A number of Republican candidates facing tight races in November’s midterm elections have dropped mentions of President Donald Trump from their campaign websites, according to reports.
The president’s approval rating stands at just 33 percent in the latest Financial Times/Focaldata survey, with respondents again expressing concern over the state of the economy and the impact of Trump’s ongoing war with Iran on domestic gas prices.
Despite the possibility of a wave of support for Democrats sweeping the opposition to power in the House of Representatives and Senate, Trump has insisted on placing himself front and center of GOP campaigning and is this week hosting a midterms convention for his party in Texas.
At least 45 congressional Republicans – and first lady Melania Trump – have already made their excuses and will not be attending the event and it seems their wariness about being seen associating with such an unpopular commander-in-chief extends to campaigning.
The Washington Examiner reports that Florida state Rep. Mike Beltran, who is battling for Florida’s 14th Congressional District, has reworded his website so that it no longer claims he has motivated to enter politics because of Trump’s example and now states instead that he “felt called to public service” and that he is running to be a “champion for lower costs, lower taxes, and increased healthcare access.”
Similarly, according to NBC News, Kentucky House contender Ralph Alvarado is now promising “independent leadership,” having previously pitched himself as an “American First fighter.”
The Washington Post has found another five GOP House candidates in battleground races who had modified their sales patter to downplay allegiance to Trump.
Michigan’s Mike Bouchard has reportedly moved a banner prominently displaying the president’s endorsement, Iowa’s Joe Mitchell no longer mentions Trump on a section of his site explaining why he is running for Congress (but does include pictures of the president elsewhere) while Texas’s Eric Flores, Alaska’s Nick Begich and Arizona’s Elijah Crane have revised references to their supporting Trump’s agenda.
Jon Shiner, a spokesperson for Bouchard, told the Post, “Mike is proud of his endorsement by President Trump,” and said the updates to his site had been made to reflect the fact that he was now the party’s nominee for the seat, not a primary challenger.
Drew Johns, Mitchell’s campaign manager, said in a statement: “Websites are updated all the time. I don’t think anyone questions where Joe Mitchell stands on President Trump and the America First agenda.”
Mike Marinella, a spokesperson for the House Republicans’ campaign committee, rubbished the matter as “nothing more than a manufactured storyline all to provide cover for Democrats who kissed the ring of their radical socialist leaders to survive their primaries and are now desperately hoping a phony moderate makeover will fool voters before November”.
Offering a counter interpretation, Washington Democratic Rep. Suzan DelBene said: “It’s easy to understand why those careening towards defeat are attempting to distance themselves from the President.
“Voters are angry at Republicans for making their lives worse and are ready – if not outright eager – to reject them in November.”
It was previously reported that some GOP campaign operatives have frankly told the president’s team not to weigh in on their candidates’ behalf, fearful of his intervention having an adverse impact.
“We’ve told him he cannot come,” a senior Republican working on a competitive House race told Politico Friday. “Candidly, he would not be helpful here.”
One House GOP competitor described the guidance they had received from pollsters and operatives in even blunter terms: “You’re f***ed if you mention him too much, and you’re also f***ed if you don’t stay in his good graces.”
The president himself appears not to have got the message, however, and told guests at his Rose Garden barbecue last week that he intends to enter the fray for the final 30 days of campaigning.
In addition to voters seemingly souring on Trump, Republicans have also been unnerved by the president’s hesitance in releasing his MAGA Inc. Pac’s campaign war chest to support failing candidates.
Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy overtly appealed to him to release funding to help out Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton during an appearance on Fox News last week, saying: “We in the Senate don’t have the money budgeted for Texas. We need help from the president.
“The president says he has $850 million in his campaign accounts. That’s a lot of jack. I’m hoping that the president’s gonna spend $100 or $200 million in Texas. But he hasn’t committed to it yet.”
