Right-wing host slams GOP 'excuses' while voter enthusiasm tanks

President Donald Trump insists that he is as popular as ever, but a right-wing radio commentator declared that Republicans are in danger of losing key midterm election races.

“One wonders how many warning signs Republicans need to see that they have a problem in Georgia — and nationally,” Erick Erickson wrote for the Atlanta Journal Constitution on Wednesday. “But on April 7, they got another one.”

Erickson referred to the recent House race for Georgia’s 14th congressional district, in which former Floyd County District Attorney Clay Fuller won by 12 points in a district that Trump won in 2024 by 37 points. The pattern, he said, has been reflected elsewhere throughout both Georgia and America. While it is reasonable to place part of the blame on local factors, Erickson laid a great deal of it at the feet of his own party’s president.

“He keeps giving his supporters reasons for exasperation,” Erickson wrote. “In just the last week he dropped an F-bomb on Easter while praising Allah, declared the destruction of an entire civilization was coming, attacked the Pope, then pushed out a picture of himself as Jesus healing the sick that he later deleted and said he thought was him as a doctor.”

He added, “Numerous Trump supporters want the president to delete his social media accounts and are frustrated by the president’s lack of discipline. That will play into a general election with motivated Democrats and unenthusiastic Republicans.” Indeed, the only real advantage for the Republicans is that Democrats seem to have a problem attracting quality candidates.

Erickson complained that “Republicans have been making some excuses” with Fuller’s race, arguing that “his runoff election happened during spring break for parts of the district.”

“But that does not excuse the anemic early vote totals,” Erickson warned. “… The problem for Republicans is that the turnout pattern is playing out nationally. The GOP lost a solid Texas legislative seat outside Fort Worth a few months ago. That district saw a 17-point swing toward the Democrats. The pattern has held up from Florida to New York. Historically, this pattern is a harbinger of doom for the party that holds the White House.”

“Perhaps the best thing the GOP in Georgia has going for it right now is the Democratic Party,” Erickson opined. “The Democrats are hungry for a win but lack a real bench. Likewise, as the GOP has drifted into an exurban and rural party, the Democrats have consolidated — even in Georgia, as an urban progressive party less aligned with the state as a whole. That will not last, however. Democrats will get hungry enough for a win that they will shed ideological alignments that put them out of step with voters.”

He concluded, “The once mighty Republican monopoly in Georgia, like all monopolies, will turn sclerotic if it does not come up with fresh ideas to motive its voters.”