'They see the writing on the wall': Trump voters urging GOP candidates to flee president

With the midterms 25 days away, one in four Trump voters say Republican candidates should break with the president to win in November, according to the latest POLITICO Poll, conducted by the independent firm PF Global.

The findings underscore how even some Trump backers see him as "a drag on the ticket," Politico reported. The outlet pointed to persistent inflation, $4 gas prices, 7 percent mortgage rates, the Iran war and a trade war with Canada as giving GOP candidates plenty of openings to criticize the president.

Much of the push comes from the non-MAGA wing of Trump’s coalition: people who voted for him in 2024 but don’t identify as part of his most loyal base. Asked about specific issues, including the economy, trade and tariffs, data centers, immigration and the Iran war, non-MAGA Trump voters were roughly twice as likely as MAGA Trump voters to say their GOP candidate should break from him, the survey found.

Candidates are already doing it. Michigan Senate candidate Mike Rogers this week called for an end to the “tariff war” with Canada, after spending weeks defending Trump’s decision. “Here in Michigan, we know that Canada is not our enemy,” Rogers says in an ad. “We need to end this tariff war now.”

“It was brilliant by Mike Rogers … when you talk about the affordability issue, in every poll I get back, every week, more and more people have this as their top issue,” Michigan GOP consultant Jason Roe told Politico. “Obviously the price of gas is a result of the Iran war, and in Michigan, more than anything else, the trade war with Canada.”

Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar (R-FL) used an ad filmed in front of the White House to call out Trump’s immigration crackdown. Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-IA), running for Senate, has called for an end to the Iran war. Texas Senate nominee Ken Paxton has been the subject of four leaks exposing his private attempts to distance himself from Trump and the national party, Politico reported.

“It’s just all dictated by the data,” said a GOP strategist working on a Senate campaign, granted anonymity to speak candidly about the president. “They see the writing on the wall about the gas prices and the inflation. Running as a Trump sycophant is not going to work in 2026. It’s the only political move you can do in Michigan, a state like that. It’s toxic to be tied to the man.”

Politicians touting independence from Washington is nothing new, Politico noted, but it is notable that so many Trump voters are ready for candidates to do so.