President Donald Trump's approach to the upcoming elections is lacking the bluster of previous fights — and insiders suggest he thinks Republicans have already lost, the Washington Post reported Saturday.
The president has kept a strategic distance from candidates in races, including in Virginia and New Jersey — and has refused to pour the millions of dollars into contests that he has in the past.
In Virginia, Trump has been particularly silent, with Chris Saxman, a former GOP state delegate, commenting: "I don't think he likes to back candidates he knows are going to lose."
The Washington Post reported that Trump's reluctance to get involved is "signaling some pessimism."
This sentiment is reflected in Trump's limited support, explicitly endorsing only Attorney General Jason Miyares while notably avoiding an official endorsement for gubernatorial nominee Winsome Earle-Sears.
Trump's approach has been characterized by minimal direct involvement, the Post wrote. When pressed about Earle-Sears, he offered a tepid endorsement, saying the "Republican candidate is very good" and "should win because the Democrat candidate's a disaster."
Republican strategists have mixed feelings about Trump's involvement. One GOP operative in the New Jersey governor's race, in which Republican Jack Ciattarelli is taking on sitting Democratic congresswoman Mikie Sherrill, argued, "If Trump showed up in the state on Sunday or Monday, Jack's turnout Tuesday would be insane."
However, Marc Short, former chief of staff to Trump's first vice president, cautioned that, "Pretty much the whole terrain this year is in Democrat states or cities... It's probably in the candidate's best interest for the president to also have some difference."
John McLaughlin, a longtime Trump pollster, offered a particularly revealing assessment of the current political landscape: "There's a lot more incentive to come out because you're upset about having lost the previous year." He bluntly added, "The Trump voters, right now, are complacent."
Democrats have seized on this opportunity, with campaign messaging directly targeting Trump. In Virginia, nearly half the Democratic gubernatorial ads and 69 percent of attorney general race ads mention the president. One representative ad directly states, "Sears backs Trump policies that are raising prices for everything."
In California, Trump has taken a preemptive approach, seeking to discredit potential election results before they occur. He wrote on social media, "Watch how totally dishonest the California Prop Vote is!" - echoing his familiar claims of electoral fraud.
The overall picture is of a president maintaining a strategic distance, carefully managing his political capital while attempting to maintain influence without fully committing to potentially losing candidates.