President Donald Trump may be hobbling his own party's chances of maintaining congressional majorities by ignoring a crucial issue for voters.
The 79-year-old president demonstrated his political strength last week in Indiana’s closely watched Republican primary, where seven challengers he endorsed defeated incumbent state senators who resisted his gerrymandering demands,. But MS NOW's Zeeshan Aleem argued that only shows his continued hold on the MAGA base.
"Trump’s ability to decisively oust Republicans who cross him indicates that, despite his recent breaks from some MAGA influencers, he still has a lock on his electoral base," Aleem wrote. "But looking ahead to November’s midterm elections, Trump’s performance in Indiana is hardly reason for Republican optimism."
"He busies himself with positions designed to allay right-wing activists in policy areas, such as immigration, and provide red meat for the base in ways that are likely to cost the party soft supporters," Aleem added. "Meanwhile, he is perpetually ignoring the one thing that could save the GOP in November: delivering on affordability."
Trump seems laser-focused on issues that resonate with his hardcore base, but his effort to wriggle out of the Iran war he started shows that he's not even managing to keep support from the MAGA faithful.
"The way Trump is handling Iran suggests his audience is far narrower than the general electorate," Aleem wrote. "His comically short-lived and ineffectual 'Project Freedom' operation last week was the product of a desperate search for good news to sell the base."
The president risked unraveling the fragile ceasefire by having U.S. ships guide boats out of the Strait of Hormuz before backing down, and Aleem argued that showed how badly he wants to end the war and the resulting economic crisis, but even his attention to that matter frequently drifts off to his unpopular and expensive White House ballroom project.
"It’s strange watching Trump clobber his own party so thoroughly," Aleem wrote. "Even as his approval ratings plummet and consumer sentiment craters, he remains unable to focus on the cost-of-living grievances that have defined American politics for years now. Instead, out of habit (and maybe out of a desire for reliable affirmation), he goes back to the well of feeding his base instead of taking a broader perspective on Americans."
"The one thing Trump has going for him going into the midterms at this rate is the Democrats remain deeply unpopular," Aleem added. "But Trump is making the lesser of two evils calculation easy for most voters."