According to a report from the Washington Post, aides to Donald Trump are contacting the campaigns of GOP lawmakers who will be on the November midterm ballots and offering his services in the form of personal appearances and robo-calls -- and that has some GOP strategists worried it could blow up in their faces.
As the report notes, the former president is anxious to help out as Republican's odds of reclaiming both chambers of Congress begins to falter, but some campaign officials want nothing to do with him (“It’s not something we’re actively pursuing. We’re focusing on our own race") while others worry he will turn off the swing voters their candidates need if they hope to win.
According to the report, "Trump plans to be more engaged in October than in September, by appearing at rallies, in robocalls and potentially on tele-town halls and at fundraisers, according to a close adviser," with the Post adding, "But the risk is acute that his presence could distract from what the GOP has sought to make its central message of the midterms: that voters should fire Democrats who have presided over rising costs and violent crime. Trump, who is under multiple federal and state investigations, continues to falsely claim the 2020 election was stolen and has asserted without evidence that the FBI search of his Mar-a-Lago estate was part of a political attack — inflammatory rhetoric that Democrats have sought to keep in the spotlight."
Trump's legal problems -- as well as fears that he will continue to harp on his claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him -- have some campaign strategists worried.
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The report adds, "Democrats have built their fall messaging largely around the swing-vote skepticism of Trump’s brand of Republicanism and said they feel Trump has already helped, especially in Senate races, by elevating first-time candidates and pushing them to embrace more extreme positions, on issues like the validity of the 2020 election, in the primaries," before continuing, "Republicans privately say the reality is more complicated than most candidates are eager to admit. In the primary, Trump’s endorsement and the boost from a rally with him were the envy of all. In the general, though, Trump’s impact is decidedly more mixed. Especially in places where Republicans are hoping to make inroads into Democratic territory, Trump’s intervention is less welcome."
That is not to say that all GOP candidates are balking at his help, with the Post reporting, "Even as some Republicans try to distance themselves from the ex-president’s comments, many GOP campaigns are showing an eagerness for him to visit. Brian Jack, a former Trump White House adviser who now works for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), has prepared polling and research on House districts, which have been part of ongoing discussions informed by data with candidates and campaign committees about where Trump should go and when, according to the close Trump adviser."
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