Source: Politics<\/p>\n
One in four Trump voters say GOP candidates should break with the president to win in November, according to the latest POLITICO Poll<\/a>, conducted by independent firm PF Global.<\/p>\n The findings underscore the degree to which even loyal Republicans understand President Donald Trump is a drag on the ticket. Persistent inflation, $4 gas prices, 7% mortgage rates, a quagmire in the Middle East and a trade war with Canada have given Republican candidates no shortage of opportunities to take the president to task.<\/p>\n Michigan\u2019s GOP Senate candidate Mike Rogers this week became the latest example when he called for an end<\/a> to the \u201ctariff war\u201d with Canada \u2014 a notable shift after he spent weeks defending the president\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was brilliant by Mike Rogers \u2026 when you talk about the affordability issue, in every poll I get back, every week, more and more people have this as their top issue,\u201d said Michigan-based GOP consultant Jason Roe, who is working on Rep. Tom Barrett\u2019s (R-Mich.) reelection campaign. \u201cObviously the price of gas is a result of the Iran war, and in Michigan, more than anything else, the trade war with Canada.\u201d<\/p>\n Rogers is hardly the only example. Florida GOP Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar used an ad filmed<\/a> in front of the White House to call out the president\u2019s immigration crackdown. Rep. Ashley Hinson (R-Iowa), in her bid to win the Iowa Senate seat,has called for an end<\/a> to the Iran war amid souring diesel costs. Ken Paxton, the GOP\u2019s embattled Texas Senate nominee, has now been the subject of four leaks exposing his private attempts<\/a> to distance himself from Trump and the national party.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just all dictated by the data,\u201d said a GOP strategist working on a Senate campaign, granted anonymity to speak candidly about the president. \u201cThey see the writing on the wall about the gas prices and the inflation. Running as a Trump sycophant is not going to work in 2026. It\u2019s the only political move you can do in Michigan, a state like that. It\u2019s toxic to be tied to the man.\u201d<\/p>\n There are some limits: No Republican has completely broken with Trump, and several are eager to stand next to him on stage or in the Oval.<\/a> Few dare to criticize him directly. And many<\/a> still lean on their ties<\/a> to the president<\/a> on the campaign trail and in their social media profiles<\/a> as they seek to rally the MAGA base.<\/p>\n A White House official, granted anonymity to discuss internal thinking, scoffed at the idea that Rogers\u2019 \u2014 or any other candidates\u2019 \u2014 efforts to distance themselves from Trump administration policies, amounted to a major break with the president.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I\u2019m a candidate that\u2019s physically trying to push away from the president, I\u2019m not attending this stuff. I\u2019m just gonna back away all the way,\u201d the official said. \u201cBeing in the midst of a campaign and needing to talk to the issues that are being discussed as kitchen table topics, you just kind of have to.\u201d<\/p>\n White House spokesperson Davis Ingle pointed to the Trump administration\u2019s efforts to lower prescription drug costs, cut taxes, secure the border and grow job numbers: \u201cNo one can dispute the fact that President Trump has created one of the most robust coalitions in political history with the MAGA movement, and the president understands how to communicate with 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.\u201d<\/p>\n Politicians touting their independence from Washington is nothing new. But as the poll reveals, it\u2019s notable<\/p>\n that so many who voted for Trump, who has been the GOP’s dominant force for a decade, are ready for candidates to take that leap.<\/p>\n Much of the fracture is driven by the non-MAGA wing of his coalition, the people who voted for Trump in 2024 but do not identify as part of his most loyal base, the survey found. When asked about specific issues such as the economy, trade and tariffs, data centers, immigration and the Iran war, non-MAGA Trump voters were roughly twice as likely as MAGA Trump voters to say their GOP candidate should break from the president.<\/p>\n But Trump still retains an intense hold over the base. More than two-thirds of MAGA voters said GOP candidates should continue to align with Trump across all of those issues.<\/p>\n That creates a no-win situation for many Republican candidates: Tie yourself to Trump and his policies too tightly and you lose independents and non-MAGA Republicans. Break too far, and you risk leaving MAGA disenchanted.<\/p>\n Candidates trying to thread that needle are quick to praise the president but blame his advisers, as Salazar did, or avoid mentioning Trump by name at all.<\/a><\/p>\n Roe said each candidate has to measure the \u201cdownstream effects\u201d of a decision to distance themselves from the president, adding that it\u2019s a balance between \u201calienating your base with appealing to voters that are looking for some independence.\u201d<\/p>\n On the campaign trail, many Republicans acknowledge that the president remains an asset in shoring up base voters crucial to November. It\u2019s part of the reason Trump has aggressively traveled to red states \u2014 including Alabama, Alaska, Iowa, Nebraska, Ohio and Texas \u2014 bastions of conservatism that need his star power to coax die-hard supporters to the polls. The White House official pointed to the president\u2019s rally with South Carolina Senate candidate Darline Graham ahead of her run-off as an example of Trump\u2019s ability to juice turnout.<\/p>\n RNC press secretary Natalie Baldassarre insisted that Republicans \u201cremain united behind the president\u2019s agenda\u201d and are \u201claser focused on winning.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOur candidates will run the races necessary to best represent their districts and prevent Democrats from taking control,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The president is telling voters to \u201cpretend\u201d he is on the ballot, and he has insisted the party is already in a better place as he blitzes states across the country, touting his economy and arguing that higher prices are a small price to pay for national security amid the lingering war with Iran.<\/p>\n