A quarter of people who voted for President Donald Trump in 2024 say that Republican candidates should split from the president to win in November, according to a poll.
The war in Iran, high gas prices, and stubborn inflation have likely contributed to the 26 percent of 2024 Trump voters who believe GOP candidates in their district would have a better shot in the midterms if they break with the president, Politico reports.
A poll by the outlet found that 21 percent of people who voted for Trump and self-identified as MAGA also felt the same, versus 62 percent of MAGA who think the GOP candidate in their district would have a better chance of winning if they aligned themselves with the president.
It follows analysis that found two-thirds of Republican candidates running for the House and Senate have broken with Trump on key policy matters or sought to minimize their associations with him.
Florida Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar said that Trump’s immigration efforts have gone “too far” in an ad that aired in Miami last month, while Michigan Senate candidate Mike Rogers, who faces Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, called for an end to the “tariff war” with Canada. Iowa Rep. Ashley Hinson also urged an end to the Iran war as gas prices remain high.
“They see the writing on the wall about the gas prices and the inflation,” a GOP strategist working on a Senate campaign told Politico. “Running as a Trump sycophant is not going to work in 2026. It’s the only political move you can do in Michigan, a state like that. It’s toxic to be tied to the man.”
Few GOP candidates have completely split with Trump. Some have disagreed publicly with a policy or two, while others continue to back him.
“It is a balancing act,” Republican consultant Jeanette Hoffman told Reuters, adding that candidates are trying to capitalize on the administration's successes while creating some distance from Trump because of “how toxic the Trump brand is at the moment.”
In response to the poll, the White House pointed to the administration’s lowering of prescription drug costs and its efforts to secure the border. “No 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,” White House spokesman Davis Ingle said.
“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,” Ingle added.
With less than a month to go before Election Day, Trump has been hitting the campaign trail, this week visiting Oklahoma, Alabama, Ohio, Texas and Nebraska, in the hope that Americans will “pretend” he is on the ballot.
Trump appeared at a rally for Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton this week in San Antonio, just hours after the candidate blamed his Senate campaign woes on Trump in a leaked audio recording.
Paxton privately told donors and lobbyists last month that Trump's war against Iran and the resulting surge in fuel costs were damaging his Senate race against Democrat James Talarico, Axios reported.
“It's the war, it's gas prices, it's diesel,” Paxton said. “When it's over $6 per gallon for diesel ... people are feeling the pinch.”
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