A conservative pollster just sounded an alarm that could send shockwaves across the GOP ranks: President Trump’s low poll numbers could cost the party control of both houses of Congress.
“I think the Republicans are in deep trouble in the House and the Senate as well,” Frank Luntz said on Sunday on Fox News. “If the election were held today, frankly, I think Republicans would lose both.”
Luntz said the economy is in good shape, but the president isn’t getting credit for it. He believes the GOP still has time to turn it around, but they will need help from Trump.
“If Donald Trump wants to keep a Republican Congress, he has to differentiate when he’s attacking Congress in general versus the Republicans in Congress,” Luntz said. “Differentiate when he’s attacking the press versus when he feels he’s not getting a fair shake.”
Luntz also challenged the president to tweet less.
Other analysts have said that the Democrats have an edge in taking back the House in the midterm elections, but the senate is another story. Democrats are defending seats in states Trump won in 2016, including Florida, Indiana, Missouri, Ohio, North Dakota and West Virginia.
Luntz isn’t alone in sounding the alarm. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) admitted the party was facing a “challenging” year.
“We know the wind is going to be in our face,” he told Kentucky Today. “We don’t know whether it’s going to be a Category 3, 4 or 5.”
Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) issued an even more intense warning last month.
“If conservatives are complacent, and mark my words, we are going to see historic turnout from the extreme left in November,” Cruz told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt in early March. “Which means if conservatives stay home, we have the potential, we could lose both houses of Congress.”