Republicans in Washington are reportedly "thrown off-balance" as the midterms approach, according to The Hill, as they grapple with President Donald Trump's insistence on saying and doing all the wrong things.
The GOP is facing long odds for retaining its majorities in Congress this year, as Trump's toxic unpopularity turns voters against them in record numbers. In a cycle when economic struggles are the biggest issues for voters, the party is growing more and more frustrated by Trump's continued focus on issues that only make them look worse to voters, as well as by his repeated insistence that he does not care about the problems voters are facing.
"Republicans hoping to keep control of Congress in a tough election year have been thrown off-balance by President Trump’s focus on foreign policy, pet projects, and statements dismissing the importance of the midterms and cost-of-living issues."
While Trump and his administration have provided some help to the party, particularly in terms of fundraising, his other actions are doing far more harm than good. The Hill added: "But as Republicans were trying to roll out messaging on tax cuts, Trump’s actions in Iran dominated the headlines and national attention. And Trump in recent weeks has outright said cost of living and keeping control of Congress are not a part of the calculus in his approach to Iran — saying 'I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation' and 'I don’t care about the midterms.'”
In the midst of all that, Republicans have been left "scratching their heads."
“Of course, that was frustrating,” an anonymous GOP operative told The Hill. “There is going to be a need to talk about the economy no matter what, because that’s always going to be the top issue.”
"The president is juggling a lot of issues at once right now, but he should certainly prioritize affordability," Republican donor Dan Eberhart told the outlet in his own statement.
While some Republicans, like House Speaker Mike Johnson, have publicly insisted that Trump is focused on winning the midterms, "privately," many other are still holding out hope that he will pivot to the topics that matter most to voters.
"Many Republicans in competitive districts are hesitant to criticize the president because they are relying on him," the outlet added. "Top Republican strategists believe the path to keeping control of Congress lies in getting Trump’s help to turn out Republican base voters."
It continued later: "Still, Trump spends much of his time and energy highlighting controversial pet projects in D.C. that are far away from the districts that will decide which party will control Congress next year. Renovations and repairs around Washington have become a particular focus of the president ahead of the country’s 250th anniversary this summer. Trump showed off pictures of the painted Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on Wednesday after announcing the project would be completed that afternoon."
