GOP Midterm Friction

Republican Lawmakers Distance Themselves From Trump Amid Growing Midterm Tensions Over Iran War

With November midterm elections approaching, Republican lawmakers and candidates are increasingly distancing themselves from President Trump as his approval ratings fall and his positions threaten the party’s congressional majorities. The nearly seven-month war with Iran has become a central point of friction: candidates in close races, including Jon Husted, Mike Rogers and Ashley Hinson, have called for it to end, citing costs to households and farmers. Lawmakers say the House has passed three war powers resolutions and another Senate vote is expected, while Trump has resisted calls to stop the war. The distancing remains limited, with Republicans also raising issues including diesel-export restrictions, Trump’s planned hosting of Chinese President Xi Jinping and Donald Trump Jr.’s foreign business dealings; some candidates are also reducing references to Trump in campaign materials. Democrats are pressing to end the military operations, while supporters and critics of the war disagree over its future, legality, casualties and economic costs.

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