Trump primary endorsements may BACKFIRE in general elections: Lindsey Granger | RISING

インデックス作成: 2026-05-22

[00:00:04]So, President Trump has made one thing very clear about today's Republican party. Loyalty matters. And if you cross him publicly, there's going to be a price to pay. We just saw that again in Kentucky, where he backed candidate Ed Galin, defeated Congressman Thomas Massie, one of the few Republicans willing to openly challenge the president on issues ranging from spending to the release of the Epstein files. Now, that race wasn't just about Kentucky. It was a warning shot to the rest of the GOP. And now the list of Republicans potentially in Trump's crosshair is growing. Senator Ran Paul, Congressman Warren Davidson, Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, even Congresswoman Lauren Boowbert. All conservatives, but not always loyal enough in President Trump's eyes. The message coming from Trump's orbit is simple. Fall in line or risk becoming the next target. Take Lauren Boowbert for example. All she did is support her friend Massie in his campaign. And Trump latched out on Truth Social, writing, quote, "Even though I long endorsed Boowbert, if the right person came along, it would be my honor to withdraw that endorsement and endorse a good and proper alternative." Now, after Massie lost his primary race, she quickly took to X, posted a photo of she and her son, and declared, quote, "My friend and co-chair gave his all in Kentucky talking about Massie, but she said, "Trump is my president. Jesus is Lord.

[00:01:26]The fact is Trump still has enormous influence with the MAGA base and in low turnout primaries that influence can be decisive. We've seen it over and over and over again. Republicans who oppose him or even just distance themselves from him a little bit suddenly find themselves defending their careers instead of focusing on their competitors, Democrats. But here's the bigger question. Does winning primaries guarantee winning general elections?

[00:01:51]Well, the answer might be no. Some Republicans are openly worried that purging independent-minded conservatives may actually hurt the party in November.

[00:02:01]Retiring Republican Congressman Don Bacon put it bluntly to USA Today when he said, quote, "One can have a totally loyal minority or a majority. I prefer a majority." And the concern isn't coming out of nowhere. Polls show Trump's standing with the broader electorate remains shaky, especially on the economy. you know, the very issue that fueled his political comeback. A recent CNN poll found 70% of Americans disapprove of his handling of the economy, while 77% say his policies have increased the cost of living. Some of those people include Republicans.

[00:02:38]General elections are not the same thing as Republican primaries. MAGA voters alone are not enough to in many swing districts and battleground states.

[00:02:45]Candidates still need independents, moderates, and suburban voters, especially in places like Pennsylvania, where Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick represents a district that Kla Harris won in 2024.

[00:02:58]And history isn't exactly on Republican side either. The party controlling the White House almost always faces a difficult midterm environment. Add rising prices, concerns over the Iran conflict, and narrow Republican majorities in Congress already, and the stakes get even higher. Still, Trump believes his approach works because politically it has worked for him. His allies argue party unity is necessary heading into a tough election cycle.

[00:03:23]They believe disagreement inside the party weakens Republicans more than Trump's aggressive tactics do. But there's a difference between party discipline and political overreach. If every Republican is forced to campaign as a carbon copy of Donald Trump, the party could risk losing the very voters it needs to hold power. And that may ultimately be the real test for Trump's movement moving forward, not whether he can defeat Republicans in primaries, but whether the candidates he reshapes in his image can still win over the rest of America.

[00:03:56]So, uh, Robbie and I talked about this a lot this week because he was a big fan of Massie and he, uh, like a lot of people, I mean, we saw John Thun speak out. We saw Lisa Marowski speak out, um, specifically about, uh, Trump's decision in Texas to support Paxton, um, instead of, uh, Cornin, who's a longtime respected uh, person in Texas. There there's just a a back and forth about Trump's decisions, and you're seeing a divide between like these traditional conservatives with some people uh, that are aligned with MAGA. you'll see a lot of the people that Trump endorsed immediately saying his name even in other races where he didn't endorse and people want to uh garner favor. They're saying I I want to be Trump's favorite next governor like in Georgia and he's not even supporting uh one of the candidates that's saying that. But they're trying to most align themselves with Trump as a strategy as opposed to figure out what their the constituents want. And so I guess what I want to discuss with you is what the game plan is for the long term. Like is this a winning strategy in places like Texas?

[00:04:51]Um Kentucky obviously is going to be red probably regardless, but um is it a winning strategy when the margins are so thin to just go with the people who are most loyal to you when the country is a little bit upset with President Trump right now based on the economy?

[00:05:03]>> Well, Republican primaries are their own special kind of crazy. You probably know that about Democratic primaries as well.

