Newsweek is reporting in its newsletter The 1600 that Republican candidates on the November ballot are distancing themselves from President Donald Trump and his handling of the war in Iran, a sign that their internal polling is as poor as public surveys suggest.
It said Rep. Maria Salazar, the Republican congresswoman in Florida's 27th District, cut an ad standing in front of the White House criticizing Trump's immigration policies. It said Byron Donalds, running for Florida governor, removed all mentions of Trump from his website. It said Mike Rogers, the Republican Senate candidate in Michigan, released an ad in a supermarket saying the war in Iran needs to end quickly, and that Ohio GOP Senate nominee Jon Husted has a similar ad tying the war's end to lower gas prices.
Newsweek said Tom Tiffany, running for Wisconsin governor, says it is time to move on from Iran, while John James, also in the Michigan governor's race, says every available resource must be used to wind down the war. It said Ashley Hinson, the Republican Senate candidate in Iowa, says the war must be brought to a successful and immediate end because Iowans should not have to foot the bill at the pump or the checkout line.
Newsweek said the ads are evidence that the candidates' own polling is as bad as or worse than public opinion surveys, and it noted that most of the candidates avoid naming Trump. It said Tiffany, James and Hinson are current House members who have repeatedly voted against ending the war but now run ads supporting what they voted against.
Newsweek said the newsletter's author argued the second Trump presidency will be remembered as the greatest self-inflicted disaster in modern U.S. history, pointing to tariffs and the war in Iran as decisions that raised bond yields, diesel prices, mortgage rates, food prices and health care costs. It said the author acknowledged his own long-standing criticism of Trump.
Newsweek also said the newsletter features a new interview episode with Anthony Scaramucci, who returns to the show to discuss his book All the Wrong Moves, about three bipartisan economic decisions he says led to Trump's rise. It said the host asked Scaramucci whether Trump understands how badly he erred in Iran and whether he is capable of ego death.