Battleground Republicans Distance Themselves from Trump on Key Issues Ahead of Midterms

As the midterm elections approach, battleground Republicans such as Mike Lawler and Jen Kiggans are pitching bipartisan credibility and clashes with Trump.

Byron York says this is a dangerous strategy by President Trump

As Election Day nears and the party fights to protect its congressional majority, Republicans are increasingly distancing themselves from President Donald Trump.

With just three weeks to go before voters head to the polls to decide who will control Congress for the second half of Trump's presidency, some Republicans are distancing themselves from Trump as the party faces significant political headwinds.

"This is in the midst of a period when presidents are unpopular," Hay said. Add to that the more outlandish things he's done — often about things that have nothing to do with spending cuts, ending the war with Iran, etc. — and it's bound to happen.

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This is similar to what happened to past presidents during a midterm election year, most recently with former President Joe Biden in 2022.

And the Republican National Committee (RNC) argues that the party is united behind Trump, while acknowledging that GOP candidates have individual stakes.

"Unlike Democrats, who are in an all-out civil war with extremists, Republicans remain united behind the president's mandate to cut taxes, reduce drug costs, and keep our communities safe. We have a laser focus on winning, and our candidates will run in the races necessary to best represent their districts and keep Democrats out," said RNC spokeswoman Natalie Baldsar.

And running their own races is something that several people do, balancing individuality with supporting Trump and the Republican base.

At least two House Republicans, Reps. Jen Keegans, R-Va., and Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., have touted conflict with Trump in their campaigns.

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Keegans is out with a new ad touting himself as "one of the most bipartisan members of Congress" who has "chosen his party to protect jobs and work with Democrats to save health care." One of the visuals points to an article that says, "Keegans Pays Off Trump With Offshore Wind."

Meanwhile, Lawler recently released an ad highlighting the "left and the right," followed by a clip of Trump calling him a "pain in the --" on state and local tax deduction issues.

But for many, like Lawler, trying to please Trump and the Republican base while appealing to independent voters is a balancing act.

"No one can deny the fact that President Trump has built one of the strongest coalitions in political history with the MAGA movement, and the president knows how to connect with them," White House press secretary Davis Ingle said.

The president signed the largest working-class tax cuts in history, slashed the cost of prescription drugs, closed the border, reduced violent crime to the lowest level in nearly a century. An energy revolution created more than a million private-sector jobs and boosted Americans' 401(k) to an all-time high.

However, the political tightropes were on full display when Lawler took the stage at Trump's midterm convention in September, when he noted that he and the president "didn't always agree."

Former Rep. Mike Rogers and Sen. John Husted of Ohio also featured prominently at the Trump convention in Dallas.

However, they have split from Trump on some key issues in an effort to show light between themselves and the president.

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They've called for an end to the Iran war and distanced themselves from Trump on data centers — the president declared at Truth Social right after the midterm convention that "the only reason communities across the United States shouldn't want data centers is because they want to end up backward and poor."

But it's a key sticking point for several Republicans along the way, the bad optics big, windowless giants have with voters. Many, including Husted and Rogers, don't believe it's an issue the federal government should have complete control over.

Another vulnerable GOP lawmaker who has split with Trump on the data issue is Rep. Tom Barrett, R-Mich. believes local governments should decide whether to put such facilities in their own backyards.

Barrett is also one of the few House Republicans who has consistently voted against US operations in Iran without congressional approval. The longer the Middle East conflict has drawn a steady stream of Republican opponents, as evidenced by the increasing number of Republicans voting for Democratic war powers resolutions in the House.

Among them is Rep. Marianne Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, who previously voted with the GOP on similar measures until the last vote in mid-September.

And Ohio Rep. Max Miller, who voted against Trump's containment of Iran, noted on the Woo & WayCo podcast last week: "We need to get out of this war quickly."

"What [Trump] did to stop a nuclear threat is a beautiful thing, but right now, you know, I don't think anyone can do a deal with the Iranians because they can't be trusted," Miller said.

The Ohio Republican's re-election chances have risen sharply amid allegations of domestic abuse by his ex-wife and father-in-law.

He notably appeared at a Trump rally in Youngstown, Ohio.

Trump's plan to import foreign beef has also faced opposition from vulnerable House Republicans such as Miller-Meeks and Rep. Zach Nunn, R-Iowa.

Bread, another battleground in Avon, introduced a bipartisan bill last month that would end Trump's plan while directing the federal government to find a strategy to increase domestic cattle numbers.

And some candidates, like Rep. Tom Kaine, R-N.J., don't mention the president at all on their websites. Kaine's site makes few references to Republicans, but touts him as an independent leader who stands up for what's right for New Jersey.

A separate White House official argued that Republicans distancing themselves from Trump "couldn't be further from the truth — President Trump remains the outspoken leader of the Republican Party."

Bipartisan senators called on Trump to rescind the Russian diesel deal, calling it a "betrayal" of America's allies.