According to a report from the Daily Beast, backed by polling, attacks by Donald Trump on Democratic governors only succeeds in driving up their approval numbers which makes the job of Republicans in those states that much harder as the election approaches.
Case in point: Michigan Democratic Governor Gretchen Whitmer who has been a frequent target of the president and has seen her approval numbers soar.
With Trump in bad need of Michigan's 16 electoral votes, the president has apparently put them out of reach with his vicious attacks on the governor who was the target of a kidnapping and murder plot that was foiled by the FBI.
According to Jeff Timmer, the former executive director of the Michigan Republican Party turned Trump critic, the president, by virtue of his attacks, has given Democratic challenger Joe Biden a boost in the state.
“Trump has become Biden’s best surrogate in Michigan,” Timmer explained while noting that the president's rally where he incited fans to chant "lock her up," only made things worse.
“His comments this last weekend just, I think, have sealed his fate,” he added. “He’s turned this into a battle of him versus Gretchen Whitmer, and she’s clearly in position to win that battle.”
According to the Beast, Michigan's Whitmer is not the only Democratic governor who is reaping benefits from being a Trump foe.
"Trump’s case against the Democratic governors has been that they should open their states up, a rhetorical flourish he uses regardless of what the reality is in the state at the moment, whether it be policy-wise, legally, or from a public health perspective," " the report states. "And while Whitmer has been the most stinging example of Trump’s recent attacks on Democratic governors in major swing states, she’s not alone, as polling and data shows the president faring worse when it comes to job approval than the governors of other states he’s criticized as of late in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina."
Democratic governors in the states of Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Michigan, and Wisconsin all have higher approval numbers than Trump, according to recent polling, the report notes with a Democratic strategist for North Carolina's Gov. Roy Cooper (D) boasting the Trump is hurting no one but himself.
“Trump's bombasting and anecdotes and sort of same old tired attacks that he brings every time he comes to North Carolina are not only not working against the governor, but they’re not helping his campaign,” stated Morgan Jackson. “He is literally only talking to base Republicans.”
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