Donald Trump arrives at a Make America Great Again rally in Cape Girardeau, Missouri on November 5, 2018.
JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images
Trump’s aides are talking with GOP campaigns to have him stump for candidates in October, per WaPo.
GOP officials are gambling that Trump can raise turnout without turning off too many independents.
Independents are now leaning toward Democratic candidates in the fall contests, per a new WSJ poll.
Former President Donald Trump’s advisors are in talks with GOP campaigns to have the ex-commander-in-chief stump for candidates on the trail in October, leading up to midterm elections where the party is aiming to make major gains in Congress, according to a Washington Post report.
Per the report, GOP strategists are taking a major gamble that Trump can juice party turnout without turning off the independent voters who will be key to the party’s hopes this fall.
Trump is set to appear at campaign rallies, while also making robocall messages and potentially participate in tele-town halls and select GOP fundraising events, per an advisor who spoke with The Post.
The former president’s political operation is seeking to deploy him to areas where he is most popular, zeroing in on rural locales, especially across the South and Upper Midwest, per the report.
However, as Trump faces a probe into his handling of classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago residence, as well as a Georgia investigation into election interference in the 2020 presidential election, he risks alienating many of the voters that the GOP will need if wants any chance of taking back the Senate.
In high-profile Senate races in Arizona and Wisconsin, independents in recent months have moved toward Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly and Democratic nominee Mandela Barnes, respectively, as reflected in major public polling.
A recent Wall Street Journal poll also showed Democrats with a slight lead among independents after months of favoring GOP candidates.
For months, Republicans have sought attack President Joe Biden over inflation, immigration, and the hasty US withdrawal from Afghanistan, but Trump taking center stage at GOP events may very well keep the party off-message as some election forecasters have already downgraded the party’s chances of winning a robust House majority.
Now, some Democrats think they could potentially retain the lower chamber, according to a recent Washington Post report.
As Trump took the stage on Saturday with Pennsylvania GOP Senate nominee Mehmet Oz in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., he lobbed repeated attacks at the state’s Democratic Senate nominee, Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, who for months has consistently led Oz in the polls.
Trump during his remarks bemoaned the state of the country, arguing that the midterms would be a “referendum” on Biden’s “extremism.”
Trump spokesman Taylor Budowich told The Post that “Americans are hungry for the policies and leadership” of the former president and said that such sentiments would power GOP victories in November.
A high-profile Republican told the Post that there’s a certain slice of the electorate where Trump is “helpful.”
The individual told the newspaper that having the former president on the campaign trail could very likely fuel high turnout among key voters that the party needs to win over this fall.
“Republicans don’t win if we don’t turn out the Trump voter. That’s just the truth. What we have to do is turn out the Trump voter while not having him turn off everyone else,” the Republican said.
Biden, who anticipates a potential presidential rematch with Trump in 2024, has sought to use the former president’s high-visibility as a foil, decrying those most closely associated to his predecessor as “extreme” MAGA Republicans.