Republicans are defending territory they never expected to be at risk four weeks before Election Day, as President Donald Trump implores voters not to desert his party with the promise of more cash giveaways.
A top White House adviser, meanwhile, argued Sunday on CNN that “partisan pollsters” are wrong that voters are hurting financially — a message that suggests a disconnect between the country and a president who boasts of an economic “golden age.”
And polling released over the weekend pointed to growing peril for the GOP, with Democrats leading or in tight races in states Trump won easily two years ago, amid signs that Latino voters, who helped power him back to the White House, are drifting away.
The Iran war remains an anvil for Republicans heading into the final stretch of the midterms, with few signs that high gasoline and diesel prices will return to cheaper levels soon — at least in time for voters to feel the difference by November 2.
He pleaded with Republican voters in the Deep South to “pretend I’m on the ballot” and waxed about the unprecedented “golden age” he says he’s conjured. In an apparent attempt to sweeten his message, the White House announced a $90 payment to around 20 million seniors who are on Medicare Part B. Last month, Trump promised every American adult $5,000 if Republicans win the midterms. In Ohio on Saturday night, the president crudely promised his voters victory against the Democrats, if only they’d turn out in huge numbers to vote. “We’re going to win big, and we’re going to shove it up their ass,” he said.
“Ahead of an election cycle, the fact that there’s possibly partisan pollsters telling us that the people are really, really depressed, it’s a classic Democrat move,” Kevin Hassett, director of the National Economic Council, told CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union” Sunday. Hassett blamed high prices for groceries and food on former President Joe Biden and argued that fresh government data Friday showing only 29,000 jobs were created in September was an outlier.
Democrats claim that such characterizations reflect denial in the White House. “People can’t afford their lives,” Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly said on CBS’ “Face the Nation,” dismissing Trump’s promised payouts as “trying to buy votes.”
GOP Sen. John Kennedy of Louisiana warned that the biggest election issue was the cost of living. “We have to tell the American people the truth,” Kennedy said. He added on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that “we (keep) telling them not to believe their own lying checkbooks.”
“The American people, both sides, feel anger,” Kennedy said. “If they don’t feel anger, they feel deep melancholy.”
Multiple polls back up Kennedy’s assertions on the economy. In the latest, for CBS News this weekend, 70% of voters said Trump’s policies were pushing prices up. And 56% said Trump’s policies were responsible for today’s economy, while only 20% blamed Biden. In an AP/NORC poll last week, 69% of adults said that Trump’s handling of the cost of living had been worse than expected.
Democrats have offered scant details about what they’d do to cut the cost of living. But in a midterm election that is shaping up as a referendum on an unpopular president, that may not matter.
Trump has complained that “nobody’s selling” the fact that “there’s no economy like this economy.” But he’s hardly sticking to one single message himself. He appeared to share Republican Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton’s cell phone number on social media Saturday amid a dispute over daylight saving time; on Sunday, he lashed out at Fox News for not sufficiently covering his Ohio rally and filled Truth Social with photos of himself with Chinese leader Xi Jinping and AI illustrations staking claims to Greenland.
