Republicans in the US Senate, including members of the leadership and even allies of former President Donald Trump, have said that the latter should not run in the 2024 Senate primary.
The Republican leadership sees Trump as a political liability in next year’s Senate elections as his legal troubles escalate, according to The Hill.
GOP MPs and strategists fear that Trump will drag GOP candidates into debates on issues related to him, such as election fraud and deprivation of funding from the Justice Department, rather than on issues that voters care about, such as the economy, inflation and health care.
Trump, who announced his presidential campaign in November 2022, has had mixed support for gubernatorial, Senate and House candidates last year. Trump-backed candidates lost the most competitive of the five House races.
Ron Bongian, a Republican strategist and former Senate leadership aide, said Trump didn’t have a good record picking winners in last year’s toughest races and is moving Senate race debate away from topics that GOP leaders want to focus on, like like inflation. and gas prices, and crime, borders, and federal spending.
He added: “When Trump himself enters these primaries, our candidates will have to talk about the January 6 stolen election and Stormy Daniels, and these are not questions that voters want to hear about. They want to know how you are going to proceed. solve your problems.”
Source: Hill
