GOP Candidates Distance Themselves From Trump in Final Stretch

On Sunday, four Republican Senate candidates went on national television to explain where they part ways with President Trump. Michele Tafoya of Minnesota, Rep. Ashley Hinson of Iowa, Mike Rogers of Michigan and Maine’s Sen. Susan Collins each broke with the White House on prices, tariffs or the Iran war, according to remarks on “Face the Nation with Margaret Brennan.”

The timing tells the story. Election Day is Nov. 3, two weeks and two days away, and the party’s candidates are trying to separate themselves from the man at the top of their ticket.

“When Trump is right, I will work with him. When he’s wrong, I will stand up for Minnesota,” Tafoya said. Hinson criticized the administration’s energy approach: “We need to lower gas prices in this country. We need to lower diesel prices, but I don’t think we need to be making a deal with Russia to do it.” Rogers was blunter on trade. “Here in Michigan, we know that Canada is not our enemy. We need to end this tariff war now.” Collins said the president “did not have a good plan” and “should have anticipated the closure of the Strait of Hormuz.”

Pressure on Prices and Pensions

The economy links the candidates’ concerns. CBS political correspondent Caitlin Huey-Burns said Republican sources worry Trump is “underwater on the economy,” citing tariffs and the Iran war’s impact on diesel and gas prices. She said Trump faces the challenge of getting voters to turn out for down-ballot Republicans while showing little deference to Congress.

That strain has reached places Republicans once took for granted. In Kansas, where Huey-Burns said no Democrat has won a Senate race since 1932, a cattle farmer who backs Trump told her he’s considering voting for Democrat Adam Hamilton for the first time. His reason: the administration’s decision to allow beef imports. Sen. Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican, made a similar argument, saying the policy threatens U.S. food production, discourages ranchers and would hurt cattle prices. He doubted Argentine beef would lower grocery prices. Huey-Burns said administration policies are hitting constituencies that tend to vote for Trump.

In Ohio, which Brennan called reliably Republican, Rep. Mike Turner said, “I don’t run with the president. I don’t run from the president.” He said Trump had committed to sign legislation restoring Delphi salaried pensions, which would affect more than 5,000 people in his community. Brennan noted the legislation hasn’t passed.

Corruption Concerns Take Center Stage

Brennan cited a Fox poll showing six in 10 respondents were extremely concerned about government corruption, and an AP poll showing six in 10 adults believed Trump was illegally profiting from the presidency or doing something unethical. She also quoted The Columbus Dispatch, which said it could not endorse the Republican Senate candidate because of Republicans in Congress and their “abject failure” to stop visible corruption and abuse of power, calling them “almost entirely spineless.” Turner replied that the paper isn’t his local paper and said voters judge individual candidates, not a slate.

Democrats are making corruption a campaign theme. Ed O’Keefe said Texas Democrat Talarico has focused on corruption since the March primaries and tied Paxton to Trump. In Florida, Democratic nominee Angie Nixon accused Republican Sen. Ashley Moody of voting to end health care for more than 440,000 Floridians and enriching herself by $2 million through stock trading. Moody denied wrongdoing. Nixon also asked the Department of Justice to investigate nearly $10 million she said was taken from Medicaid funds meant for sick children.

The Map Is Wider Than Expected

CBS election director Anthony Salvanto described Ohio and Alaska as toss-ups, Iowa as leaning Republican but competitive, and Michigan and Maine as toss-ups Democrats must hold. A CBS Texas poll put Talarico and Paxton at 51-49. Fifty-nine percent of likely Texas voters said Paxton lacks the right personal character to serve, compared with 45 percent for Talarico. CBS estimates give Democrats an edge in the House; they need four seats for the Senate.

O’Keefe said Democrats need at least four “miracles” in states they haven’t won before. Salvanto warned that Republicans hit hard by inflation might simply stay home. Trump’s rally schedule shows the stakes: planned stops in Texas, Georgia and Michigan.

The campaign has turned ugly, too. Trump called Michigan Democrat Abdul El-Sayed, who would be the first Muslim senator in Congress, “a jihadist.” El-Sayed said he has no associations with the Muslim Brotherhood and suggested Republicans raised the issue because he is Muslim or Arab. O’Keefe also reported that Rogers’ wife handed out $10 gas cards in Detroit’s Black neighborhoods, which O’Keefe noted is illegal if tied to votes; Rogers told him she paid for them herself to raise awareness.

Separately, threatening envelopes containing suspicious substances went to 36 lawmakers and election officials. Huey-Burns said threats against lawmakers and their families have risen by more than 50 percent in the past year.

Why This Matters: Candidates don’t distance themselves from a president unless they sense danger. When Republicans in Minnesota, Iowa, Michigan and Maine publicly oppose tariffs, a Russia energy deal and the handling of the Strait of Hormuz, it signals that those policies are hitting household budgets: gas, diesel, groceries and farm inputs. The beef-import fight shows the pain reaching Trump’s own base. Meanwhile, six-in-10 concern about corruption and a spike of more than 50 percent in threats against lawmakers point to institutions under strain. Voters will decide Nov. 3 whether Congress holds the executive branch accountable, and whether affordability and ethics, not slogans, set the terms.