The Daily Blast: Trump Accidentally Wrecks GOP Midterm Message in Dumbest Self-Own Ever

The DSR Network

This episode examines how Donald Trump's recent amplification of a MAGA influencer's critique of the GOP is undermining Republican midterm s

Key takeaways

Trump's strategy of blaming Republicans for failures undermines their midterm messaging about congressional achievements.
Trump's own declining approval ratings and inconsistent economic claims weaken his credibility as a campaign figure.

Main topics

Trump's influence on GOP midterm strategy
Republican voter turnout and enthusiasm

Notable quotes

Trump voters should hold the GOP accountable for failing him.

I think he is so upset and looking for people to blame. For a while, he was going to blame election fraud. Now I think he's decided to get a jump on things and blame the Republican Party...

Conclusion

Trump's self-own strategy of blaming Republicans for failures may inadverten

Transcript preview

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It accused the GOP of utterly failing Donald Trump. That could depress base turnout, but here's the thing. Trump keeps saying things like this. In other words, Trump keeps directly undercutting the GOP message in the midterms right now, which is that the Republican Congress has accomplished great things. So here's the question. Could what Trump is doing here make a difference and hurt Republicans in the midterms? We think it actually might be seriously damaging, and we're going to try to lay out why with Jennifer Rubin, editor-in-chief of The Contrarian, who's been writing scaldingly on the GOP's failures lately. Jennifer, good to have you on. It's great to be here, Greg. So this week, Trump posts a tirade from a MAGA influencer named Matt Van Swall. It says this, quote, Speaker 5 (2:35) Close quote. Speaker 5 (2:43) Jen, this guy thinks he's constructively criticizing the GOP, but Trump has now taken it and turned it into an effort to discourage Trump voters from coming out in the midterms. Your thoughts about all that? Speaker 4 (2:55) I think our work is done here, Greg. Perhaps you should have this guy on your show. He perfectly embodies the reality, which is the Republicans have fucked up. They've done nothing. Now, the irony, of course, is that they just deferred to Trump. And Trump's the one who's done nothing. Trump is the one who has raised prices with tariffs. Trump's the one who started a war that no one wanted. Trump is the one who has made cash out of every government agency. So yes, on one hand, the Republicans are to blame, but they're to blame because they have blindly followed Trump into one blind alley after another. Speaker 5 (3:37) It's a thing of beauty that they're going to get screwed by this, too. By the way, there's another element to this that people are missing, I think. The screed from this guy that Trump amplified also said this, quote, No meaningful decrease in the deficit. People are pissed off that they voted Trump into office and then the GOP continues to slow walk every reform people want. Close quote. Jen, it's a really creative strategy for Trump to admit that the deficit isn't going down on his watch. I mean, in fact, it's going up. But wow, like what a message. Me and my party are failing. Your thoughts? Speaker 4 (4:12) Well, $40 trillion in the debt later. These people really have fucked up. Now, it's also ironic because Trump himself keeps saying this is the golden age of the economy. So it's not even consistent with Trump's own messaging. So I think he is so upset and looking for people to blame. For a while, he was going to blame, I don't know, election fraud. Now I think he's decided to get a jump on things and blame the Republican Party for the upcoming failure and defeat that they are facing, because he sure isn't going to take the blame. Speaker 5 (4:55) Right. It sure sounds like he expects defeat, and that's why he's saying this. And the real crux of this is that it isn't a one-off. Trump keeps saying things like it. Listen to this. It's Trump talking to a reporter about his own voters. Listen to this exchange with the reporter. Speaker 3 (5:11) Because a lot of them are very angry. And Republicans, to be honest with you. Why is that? I don't know. I mean, they're angry at Republicans, but they're not angry at Speaker 5 (5:21) me. That's an Speaker 3 (5:21) interesting thing. Speaker 5 (5:22) Why? Speaker 3 (5:23) They're not angry at me, but they are angry at Republicans. Everyone's angry at me. Speaker 5 (5:26) Jen, that is basically a direct command to his voters to see the GOP as having let him down. It's complete nonsense, of course. As you said, voters are furious with Trump across the country, but he's now trying to redirect that anger at his own party that's facing the midterm elections. So they bear the brunt of his failures. It's really something, isn't it? Speaker 4 (5:47) It is. And it's even worse than that. Because what Trump wants to do is spend millions and millions of dollars talking about himself. He thinks what needs to be done is talk about his achievements. So he wants to run ads all about Trump. Last time I looked, his approval was in