Donald Trump built a party in his own image, demanded total loyalty, and punished anyone who blinked. Now, with two months until the midterms, the members of that party are quietly heading for the exits, and they are hoping he doesn’t notice.
Republicans in competitive races are telling the president’s political team, in plain language, to stay away.
“We’ve told them he cannot come,” said one senior Republican working a competitive House race in a district Trump carried by double digits in 2024.
That is not a snub from some Never Trump holdout. That is a Republican in Trump country deciding the president is radioactive.
The man who spent a decade branding disloyalty as the ultimate sin is watching his own candidates treat him like a subpoena they’d rather not accept.
Trump-a-Palooza Gets the Cold Shoulder
Consider the convention. Trump wants a televised spectacle in Dallas this week, a two-day showcase inside the American Airlines Center with himself as the headliner and JD Vance as the warm-up act.
GOP insiders have a nickname for it: “Trump-a-palooza.”
A POLITICO survey of more than 70 Republican candidates and members found that most either won’t attend or can’t decide, and dozens more refused to say.
Their excuses range from the plausible to the transparent. Rep. Tom Barrett of Michigan is staying home. “I can’t control what the president’s going to say at the convention, but I can control where I’m at,” he said.
Rep. Nick LaLota of New York suddenly needs to tour colleges with his daughter. House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole has a dove hunt.
One anonymous member was blunter, calling the whole thing “a waste of time” and adding, “You shouldn’t be having to rally your base at this point. You should be trying to convince independents.”
Not in My District, Mr. President
Survival instincts on the campaign trail have completely demolished the myth of Republican unity.
Battleground candidates are quietly warning Trump’s political operation to keep the president far away from their competitive districts.
One senior Republican operative working on a competitive House race in a district Trump won by double digits in 2024 revealed the private panic, stating, “We’ve told them he cannot come.”
That same operative cautioned, “Candidly, he would not be helpful here... I do not believe they would send him without our OK. And if they did, we probably wouldn’t campaign with him.”
Top Republican pollsters are advising vulnerable incumbents to eliminate or strictly limit any direct mention of Trump in front of voters.
Representative Rob Wittman of Virginia awkwardly dodged questions about whether he wanted Trump to visit his swing district, offering evasive generalities about campaign plans instead.
Representative Mike Lawler of New York went so far as to run campaign advertisements highlighting Trump jokingly calling him “a pain in the ass” to feign independent distance.
Republicans spent years bending the knee to MAGA extremism, but they are now petrified of being photographed next to the man who leads their party.
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A Lose-Lose Election
Every road leads back to the same cliff. Republicans who embrace Trump inherit the Iran war, the price hikes, and the Epstein stench. Republicans who flee him alienate the base they need and provoke a president famous for retaliation.
One battleground House Republican candidly summarized the bind, acknowledging that guidance from operatives warns, “You’re fucked if you mention him too much, and you’re also fucked if you don’t stay in his good graces.”
That is the trap the GOP built for itself, brick by loyal brick. They made Trump the whole party. Now the whole party is underwater, and there aren’t enough lifeboats in Dallas to go around.
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So they know how deeply unpopular both trump and his policies are. They want to pretend they aren't aligned with him so they can get reelected and continue the status quo. They are all despicable.
Schadenfreude.