Republicans are facing a hard uphill battle in their fight to retain the House and Senate majority, but critics on social media say the party appears to be toiling up the wrong hill entirely.
Conservative X account Republicans against Trump appeared to roll its eyes as they reposted Speaker Mike Johnson’s plan to get Republicans re-elected this midterm—plaster them with President Donald Trump’s face.
“The president’s gonna look right in the camera and say, ‘I am on the ballot.’ Because even though his name isn’t, right, his administration, his legacy, the America-first agenda is,” said Johnson, speaking at a rally for Rep. Monica De La Cruz, (R-Texas) “We gotta get people to turn out.”
Hold the majority. Hold the majority,” said Johnson, quoting former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, while acknowledging “this is one of our toughest elections.”
Critics rattled Johnson’s post in responses.
“Great idea, Mike,” said one progressive account. “Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”
“Hey – this works for me,” said another.
“He wants to guarantee a Democratic landslide,” intoned another.
Hecklers destroyed Johnson’s advice because Trump’s polling is lower than it has ever arguably been in his two terms as president.
CNN Data analyst Harry Enten reported on Friday that as of the end of August, polls show that Trump being 21 points underwater, leaving him "stuck" in the basement.
“How low does he go?!" Enten said. "Well, this is a president who is stuck on empty. Stuck on neutral. Whatever kind of gas analogy you want to make.”
“The president's approval rating, simply put, is low. His net approval rating is low. It is staying low, and there is no sign he's getting out of the basement. He's stuck on the ground,” added Enten, comparing Trump’s numbers to former President George W. Bush, who lost his huge majority after the September 11 attacks.
With less than 70 days before the election, Enten said that it's clear he's "stuck" for good before November, and that he “simply doesn't see it going anywhere.”
This said progressive X posters, was reason to cheer Johnson’s plan to make the midterms every bit about Trump.
“The fact that they STILL tie themselves to him is just ... beyond weird. Almost a third of the country is registered as independent now (me) and I'm not sure this makes any sense. Wait, I'm SURE it doesn’t make sense,” said another heckler on X.
