Trump wasting time on 'frivolities' while his voters abandon him: GOP strategist

According to one longtime Republican strategist, President Donald Trump's apparent inability to focus on substantive policy issues rather than culture war fodder could be the final nail in the coffin for Republicans' majorities in one or both chambers of Congress this fall.

In a Wednesday op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, Karl Rove — who was a senior advisor to former President George W. Bush — predicted that Democrats would win control of the House of Representatives in November. He observed that the chances are extremely slim his party holds onto the House, pointing out that sitting presidents have only added to their majorities in 1998 and 2002, when Presidents Bill Clinton and George W Bush enjoyed more than 60 percent approval, and in 1934, when President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was immensely popular.

The veteran Republican operative also noted that Democrats only need to flip three seats, since House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) only has a razor-thin 218-214 majority to work with (and is now even urging Republicans to postpone their retirement announcements). Rove argued that Johnson's job isn't made any easier by Trump, who he argued is unable to exercise message discipline.

"Democrats want this election to be a referendum on Mr. Trump. So they’re happy for him to fill his days attacking the Super Bowl halftime show, posting a map showing Greenland, Canada and Venezuela as American possessions or trashing a U.S. Olympic athlete on Truth Social," Rove wrote. "Every moment he spends on such frivolities is a missed opportunity to advance his cause."

Rove reminded readers that during Trump's first term, Democrats won 41 seats in the 2018 midterms, after which then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) "spent the next two years bedeviling Mr. Trump." He wrote that, like 2018, Democrats could once again win back the House by running on healthcare. While Democrats in Trump's first term seized on voter anger over Republicans' failed attempt to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), Democrats in 2026 are already attacking Republicans for failing to extend ACA tax credits – causing their constituents health insurance premiums to significantly increase.

In his op-ed, Rove lamented that Republicans may ultimately be doomed if Trump puts himself front-and-center in the months leading up to the midterms. He asserted that the GOP may fare better at the polls provided Trump is able to "restrain himself, act presidential, deliver results and create constructive change."

"His choice will have a profound impact on the election’s outcome," he wrote.

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