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Trump Calls Crisis Meeting as Midterms Nightmare Looms

Republicans are facing down what could be a disastrous midterm cycle.

Donald Trump has called a group of battleground-state Republican lawmakers to the White House as the party faces an increasingly ugly-looking midterm season.

Trump, 80, will host the members desperately fighting to hold onto their seats for a dinner on Wednesday night in the paved-over Rose Garden.

The meeting was first reported by Politico and confirmed by the Daily Beast.

Republicans have become increasingly concerned with their ability to hold not just the House but also the Senate in November, as Trump grows increasingly unpopular across the country and a series of recent polls show voters prefer Democrats to take control.

Perhaps not the greatest optics to be wining and dining in a space Trump has remade to look like his private Mar-a-Lago club, down to the table umbrellas, as the cost of living for most Americans soars, but Republicans are growing increasingly frustrated and have been pushing for the president to unleash his $400 million super PAC war chest to help with the campaign.

The White House invited at least several dozen Republican lawmakers to the White House gathering, two people familiar with the invitation list told Politico.

It comes ahead of next week’s Republican convention in Dallas, Texas, where the president will make his case for voters to back his party in the midterms, but some GOP lawmakers have already indicated that they will skip the event as the campaign season heads into the final stretch.

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So far, Trump has not unleashed substantial cash to help Republicans in the midterms. While MAGA Inc. has a whopping $400 million, it has spent almost nothing ahead of the midterms.

Just over $800,000 was dropped on calls and texts to help Senator Darline Graham clinch the GOP nomination for a full Senate term in the runoff last month, while South Carolina remains a likely red state.

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Republicans are desperate for him to start spending in some battleground states as they try to hold onto their razor-thin majority in the House and a three-seat majority in the Senate.

It comes as the Economist/YouGov poll released this week showed Democrats hold a six-point lead on a generic congressional ballot, 46 percent to Republicans’ 40 percent. A separate Reuters/Ipsos poll showed Democrats with a similar five-point edge, 43 percent to 38 percent.

The House returned briefly this week to Washington, D.C. after their August recess before they’re off for the week of Labor Day. The Senate remains out of town until September 14.

A series of recent polls have shown Democrats making gains in Trump districts as they look to flip the House. Cook Political Report ranks 21 seats as toss-ups, including 16 Republican held seats and five seats held by Democrats.

But Democrats have also been making gains in a series of Senate races even though the map is believed to favor Republicans this cycle. Polls show the Senate race in Texas tied, while Democrats lead in states that Trump won, like North Carolina, Georgia, Alaska, Michigan, and Ohio.

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Senate Majority Leader John Thune appeared on Fox News on Tuesday, where he said he certainly hoped MAGA Inc. would start spending money soon.

“We’re certainly hopeful that the president and his team and MAGA Inc. will be engaged in some of these races. We’ve got some states that are incredibly expensive,” Thune said.

The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.

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Sarah Ewall-WicePolitical Reporter

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