Republican candidates who embraced President Donald Trump during their primaries are now beginning to view him as an “anchor” as they pivot toward the upcoming midterm elections, progressive commentator David Pakman argued Wednesday.
“What changed is they are realizing Trump is like an anchor for them, and they can ride that anchor to the bottom of the ocean,” Pakman said.
The host of the “David Pakman Show” pointed to Ralph Alvarado, the Trump-backed GOP nominee in a Kentucky congressional district, whose campaign removed prominent references to the president from portions of its website.
During the primary, Alvarado’s website featured a photograph of him alongside Trump and declared, “President Trump needs more allies in Congress to deliver on his bold vision. I will be that fighter,” according to screenshots retained by Pakman and displayed on his YouTube show Wednesday.
“The mention of Trump — removed like a miracle — it’s gone,” Pakman said.
The message has since been replaced with a statement about health care.
A photograph of Alvarado standing beside Trump also vanished from his campaign’s website and was replaced with an image identifying the MAGA candidate as a “Christian, husband, father and physician.”
“And all of a sudden there's no mention of being alongside Trump. And the picture of him with Trump is also gone,” Pakman told listeners.
Pakman argued that Trump has become “a liability.”
“And so what do you do? You Photoshop him out of the campaign. The picture with Trump is gone. The mentions of Trump are gone.”
The liberal commentator concluded that while Republican candidates may have relied on Trump to get them through their primaries, they must now attract voters “who can’t stand Donald Trump.”
“You can delete mentions of Trump,” he said. “You can change the pictures, but your record doesn’t change.”