In August, the Republican National Committee threatened to give Trump money for down-ballot elections if he couldn’t get his act together. At the time, Trump was still reeling from his unfortunate antics, such as his attack on the Gold Star family after the Democratic National Convention. Yet the RNC and Trump denied that such a conversation ever took place. What’s more, Allahpundit wrote on Hot Air that RNC Chairman Reince Priebus wasn’t really in a position to demand anything from the Trump campaign. For starters, the RNC had to give the impression that it was doing everything it could to assist him avoid the appearance that they were setting him up for defeat; an appearance that could have been a major blow to the 2018 midterms. Additionally, modern information about the Clinton Foundation came out, and the focus shifted back to Clinton. Then we got a tape of Trump talking about grabbing women by their private parts.
The 2005 Access Hollywood tapes may be “irretrievable,” or so NBC’s Chuck Todd believes. Trump’s remarks about hitting on then-Access Hollywood host Nancy O’Dell, who is married, have also drawn near-universal condemnation from across the party. Those who supported Trump are withdrawing their support, those who were undecided are certainly not supporting him now, and those who already opposed him are taking the extra step of demanding he resign. The latter will never happen. Still, this may be a case where the RNC has decided it really has had enough of Mr. Trump’s unruly behavior. Wall Street Journal reported that Mr. Priebus ordered funds for Trump be redirected down to protect the Republican majority in Congress:
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus on Saturday told party officials to redirect funds from nominee Donald Trump to lower-tier candidates, according to an official briefed on the decision. In practice, the party will work to mobilize voters who support GOP House and Senate candidates regardless of their positions in the presidential race.
That means the RNC will urge Floridians who support both Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican Sen. Marco Rubio to vote. Before today, the RNC would not have sought to mobilize Clinton voters, leaving voters on split tickets to be used by the Senate campaigns.
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In an interview, Mr. Dole said he still supported the party’s nominee. “That was 11 years ago. He shouldn’t have said that, but there’s nothing he can do about it except do well in the debate,” he said. “I think he can overcome a lot of that in the debate tomorrow night.”
The speed and scale of Mr. Trump’s withdrawal shocked some longtime party members and exposed a fractured party with no clear path forward.
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The immediate consequence of the RNC’s decision to allocate resources is that the party’s email program will be paused so it can be redirected to a modern universe of voters, the official said. News of the pause was first reported by Politico. Mr. Priebus and the party’s chief strategist, Sean Spicer, did not respond to requests for comment.
Opinion polls across the country show a growing number of voters eager to support the GOP congressional candidates and Mrs. Clinton. In Ohio, where Republican Senator Rob Portman endorsed Mr. Trump but declined to appear with him, the senator leads the race by 15 percentage points in opinion polls, even though the presidential battle is essentially tied. The RNC could enhance the number of split-ticket voters by urging Clinton supporters who support the GOP Senate candidates to turn out.
Mr. Trump’s latest turmoil widens the gulf between the party’s venerable guard and the legions of voters attracted by his anti-establishment message.
Journal He added that the division between the establishment and Trump’s wing of the GOP was evident at Speaker Paul Ryan’s rally in Wisconsin; where Trump was scheduled to appear. Ryan withdrew his invitation after the 2005 remarks were revealed. Governor Mike Pence was scheduled to appear in Trump’s place but also withdrew. Pence is reportedly cutting Trump off for the next 48 hours over the remarks, noting that he would be an ineffective surrogate for any damage control role. Additionally, sources have told CNN that Ryan wants Trump removed from the GOP ticket.
Again, it’s too tardy for that. The GOP is tied to him. Nevertheless, the anti-Trump fever could be damaging to these down-ballot elections as well. Republican Rep. Joe Heck, who is seeking to replace outgoing Democratic Sen. Harry Reid in Nevada, distanced himself from Trump at a rally that It caused a buzz from the crowd. In September, Morning Consult excellent that support for Never Trump politicians has fallen slightly. Either way, even we should all brace ourselves for a very hard week.
