USA08 October, 20262 min read
Reuters Review Finds Two-Thirds Of Competitive Republican Candidates Distance From Donald Trump
This article is an automated aggregation of coverage from news outlets. Our editorials offer in-depth analysis curated by the NewsCord team.
Two-thirds of competitive GOP candidates distance themselves from Trump in midterm races. Several campaigns scrub Trump from websites and messaging to boost viability.
Distance in Competitive Races
A Reuters review found that two-thirds of Republican candidates in competitive US House and Senate races have broken with President Donald Trump on policy or played down ties to him ahead of the November 3 midterm elections. The Reuters review identified candidates in 41 of 62 competitive congressional races seeking some distance from Trump, with policy differences appearing in 23 of the 62 races and the split centered on the Iran conflict in 12 contests.
White House spokesman Davis Ingle said Trump was “the unequivocal leader, best messenger and unmatched motivator” for the party in response to questions about the Reuters findings. The BBC framed the same dynamic as Republicans “walking a Trump tightrope” while Trump defended the economy and dismissed affordability concerns as “fake” and a Democrat-inspired “hoax.”
Scrubbing and the Iran Split
Reuters found that a dozen candidates removed Trump’s name, image or endorsements from campaign websites, and other candidates acted more subtly by skipping Trump events or declining to say whether he should campaign on their behalf. The Reuters review also described how vulnerable Republicans split with Trump on the Iran conflict, including candidates voting to curb Trump’s war powers or calling publicly for an end to the fighting that has raised gas prices and squeezed household budgets.
Republican strategist Ron Bonjean told Reuters that “If (voters) are not with Trump, then they need to show a break.” CNN said Trump appeared “rather sensitive” about Republicans not wanting to campaign with him, pointing to his repeated rally claims and his post that “MY RALLIES ARE SAVING THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, AGAIN!!!”
Tightrope Stakes for Congress
The Reuters review tied the distancing effort to the party’s hold on Congress, describing unpopularity as a threat while candidates sought to attract independent voters without a direct break with their party leader. The BBC said the midterm campaign left Republicans with an “agonising choice” about whether distancing from Trump on the economy could cost them races projected to be very tight.
The Daily Beast said the scale of distancing revealed that Republicans were widely expected to lose control of the House in November, while it described the Senate as in play for Democrats who would need to flip at least four seats to seize control of the upper chamber. In the same Reuters-linked reporting, White House spokesman Davis Ingle maintained Trump remains “the unequivocal leader, best messenger and unmatched motivator” for the party as candidates tried to balance loyalty with issue-by-issue divergence.