Republican candidates are turning away from an increasingly unpopular Donald Trump.
With the midterm elections 40 days away, more and more GOP House and Senate hopefuls are splitting from the president on a variety of issues.
Trump’s own approval rating is in the toilet, having hit below 30 percent in some polls, driven by frustrations over the war in Iran and his sputtering economy.
The war is a big deal for Republican politicians too, with a New York Times report laying bare the extent to which candidates are putting daylight between themselves and the 80-year-old on the issue.
Michigan and Iowa Senate hopefuls—former Rep. Mike Rogers and Rep. Ashley Hinson—both called for an end to the war, which has been going on for nearly seven months.
Hinson said in a social media post that “the war needs to be brought to a successful and immediate end.”
“The war with Iran needs to end, and end quickly,” said Rogers in a campaign video.
“The war needs to come to an end as quickly as possible so that we can lower gas prices,” echoed Sen. Jon Husted in comments made to Politico.
Even House Speaker Mike Johnson has called for “a resolution” to the war, The Hill reports.
Speaking to the same outlet, one senator, who was granted permission to speak anonymously, said GOP lawmakers were under increasing pressure to end their support for the fight in the Middle East.
“People are very, very concerned about costs,” the senator said. “They associate higher fuel costs with the Iran war directly. Farmers are very, very concerned. All their input costs are being driven up. It’s a problem.”
Wisconsin and Michigan gubernatorial candidates are singing the same tune.
GOP Rep. John James, who is running in Michigan, and told local outlet MLive on Tuesday that “Iran cannot have a nuke, but I’ve always said that we need to use every resource at our disposal to bring this war to an end quickly.”
It was a similar story in Wisconsin for GOP Rep. Tom Tiffany, who told reporters, “I just believe we should be exiting Iran, that it’s time to move on... Time to come home, take care of business here in America.”
A CNN poll released on Tuesday put the president’s handling of the economy at just 27 percent approval. It is an issue he was strong on not too long ago, promising to make everyday Americans better off. It was a core component of his victory in the 2024 presidential election.
The war critics and economic worriers join GOP Rep. María Elvira Salazar of Florida, who last week split from the president on immigration, saying he had let down the Hispanic voters who had helped put him in the White House. In a campaign ad, she told Trump that his immigration policy had “gone too far” and that many who had voted for him “feel betrayed.”
“Everybody wants to see wars come to a conclusion,” said Senate Majority Leader John Thune.
“We are hopeful that the administration’s efforts will lead to getting the Strait of Hormuz open, getting the shipping lanes open and taking some of the pressure off of the American people’s pocketbooks.”
The White House, however, isn’t budging.
“All year, President Trump has traveled around the country sharing the achievements of his administration with Republicans,” a White House official told the Daily Beast. “There is absolutely no distance between them.
“President Trump is the unequivocal leader, best messenger, and unmatched motivator for the Republican Party, and he is committed to maintaining Republican majorities in Congress,” White House spokesperson Davis Ingle said in a statement to the Beast. “The choice has never been more clear: doubling down on President Trump’s winning, commonsense agenda or the Democrats’ extreme liberal policies and obstruction.”
