Trump scrambling to rebrand this 'monstrosity' to avoid GOP blowout in midterms: analysis

President Donald Trump and his allies are making a concerted effort to rebrand his One Big, Beautiful Bill Act of 2025 as the "Working Families Tax Cut Bill," hoping that the rebrand will help Republicans in 2026 midterms. Democrats, meanwhile, are railing against the megabill relentlessly and hope that unpopular parts of it will imperil GOP candidates in a variety of races. In fact, Democrats are already employing that strategy in some 2025 races, including gubernatorial elections in Virginia and New Jersey.

In a scathing op-ed published by The Guardian on September 25, journalist Steven Greenhouse describes the Republican "working families tax cut" messaging as a desperate attempt to sell a "monstrosity" that is wildly unpopular.

"Many Americans have come to realize that Trump's not-so-beautiful bill — instead of being filled with good things that benefit average Americans — is overflowing with big tax cuts for the wealthy as well as many unfortunate things that will hurt typical working families," Greenhouse explains. "As we saw in the town halls held across the U.S., many Americans are furious about some painful things that Trump and congressional Republicans inserted into the bill: cuts that will make health insurance more expensive, cuts that reduce food assistance, cuts that make it harder for students from working families to afford college. All this is bad news for working families who struggle to make ends meet."

Greenhouse continues, "President Trump and his administration can't hide from the fact that many Americans detest the bill — 46 percent disapprove of it, while just 32 percent approve; 23 percent say they're unsure what they think. What's more, 33 percent of Americans 'strongly disapprove' of the bill. Alarmed that the bill has become a public relations and political disaster, Trump and his allies have embraced a curious strategy to address that problem…. The White House is telling Republicans to stop calling it the One Big, Beautiful Bill and instead call it the nice-sounding Working Families Tax Cut Bill."

But that messaging, Greenhouse warns, is an "effort to dupe America's working families."

"People who care about working families — whether union leaders, clergy or community leaders — need to make clear to the public that the One Big Beautiful Bill Act hurts many working Americans," the journalist/author warns. "It is a bait-and-switch, telling working families that it's good for them even as it cuts benefits for millions of working Americans while lavishing big tax cuts on the wealthiest Americans."

Steven Greenhouse's full op-ed for The Guardian is available at this link.