Monday night while several Republican candidates for the Senate jumped to attack the FBI and federal law enforcement. Republican candidates in battleground states Pennsylvania and North Carolina held out. The next morning, under mounting pressure from vocal right-wing activists, Mehmet Oz, a prominent doctor running for Senate in Pennsylvania, did not mention Trump by name, but simply lamented the country's division. posted on Twitter, claiming: The Americans had "every right" to seek answers regarding the search and seizure of documents.
Ted, who is seeking a Senate seat in North Carolina, said that Congressman Budd, as well, ended up on his official Congressional account after his office was flooded with calls asking about his response. tweeted from His statement said Americans deserved a "full account" of what happened. It contrasts markedly with the outcry by other Republicans who called it a republic. We are discussing a Trump investigation that could affect critical independent and suburban voters.
Former Vice President of the Minnesota Republican Party, Michael Brodkolb, said, "His radioactive personality and reintroduction of politics come at a very inconvenient time for Republicans." Republicans Want This Election Cycle To Be About Joe Biden, Inflation, Jobs, The Economy And Now It's About Donald Trump And A Rock In The Shoe That Never Disappears As in, he will come back again, complicating an election cycle that has tended to be a very simple one for the Republican Party. reflects how fierce the battle for control of the Senate is: Mitch McConnell, after initially refusing to participate in the Marlago hunt, at a press conference that drew criticism from pro-Trump activists. The Senate Majority Leader has decided to take a cautious stance on transparency and released a statement arguing that "the country will provide a thorough and immediate account of the causes that led to Monday's events."
Scott Jennings, a Kentucky-based Republican strategist who served as an adviser to McConnell, said that this approach would allow Republicans to He said he could agree with his supporters.
"If you're a candidate who doesn't want to get involved in a conspiracy theory but doesn't want to ignore it, 'We need transparency here,'" Jennings said. “Donald Trump, whether you like him or not, is not a run-of-the-mill situation, as half the American public believes there is something politically motivated at play.”
21} Budd's senior adviser, Jonathan Felts, said the campaign decided to wait for a statement because they thought there would be some explanation from the Justice Department."We had no political calculations," Felts said of the campaign's decision not to jump on the issue too soon on Monday.
But as Budd's House office began to come under fire with phone calls from voters angry at the Biden administration's supposed overreach, the House's official social media accounts turned to the Senate's campaign. Not related, but posted a statement just before that. noon on Tuesday. Budd called the investigation "unprecedented" and touted support from law enforcement, but did not go so far as to suggest the FBI's activities were illegal.
"It is a shame that Joe Biden thinks he doesn't do partisan politics with the FBI," Felts said in a statement to POLITICO, explaining the campaign's decision.
Oz's campaign declined to elaborate on his statement.
In his two blue states of Colorado and Washington, Republican senators are eyeing a potential economic recovery this year, but the Republican nominee has been criticized for his No public reference to FBI activity.
Despite the downside of the issue for some candidates, many Republican strategists also see the upside. It's a fundraising opportunity for Republicans, especially among small donors. Jennings speculated, "When this happened, every funding consultant in America called their clients and said, 'Jump on this right now.'" Quite unlike what he said on Twitter. In contrast, a fundraising email sent Tuesday afternoon from Oz called for “a call to fight back against this heinous corruption.”
Pennsylvania-based Republican consultant Josh Novotny said search has another benefit: it can encourage Republican voters to go to the polls. What they do ultimately has political repercussions. And after seeing a lot of conservatives' reactions, I think what happened at Mar-a-Lago is likely to make conservatives even more hateful of the regime.
Some of the Republican Senate candidates in battleground states have taken an approach to the Mar-a-Lago hunt aimed more directly at their voters.
Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin, Senator Candidate Adam Laxoldt of Nevada, and Rep. ' were vehemently criticized. And in Arizona, Republican Senate candidate Blake Masters attempted to contrast the FBI's actions against Trump with law enforcement's inaction on violent crimes affecting ordinary citizens.
"You live in a third world country when street crime is unsolved and opposition leaders are being hunted by federal police," Masters tweeted Monday night. On Tuesday and Wednesday, he doubled down and asked why his opponent, Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, hadn't spoken out about "the politicization of the Justice Department."
Johnson not only issued scathing statements on his social media, but also participated in a series of interviews, alluding to nefarious activity by the FBI. He may have been to "retrieve evidence that would put the FBI to shame."
These Republican comments were followed by Florida Senator Rick, chairman of the National Republican Senate Committee, who declared that "every Republican must demand accountability." Consistent with Scott's sentiments. Scott echoed his sentiments on television, even when other members of the Senate Republican leadership — those who are more closely aligned with McConnell — took a more cautious approach.
Kerry isn't the only Democratic Senate candidate in battleground states to remain tight-lipped about his Lago search. Even if liberal activists and commentators gloat, Lt. Govs. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Mandela Burns of Wisconsin, both contesting for the Senate, are discouraged from mentioning the FBI's actions against Trump. He avoided.Democrat incumbents in other campaigns also kept their mouth shut, instead tweeting about policy issues or trolling their opponents on unrelated issues.
While many Democrats are counting down the days until Trump announces his 2024 presidential run, believing it will give him an edge in the midterms, some party strategists believe nationalizing race in the Senate could backfire. Fetterman, who is active on behalf of rural voters and Trump supporters, has emphasized his middle-class roots to appeal to a wide range of voters.
A focus group of swing voters in Pennsylvania held Wednesday night, viewed exclusively by POLITICO, highlighted the current complex political dynamics. All voters in a focus group held by the Republican Accountability Project were supporting Biden or a third-party candidate in 2020 after voting for Trump four years ago. About half expressed suspicion about the FBI's actions and believed it would rally Trump's base.
"They just want to find a reason to block [Trump] from running." said one woman who was planning to vote for Fetterman.
Another woman who supports Fetterman, when asked if the search was a political stunt, replied, "I don't know enough about it." "There are subpoenas and they can be obtained in other ways," said the man, a mild Oz supporter who was bent on endorsing Democratic gubernatorial candidate Josh Shapiro. "Raiding — if that's what it's about, it's overkill."
David Siders contributed to this report.