I’m not sure how many times I’ve said this in Real Life and on the Internet, that Trump needs to stop with the retaliation talk, stop going after Republicans who aren’t 100% on the Trump train. It may play well with the uber-base, but, for one thing, it’s a distraction from going after Democrats and Joe Biden
Hill GOP to Trump: Tamp down the talk of grudges and Jan. 6
Donald Trump’s bid to oust a Florida Republican who backed Ron DeSantis over him is reviving a long-running GOP anxiety: that he can’t be dissuaded from the grudges and inflammatory rhetoric that plagued his party’s lawmakers during his first term.
Trump’s call for a challenger to Rep. Laurel Lee (R-Fla.), the only House Republican from DeSantis’ state to endorse the Florida governor in the primary, reveals a campaign with little interest in courting his former rivals and their supporters. But as President Joe Biden makes a play for Nikki Haley voters who might be reluctant to back Trump, Republicans are starting to nudge the former president to at least try to tone it down.
They’re concerned about a rerun of the hair-pulling past — where GOP candidates in battleground races are constantly challenged to answer for their presumptive nominee’s more erratic and boisterous statements.
It is a good point: why spend time answering for Trump’s yammerings when they should be beating Biden and Democrats over their agenda, over the inflated economy, over their support of Hamas in Gaza, and all the rest. Trump should be making a play for the Haley and DeSantis voters, among others, not driving them away. The idea is to win the states he needs to win, not turn off Republicans and Independents
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), another former DeSantis backer, told POLITICO that Trump’s scorched-earth approach to Lee risks turning off some voters who might otherwise favor him.
“Gratuitous attacks like these won’t help him win the presidency, and are counterproductive to building a conservative Congress eager to advance his agenda when he’s elected,” Massie said. “Fortunately, Laurel Lee will win her reelection by a comfortable margin, but in the meantime, these kind of statements alienate some of Trump’s potential voters.”
Regardless of your opinion of Massie, he’s 100% right. Trump needs to be building coalitions, bringing Republicans together
Trump is unlikely to heed such warnings to pivot to a more consistent general election message. So far this month, he has said that Jewish Americans who vote for Democrats “hate” their religion and described some migrants as “not people.”
But the fact that Hill Republicans are even attempting to refocus him, underscored by nearly 20 interviews with lawmakers and aides, illustrates their real worries about a 2024 cycle where their electoral fates are inescapably tied to the man at the top of the ticket.
Well, Trump is correct on Democrat voting Jews, but, he needs to focus on the primary issues, tell voters why he is better than Biden. As I’ve stated many times, he should be out there with a message stating that it doesn’t matter if people do not like him personally, it’s what he plans to do as President that matters. Do people want a government that works to enable the economy to do better for their pocketbook and a government that gets out of Citizen’s lives? That should be the message.
Tillis added a note of hope that Trump won’t sink candidates in states where the GOP might otherwise compete, like Michigan, where his “crossover appeal” might not translate to congressional candidates. If Trump doesn’t campaign strategically, Tillis said, “we could potentially lose the coin toss in an all-other-things-equal race” further down the ballot.
Winning means nothing if the GOP do not control at least one branch of Congress, all because Trump runs his mouth.
Trump has argued that Haley donors wouldn’t be accepted by his supporters, writing on Truth Social in January that her backers “will be permanently barred from the MAGA camp.” Even after dropping out, though, she’s continuing to draw votes in the primary. Biden’s latest ad buy is designed to welcome her voters to his side.
It makes no sense to blow off voters. Every vote counts. It should be an easy win in 2024, but, Trump is going to make it harder. Trump needs to remember Reagan’s 11th Commandment, and that this is not 2016.
Read: Congressional Republicans Beg Trump To Ease Off The Retaliation Talk »