sununu. Summing up the trend, Geraghty suggested, "It’s as if someone flipped a switch."

"Some might argue that Republicans more openly criticizing Trump is the sound of impending lame-duckhood, but Trump will still run the executive branch for a bit more than two years, and have the biggest megaphone in politics," Geraghty wrote. "He just won’t have quite as many GOP legislators willing to assent to whatever he wants on any given day."

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