MAGA congressman blasts Trump for undermining Republican midterm chances

A Republican lawmaker who normally supports President Donald Trump openly admitted in a Thursday interview that the president's "lack of focus" is hurting members of his party seeking reelection.

"I think a lot of people are burying Republican prospects in the November election; I think 40 days out is a little early to say that," Rep. Dusty Johnson (R-SD) told CNN's Jake Tapper in response to a question about an earlier remark Johnson made about Trump's seeming lack of focus. Johnson is not seeking reelection to the House of Representatives because he unsuccessfully attempted to run for South Dakota governor. In response to Tapper's question, he tried to boost the GOP's electoral prospects while admitting that the president has made political mistakes.

"I would say our chances of winning are a lot better if we're talking about the border, about what real steps have been taken on affordability, and about us rolling back some of the nonsense that was going on in the cultural space," Johnson added to Tapper. "If we're instead talking about Lake Ontario and reflecting about whether or not CNN should be a part of the pool, I think Republicans' prospects are markedly worse. And so, yeah, when I talk about focus, I think Republicans need message discipline, because there is a story to tell there, and it doesn't have a d - - - thing to do with Lake Ontario."

It is notable that Johnson referred to the Great Lake in question as "Lake Ontario" because Trump recently ordered it renamed to "Lake America" after Canada refused to capitulate to Trump in recent trade talks. Johnson mentioned "whether or not CNN should be a part of the pool" because the president recently and unsuccessfully attempted to ban that news network, along with the media outlets MS NOW and Politico, from covering the president at the White House.

Speaking with AlterNet last week, one political and polling expert argued that Trump is likely to suffer setbacks in the upcoming midterm elections both due to his own poor polling and historical precedent.

"It's primarily the president's weak approval rating combined with the usual difficulty that the presidential party has in a midterm," Kondik told AlterNet at the time. "I also think there may be even more for voters to react to in 2026 compared to even 2018, because Trump has acted as more of an imperial president and there is more dissatisfaction both with the economy as well as the president's foreign policy choices."

Kondik also drew from American history to explain why Trump is in a weak position.

"Generally speaking, a president who is this unpopular should see his party lose a lot of ground in Congress," Kondik explained to AlterNet. "That said, Joe Biden also had poor approval in 2022, but Republicans didn't do all that well—they flipped the House but not the Senate. However, the Republican lead in the generic ballot was not as large as the Democratic lead is now."

from Alternet.org https://ift.tt/dleIwEC
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