Republicans Come Up With New Talking Points to Dodge Trump Questions

The Senate GOP is offering new guidance to party lawmakers on how to rhetorically juggle Donald Trump’s second term agenda with the public furor it has caused.

Internal party messaging reviewed Monday by Politico indicates that Republican leadership is still trying to salvage public perception of the president, on issues ranging from the Iran war to the SAVE America Act.

“On Iran, directly connect the President’s negotiations and strikes to keeping the Strait open and keeping prices low,” one line item read, according to Politico reporter Jordain Carney.

The internal memo also warned Republicans that the “media will try to divide Republicans by asking your boss to pick a ‘side’ in any given question.”

“It’s crucial to reject these false choices. Reject the false choice between the President and Senate leaders: express support for both,” the memo reads.

The memo advised Republicans on how to handle the ongoing drama between Trump and Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who last week snapped at White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt for suggesting that the president’s patience was “running out” with the conservative senator’s inability to force the SAVE Act through the upper chamber.

Offering potential responses, the memo suggests that Republicans nonetheless claim that Trump and Thune are “united and doing an excellent job.” It also recommends that Republicans claim the duo have made American life “affordable,” and have worked together to make Americans “safer by closing our border, deporting violent criminals (Laken Riley Act), cracking down on fentanyl, and strengthening our military.”

“And we all agree that we have to defeat the radical Democrat socialists, who are threatening to undo our progress,” it added.

Meanwhile, the White House seems content with quietly advising midterm-bound Republicans to distance themselves from the president’s talking points as his popularity plummets.

“The understanding is pretty damn implicit: The president is going to say what the president is going to say,” a Republican operative working on the party’s midterm races told MS NOW Monday on the condition of anonymity. “You’re not going to have candidates or lawmakers running out to defend the president’s handling of the economy or the war—polling shows that most people don’t agree with his handling.” ...