[00:05:10]Um there are costs to appealing to the most hardline voters in any given state or district when it comes to picking your candidates. I think this selection of the endorsement for Kin Paxton is a huge self-inflicted wound that is going to bog down the race in a bunch of different scandals and attack ads that Terico is going to be able to run against this guy assuming he does defeat John Cornin. And I think right now what we've seen is that Trump does have wind in his sales when it comes to picking winners. He did not always have this kind of clout when it came to picking winners in primaries, but this year he has been on a roll. And that is because he still does have staunch support among 75% of Republicans and this 30% hardcore MAGA base in the Republican party uh who will jump as high as he asks them to jump. So uh I'm not excited about the Kin Paxton pick. I'm also not shedding any tears for Thomas Massie. I think I think I think so. I I I come from libertarian politics and Thomas Massie was one of our guys like he's you know always at every conference and he'll do any podcast and uh in that sense I liked that he was a rogue a troublemaker and you really had to meet him where he was at when it came to his priorities but the past year or so he's been the Epstein guy. He has been the uh uh the president is covering for pedophiles and mingling with elites who might be drinking the blood of children guy.

[00:06:38]That's not Thomas Massie that I have been following for 10 plus years in this city. I think he's gotten distracted.

[00:06:44]He's gotten too online and he has forgotten uh what his role is in Congress when it means st steering the Republican party. Unpopular opinion for the audience here, but uh Thomas Massie will not actually be missed. Well, with Epstein, I know uh you know there was we can't like comb over the fact that a legion of people were calling for these files to be released and specifically amongst the MAGA Basin Republican party.

[00:07:08]So, a lot of people just followed through on that request, right? It's a special kind of politically stupid to accuse the president of your party of being part of that coverup and making very personal claims like Thomas Massie did that uh indicated that Donald Trump, the president of his party and the the country is a is a pedophile. He got way too personal and I think he paid a political price for it and he can blame Israel all he wants, but the voters were not interested.

[00:07:37]>> Yeah, I think it's going to be interesting to watch. um how the Republicans as they continue to fight going to Texas again um Taller Rico because there's still a little bit of infighting going on specifically I think that whoever wins which probably might be Pax Paxton over Cornin at this point with the endorsement of President Trump but the fact that they're battling it out to me is going to indicate what a battle might look like for the country as people are getting more upset and if if a Democrat wins in Texas after years of not winning it might be an indication about what picking a candidate that mirrors President Trump might mean for the Republican party, especially in a trusted Republican state. And so they calling it a mistake, but what's the what's the idea? I mean, you're calling it a mistake that uh of a decision that Trump made, but what I don't like what's the game plan then? There's no game plan. It's just an ego response from the president. There's like I don't even care if we win or lose here. We know we're going to lose some midterms where the party >> This is This is tough. You know, Donald Trump loves to win, but it when it comes to the midterms, it seems to me that he seems to think it's a foregone conclusion that Republicans are going to lose the House and he's just going to pick the people who are his loudest cheerleaders. That's what it looks like to me. He is an ego-driven guy. He does want the person in any given seat who is the most Trumpy. John Cornin was not a rogue Republican when it came to the Republican agenda or Trump. He just wasn't charismatic enough in the way that Trump likes. Also, you know, Ken Paxton, he's a little weird looking and he said he comes from central casting.

[00:09:09]Ridiculous. John Cornin comes from central casting when it comes to a Republican senator from Texas. So, I I just think that that's a huge self-inflicted wound. But look, Tarico is a major gift. That's a weird weird guy. And I don't think that he is going to win Texas. He is Bato 2.0. The biggest attack that the president had on Telerico this week was that he's a vegan. And if that's what you got, if that's But if that's THE ARMOR, IF THAT'S THE ARMOR, I DON'T know about that. Also, John Cornin to go back to that. He literally in recent history, President Trump, he doesn't usually offer explanation. He just berates folks if he doesn't like them for the most part on social. In this case, he offered an explanation. Here's why I supported Paxton over Cornet. So, it's like a little bit of respect there, but it's still like, well, you didn't come to the table fast enough to say Trump should be the next president. So, that was a problem for me. I know there's some historical issues back in 2022 between them and >> over the filibuster, right?

[00:10:01]>> Yes. Um, but also knocking out the filibuster, which he wants to do, might be problematic because Democrats will use that to their advantage and Republicans.

[00:10:09]>> Are you Are you telling me that if you take the gun off the mantle, the next person's going to use it? This is This is Washington DC, folks.

[00:10:16]>> That's why he needs a vacation. Coming up on Rising, the DOJ has announced criminal charges against 15 people accused of Minnesota fraud schemes.

[00:10:24]We're going to be right back with that.