GOP Strategist Rick Wilson: Trump Is 'Electoral Poison'
*By Jim Roberts*
Associates of President Trump are on trial, others are in deep legal trouble, and the party that rode into power with Trump is likely facing defeat in the November midterm elections.
That is the legacy that Donald Trump has left in his short time as president, says longtime GOP strategist Rick Wilson.
“Donald Trump’s long, long history in business and in politics now is that anyone around him becomes corrupted,” Wilson told Cheddar. “Their reputation becomes shattered. They get fired; they get into legal trouble and their lives turn into hell.
“And unfortunately for the conservative movement and the Republican Party the same thing is in the process of happening right now.”
Wilson, a frequent political commentator on Cheddar, is the author of a new book [“Everything Trump Touches Dies,”](https://www.amazon.com/Everything-Trump-Touches-Dies-Republican/dp/1982103124/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1533684141&sr=8-1&keywords=everything+trump+touches+dies) in which he attempts to document the damage Trump has done to the country and to the Republican Party.
“What upsets me is that all these people around me that said we had all these principles, they’re rock-solid; we’re conservatives; were going to stick with them,” Wilson said. “We have abandoned them almost completely.”
As a prime example, Wilson cited trade and tariffs.
“We used to be for free trade,” he said, referring to his fellow Republicans. “And Donald Trump is now, like, ‘I hate free trade.’ And these guys are now like, ‘of course we need to have tariffs.’”
“It’s nuts,” he added. “There’s a lot of disappointment in where the direction people in my party took this impulsiveness when Trump came in.”
Wilson predicted that the upcoming November elections would be a “solid Democratic midterm.” But he said he didn’t foresee a Democratic blowout that would bring a vast 70-seat swing in the U.S. House. He said that 25 Republican House seats were already vulnerable, without factoring in opposition to Trump.
But “now we’re seeing that the Democrats are picking up seats in places that are solidly red, solidly Republican, like Pennsylvania 18,” which Democrat Conor Lamb won in a special election last March.
To take control of the House, the Democrats need to make a net gain of 24 seats in the midterm elections.
For Democrats to succeed in those races, Wilson suggested that candidates avoid talk of impeachment and stick to local issues.
“I think we’ve seen a bunch of races win this year staying away from impeachment and talking about issues that are local and state-based,” he said. “A lot of those were not about impeachment; they were about presenting a viable mature alternative to Republicans who have fallen into the swamp of Trumpism.”
John Petrides, Portfolio Manager at Tocqueville Asset Management, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell, where he breaks down Monday's market activity amid the emergence of the omicron variant, and what it could mean for the Fed's timeline when it comes to raising rates and tapering pandemic aid.
Earlier in the week, we saw President Biden nominate Jerome Powell to serve as Fed chair for another four-year term in the midst of the country’s struggles with covid, inflation, and supply unrest. Claudia Sahm, senior fellow at the Jain Family Institute and former Federal Reserve and White House economist explains why the markets saw a boost following the nomination.
House Democrats saw a big win on Friday when President Biden's trillion dollar Build Back Better social spending bill was passed but now the question is - can the bill hold up in the senate as it faces possible ongoing scrutiny from not only Republicans, but also some Democrats. Julia Manchester, reporter at The Hill, explains whether or not the bill will make it to President Biden's desk by Christmas.
Jamil Jaffer, Founder and Executive Director of the National Security Institute, joined Cheddar to discuss the concern surrounding Chinese tennis star Peng Shuai's disappearance following a social media post accusing a former high-ranking Chinese official of sexual assault.
Just hours before the scheduled execution of inmate Julius Jones, the Governor of Oklahoma Kevin Stit has now granted commuted his sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Several advocates along with a number of celebrities have been fighting to stop the execution. Defense Attorney and Police Director Erin Haney, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
The book 'The Brainwashing of My Dad' examines how the rise of right-wing media changed a father and impacted the nation. Author of the book, Jen Senko, joins Cheddar News to discuss the history and future of conservative media.
Natalie Fertig, Federal Cannabis Policy Reporter for Politico Pro, joined Cheddar to discuss the shift among republicans to support federally legalizing marijuana.
The House has officially passed the $1.75 trillion social policy and climate big. This new bill is expected to bring some huge investments into working towards fighting climate change. U.S. President of We Don't Have Time, Sweta Chakraborty, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
Guilty verdicts have been handed down to the three men charged with killing Ahmaud Arbery. Arbery was out for a jog in February 2020 when Travis McMichael, William "Roddie" Bryan, and Gregory McMichael chased him down and killed him. The judge read the verdicts for each of the three men aloud, starting with the man who pulled the trigger, Travis McMichael. Kirk Burkhalter, professor at New York Law School joins Cheddar News to recap the trial.
All three defendants in the Ahmaud Arbery killing were found guilty today on numerous charges including felony murder. Criminal Defense Attorney Anthony Hall joined Cheddar to discuss.
