President Donald Trump may be in danger of losing the superpower that has allowed him to escape accountability across two impeachments, multiple criminal prosecutions and convictions, and countless scandals, an analyst warned him Friday.
Trump’s power has always depended on strict loyalty from fellow Republicans, and the party’s congressional majorities and a right-wing U.S. Supreme Court have largely stood by as he gathers unprecedented executive power and shattered presidential norms in his second term – but MS NOW’s Philip Bump found signs that his power may be fading.
“Trump tried very hard in recent weeks to cajole and browbeat Republicans into rejecting a push for the release of documents related to the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, without success,” Bump wrote. “He intimated that he would oppose them in GOP primaries, finding that this once-potent threat wasn’t enough to inspire loyalty.”
“That loyalty has depended on the perception that Trump holds enormous power,” he added, “specifically, power over the Republican electorate.”
Trump has been unable to move past the Epstein scandal, which has splintered his MAGA base, and Bump found that Americans are increasingly unhappy with his handling of the economy – which has contributed to his record low overall approval rating.
“As inflation and prices remain high, he has struggled to convince Americans there are no affordability issues,” Bump wrote. “His suggestion last week that skilled immigrants are necessary workers roiled his MAGA base. The White House is aware of these glimmers of weakness, as Axios has reported. It would be hard for the administration not to be, even if staffers continue curtailing their media consumption to friendly outlets.”
Even Fox News is reporting on its own polls that shows most Americans say Trump’s economic policies have hurt them, and other surveys find the economy – which was the topic he campaigned and won re-election on – is now his worst issue, and Bump argued that congressional Republicans must realize what the polls are showing.
“These polls are essentially informing Republicans that they’re headed into a midterm massacre,” Bump wrote. “New data from Marist Poll, conducted for NPR and PBS NewsHour, makes that point explicitly: Democrats have a double-digit advantage when Americans are asked which party they plan to back in next year’s House races.”
Other polls show Americans don’t feel like Congress and the courts are doing enough to keep Trump in check, with even a third of Republicans saying the legislative and judicial branches have surrendered too much authority to him, and other surveys show about a quarter of Republicans think he has gone too far in deploying his power.
“If you’re a Republican legislator looking to win your party’s nomination for reelection next year, sticking with Trump on his expansion of authority is still the safer bet,” Bump wrote. “But you might not want to bank on Trump delivering the primary, when voters are skeptical of his handling of the economy and a big chunk of the base expresses concern about his gobbling up power. So if you’re Trump, someone whose authority depends on those legislators staying in line, you suddenly have some serious reason for concern.”
There will likely be additional opportunities for Republicans to put distance between themselves and increasingly unpopular president who’s constitutionally prohibited from running for another term, and that could drain his power even further.
“The aura of omnipotence that’s so crucial to Donald Trump’s second term is suddenly starting to pale,” Bump wrote.
The post Trump ‘suddenly has serious reason for concern’ as ‘aura of omnipotence’ fades: analysis appeared first on Raw Story.
