Top GOP officials say they’re banging their heads against a brick wall trying to squeeze positive messaging past Donald Trump’s unending tirades, flubs and gaffes.
Republican Senators told NOTUS Monday their goal is to trumpet last year’s otherwise popular tax cuts ahead of what already promises to be a bruising battle to retain control of the House and Senate come November’s midterm elections.
Those efforts have extended as far as rebranding the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” under which Trump brought the measures in last year, as the “Working Families Tax Cuts”—a name Trump himself refuses to use as GOP senators say his behavior continues to overshadow the economic benefits its provisions have brought to voters.
“It’s very concerning,” one Republican senator told Notus. “My God, look at the polling numbers,” another added.
“We have got to be pitch perfect to protect our incumbents,” the second went on. “We’re not even singing in the same tongue right now, let alone having people singing from the same hymn book.”
Those senators pointed to last week’s Tax Day as a key case in point. Party officials had looked toward the IRS filing deadline as the moment voters would see clear evidence of the advantages the measures have afforded them.
Trump, to mark the occasion, staged a McDonald’s delivery to the Oval Office, during which he spoke for roughly 90 seconds about his “no tax on tips” measures before abruptly pivoting to his deeply unpopular feud with Pope Leo XIV and asking the delivery worker whether she approved of transgender women participating in sports.
“I really don’t have an opinion on that,” the delivery worker said, reminding him they were supposed to be talking about tax reforms. He later wrote off the staged event as “a little tacky” and “embarrassing.”
The White House did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Trump-fueled scandals and controversies, such as his handling of the Epstein files furor and his ongoing war with Iran, have repeatedly chipped away at the support behind the president’s landslide 2024 election victory since assuming office for the second time last January.
His overall approval ratings presently hover at just 37 percent. Roughly two-thirds of voters currently hold a negative view of his second term so far, with Democrats enjoying just under a six-point lead in voter intentions ahead of the November elections.
