Daniel Wolfram
Fearing voter backlash over tariffs and fuel prices, local candidates in the midwest quietly pull back from the president.
Just how unpopular is President Donald Trump at the moment? His poll numbers are the worst ever for a modern president.
Even a Fox News survey shows that his approval rating is at a record-low 36% and that the Democratic Party has a real chance of taking both chambers of Congress.
So how does that play out in the battleground states just two weeks leading up to the midterm elections? Well, politicians in one state where they are in danger of losing their seats are now openly debating whether to be seen with Trump as he is becoming politically toxic.
Walking on eggshells
According to Politico, local Republican candidates in Michigan openly debated whether they should even show up to a planned campaign stop for Donald Trump.
The candidates have a good reason to feel uneasy. With midterms closing in, Republican candidates are deathly afraid of being linked to Trump’s trade tariffs that hit local manufacturing, alongside soaring pump prices that are a direct outcome of the president’s war with Iran.
Trump was supposed to speak a week or so ago at a big event in one of the counties that he won big in 2024, but those plans have since been scrapped. The president is now scheduled to hold a smaller Michigan rally on October 25 in St. Clair County, which is only the 13th most populous county.
The sudden shift in attitude towards their president has exposed a deep divide between national leadership and local races. Down-ballot hopefuls spent days calculating how much they want to be associated with Trump.
The spending divide
As longtime Republican consultant Ron Bonjean told Politico, “Trump is at historic lows right now, so if he comes to your district or state, it’s about getting the Republican base vote out there and that can certainly help.”
The reluctance is obvious on people’s televisions. According to Politico’s review of relevant data, Democrats have spent $145 million on ads featuring Trump in a negative way.
Meanwhile, Republicans have just spent $8 million on ads where the president is featured, either by quoting him or tying him to the candidate. That number from the Republicans is down a staggering $62 million from just two years ago.
An Ohio Republican operative was even harsher in his critique of why Republicans are dodging the president. “This is a historically unpopular president,” the operative said. “We all agree with that, and so it’s kind of hard to attach yourself on the airwaves, I think, too closely to him.”
Former Ohio congressman Jim Renacci pointed to voter research from a nonprofit group he works with. In the end, Renacci noted, their numbers revealed that “in most cases you do not want [Trump] standing near you.”
