Republican candidates, already facing an uphill battle because of President Donald Trump's unpopularity, are about to face new headwinds due to his self-absorption.
According to MS NOW's Zeeshan Aleem, a report from The Atlantic that Trump plans to spend millions of his hoarded MAGA dollars on an ad campaign promoting his record is the last thing GOP candidates need.
In a recent White House strategy meeting, Trump reportedly decided that as Election Day approaches, he would spend "hundreds of millions of dollars" promoting himself. The strategy serves as yet another example of how Trump's "self-adulation" frequently becomes the source of his biggest strategic mistakes.
According to The Atlantic, citing three people familiar with the meeting, Trump gathered his political advisers to determine how to spend the $400 million in funds available to his super political action committee, MAGA Inc. He reportedly settled on trying to "lean into the Democratic strategy of focusing on himself" and ordered "a series of television advertisements about his own record that will serve as a backdrop to the hundreds of individual House and Senate contests."
The report notes that Trump apparently wants ad makers to "mine his own on-camera statements" for these ads, focusing on his tax breaks, the stock market's rise and his failed war on fentanyl, among other things.
That led Aleem to point out, "There’s a great deal of evidence from political scientists demonstrating midterm elections function as a referendum on the president and his management of the economy. Given those trends, the Republican Party is poised to fare poorly in November. Trump’s approval ratings are at or near the lowest point of his time in office; even some of his most loyal supporters are wavering. And a big part of this decline is tied to dissatisfaction with the cost of living, exacerbated by Trump’s foolish misadventure into Iran. Polls conducted in July indicate that about two-thirds of Americans disapprove of his handling of the economy and believe that his policies have worsened economic conditions in the country."
Adding that, polls conducted in July indicate that about two-thirds of Americans "disapprove of his handling of the economy," Aleem advised, "At this point, a judicious president would show restraint in their messaging, allowing lawmakers in battleground districts and states to try to distance themselves from the president while making the case to voters."
Stating the 80-year-old president is "indulging in make-believe," he added, "If Trump fills the airwaves with ads about how the midterms are about nothing other than his record, he could easily nullify GOP candidates’ attempts to present themselves as independent-minded politicians intent on going to Washington with an agenda distinct from Trump."