Republican officials tell the Washington Examiner they’re increasingly worried a possible Trump 2024 campaign launch before the November could be a drag on their prospects in the midterms as it would refocus and energize Dem voters while depressing turnout among independent voters who might otherwise be amenable to picking GOP candidates.
“Trump being front and center could affect GOP gains in the House by five seats or so. But it could really affect the Senate, which could end up 50/50 again based on how the seats are looking,” said Texas GOP strategist Jeff Burton. “Anything, and I mean anything, that takes the focus off the miserable job Joe Biden is doing is bad for Republicans,” added former Moscow Mitch chief of staff Josh Holmes. Like with all things Trump, his needs – like getting ahead of GOP rivals to box them out and making sure that any prosecution he faces becomes more “political” than it would’ve been without him officially being a candidate – come first, ahead of the Party’s. Sucks for them.