PREEMPTIVE DENIAL

Trump Desperately Passes the Buck in Stunning Blue Wave Admission

The president says that whatever happens, it’s not his fault.

Donald Trump has admitted that Republicans are facing a midterm wipe-out but is already blaming it on voters’ anger with his party, rather than himself personally.

Trump, 80, will not appear on any ballot on Nov. 3, when Republicans defend narrow majorities in both the House and Senate. The party surrendered the House in 2018 and won it back by a sliver four years later.

Trump aired his worries in an interview with Punchbowl News, published Friday. He questioned whether the coalition that carried him back to the White House would turn out for anybody else. “The question is, will they vote?” he said, before supplying his own answer: “They’re angry at Republicans, but they’re not angry at me.”

He told the outlet he would press his supporters to show up. Making them actually do it, he said, is “the one thing I can’t do.” He acknowledged the scale of their grievances during his second administration, but denied again he had anything to do with it, saying “a lot of them are very angry at Republicans.”

Punchbowl characterized the task of driving MAGA voters to the polls without Trump running as a decade-old headache for Republicans in Congress, given turnout has proven consistently lower among his base when they know they’re not voting for the president himself.

But the polling data contradicts Trump’s claims that the disillusion of Republican voters has nothing to do with him or the policies of his administration. The Silver Bulletin’s polling average puts his disapproval ratings at 58.4 percent and approval ratings at 38.2 percent, for a miserable net of -20.6. The cost of living has consistently ranked chief among voter concerns, with gas prices pushed higher by his war on Iran.

His rocky first year-and-a-half back in office has handed Democrats a clear edge in forecasts for the November polls. A CNN poll from late July gave them an 8-point lead over Republicans on the generic congressional ballot among registered voters. Among those who described themselves as “extremely motivated to vote,” the Democratic margin stretched to 20 points.

The same survey found a majority saying Congress would improve if most sitting lawmakers were turfed out in November. That share ran double digits above where it sat before the Democratic wave of 2006.

NOTHING TO SEE HERE

Delusional Trump, 80, Tries to Deny Humiliating Poll Reality

Harry Thompson

Trump also used his sit-down with Punchbowl to grade the two parties on ruthlessness. Asked whether Democrats would move to impeach him a third time, he called them “vicious.” His own side drew an equally harsh verdict. “I think the Republicans are too nice,” he said, describing them as “much more gentle than the Democrats.”

Elsewhere, Trump also made some eyebrow-raising comments about Democratic Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, the minority leader whom Trump has previously called “Low IQ” and a “THUG.”

“I think he’s a nice guy,” Trump told Punchbowl, saying he’d had a “good meeting” with the New York representative. Asked if he could do business with Jeffries—a prospective speaker if Republicans lose the House in November—Trump said: “Yeah, I think so.”

“Look, people are harsh on me, I’m harsh on them,” Trump said. “It’s part of the world ... But I’d probably get along with him very well.”

The president has turned on his own Senate leadership. Trump has railed against Majority Leader John Thune for what he sees as Thune’s failure to get his SAVE America Act over the line, which would require proof of citizenship in order to vote in federal elections.

Asked in the Oval Office on July 29 whether Thune should keep the job, he said: “We’re going to find out, and I’ll let you know.” Punchbowl pressed the president on that conflict during his Thursday sit-down. “He’s trying hard, I really believe that,” the president said. “But, uh… if he doesn’t get there, it would be unfortunate.”

The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment on this story.

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