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Rats Are Fleeing the Sinking Ship
But they have waited too long and are still too few in number to change the outcome of a likely Democratic tsunami
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I can’t count how many times I’ve heard that many Republicans oppose Donald Trump, but they only will say so privately. But now, just five weeks until the November midterms, a growing number of Republicans are panicking as they grasp how many voters despise the man they’ve spent the last decade enabling.
Last week the non-partisan American Research Group released a poll last week citing a 29 percent approval rate for Trump—a new low for him. That may be something of an outlier, but I wouldn’t doubt that it captures the increasingly bleak and angry assessment of this failing man.
Consider a CNN poll released last week found that 73 percent of Americans disapproved of Trump’s handling of the war with Iran. As for Trump’s handling of foreign affairs more broadly, 71 percent disapproved.
The collapse on foreign affairs—down 10 points since the start of the year—is hard for elected Republicans to avoid, even among cultists convinced he does no wrong.
Last week Politico quoted a GOP strategist who said that Republicans are capable of reading polls. This strategist, afraid to attach his name to his candid observations, added, “They know he is kryptonite.”
All of a sudden—and, in my view, far too late for any version of redemption or forgiveness—rats are fleeing the sinking ship. They are jumping overboard in the vain hope that they won’t sink along with Trump.
Consider several examples:
Byron Donalds, the Florida congressman running for governor against Democrat David Jolly, has cleansed his website from the stench of Trump. As the Miami Herald noted, the site used to be dominated by references to Trump’s endorsement: “TRUMP-ENDORSED Proven Conservative Fighter” was the main text on the home page and a button asking supporters to “Chip in to Support Trump Endorsed Byron Donalds” was at the top of the page. These and other such references are now gone and his photo with Trump is now buried inside.
Florida GOP Rep. María Elvira Salazar—facing an increasingly tight race against Democrat Eliott Rodriguez in a district Trump won by nearly 15 points in 2024—has run a commercial criticizing Trump’s deportation operation, noting that half of those detained by ICE had no criminal record. “Mr. President, some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far,” she says in the ad. “The same Hispanics who helped you get to the White House in 2024 feel betrayed today.” (Trump’s response this weekend: Fourteen posts sharing Truth Social users attacking Salazar as “a back stabber” and more, including the need for another Republican to replace her.)
Mike Rogers, who is polling behind Democrat Abdul El-Sayed in the race for Senate in Michigan, released an ad in which he says, “We need to bring prices down. The war with Iran needs to end, and end quickly.” This is the same guy who in July called the Iran war “a win-win-win for us” and said, “I don't mind giving the president authority to continue. You can't stop in mid-negotiation.”
Iowa Rep. Ashley Hinson, in a close contest for the Senate running against Democrat State Rep. Josh Turek, called for the Iran war “to be brought to a successful and immediate end,” noting on X that “Iowans are being squeezed and shouldn’t have to foot the bill at the pump or the checkout line for the war in Iran.” This from a GOP congresswoman who’s rejected six House measures intended to cut Trump’s authority to continue the war.
They are not the only ones who’ve grasped that mindlessly kowtowing to a failing Trump is a mistake. Last week Mississippi’s Roger Wicker, chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, called China’s Xi Jinping “a brutal, unelected and oppressive dictator” who shouldn’t be trusted—and surely shouldn’t have been flattered with a state dinner. “Quite frankly,” said Wicker, a typically staunch Trump defender, “had the White House asked me for advice, I would have suggested the president not invite Xi Jinping to Washington for such a lavish welcome here in the United States.”
The rebuke was real, even if we shouldn’t expect Wicker—who’s not up for reelection until 2030—to more broadly reject Trump. Still, I’m sure that Wicker especially enjoyed the images of U.S. military personnel on their knees unrolling and smoothing a red carpet for Xi’s arrival.
Consider one more example of the shifting ground as sweaty Republicans fear the consequences of sticking by deranged and increasingly despised Trump. Over the last month or so, Republican Rep. Tom Tiffany, polling behind Democrat David Crowley for the governor’s seat in Wisconsin, has said a few rational things.
He opposed Trump renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America, for example. “I believe the Great Lakes are the Great Lakes,” he said a month ago, surely recognizing that Canada is Wisconsin’s top trading partner. He also disagreed with Trump’s plan to import foreign beef to drive down prices, a serious issue for local farmers.
But let’s not doubt the continuing challenge to deal with pro-Trump extremists who have stood by Trump all these years—and who will continue to support Trump’s efforts to subvert our elections and deny the people’s will.
That includes Tiffany, an election denier who voted against certifying Joe Biden’s wins in Pennsylvania and Arizona and said at the time that he would have voted against certifying Wisconsin’s results if they came up for a vote. He is one of more than 130 election-denier candidates who are on the ballot for statewide or federal offices this year.
In the last several weeks, Tiffany was happy to report at a campaign event that the Justice Department is sending federal officials to monitor Wisconsin’s midterms. As he put it, when asked about the election, “And by the way, good news, good news, the federal Department of Justice is coming to Wisconsin for this election to make sure that we have election integrity.”
Tiffany may try to backtrack here and there. He may lead some voters to think he’s distancing himself from Trump on one issue or another. But he is a reminder that the denial of the voters’ will remains a corrosive danger to our democracy’s survival—and unforgivable.
Yes, there are rats fleeing the sinking ship, but Trump’s poisonous influence will still require a major clean-up operation if and when the Democrats regain control in Congress. The need to retake the House and the Senate—and deploy our collective power to hold the Trump regime accountable—could not be clearer. The only way we truly overcome this dark chapter is by refusing to forgive and forget.
There are just 35 days until Nov. 3
As we head to the midterms, it’s more important than ever to support the survival of democracy. I remain committed to raising my voice as vividly and fiercely as I can. I hope you’ll consider becoming a paid subscriber for just $50 a year or $5 a month to show your support and enhance your engagement—to share your thoughts in the comments sections and access all content.
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