GOP candidates bemoan 'hugging' Trump as they drool over MAGA cash

Republican candidates quietly wish they could pretend they'd never even met President Donald Trump, even as they drool over his cache of campaign cash, according to a new report.

Politico revealed Friday that a slate of House candidates, some even in districts Trump carried by double digits in 2024, wish they could keep their distance from the president and his abysmal approval numbers — but they can't.

"We can't turn around now and pretend that we don't know him," a battleground GOP operative said. "Anyone who tries to distance themselves after hugging, you just can't get away with that. All you're gonna do is p--- off the MAGA lovers, who we still need to keep in the family."

Politico described the problem many Republicans face as "uncomfortable" as they both try to distance themselves from Trump and angle for some of the money in his MAGA war chest.

"By running too far from Trump," the report stated, "Republicans risk alienating the MAGA faithful or the president himself, whose super PAC is sitting on more than $400 million they desperately need deployed to help them win key races."

But that hasn't stopped some top GOP pollsters from coaching endangered incumbents not to talk about Trump on the campaign trail, three insiders told Politico.

One senior Republican working on a competitive House race — in a district Trump won by double digits — didn't mince words about keeping him away.

"We've told them he cannot come," they told Politico. "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."

Another House Republican in a tough race described the no-win bind vulnerable candidates find themselves in.

"Some of the guidance has been, 'You're f----d if you mention him too much, and you're also f----d if you don't stay in his good graces,'" the lawmaker said. "So that is the problem."