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.”
Americans continue to feel the pain at the pump as a result of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Patrick DeHaan, head of petroleum analysis at GasBuddy, joined Cheddar News to discuss how prices are being affected by the war and how much worse it could potentially get for drivers. "It's obviously a fluid situation. In one field today, I might feel differently in a half hour. But for now, I think we could see the national average realistically go somewhere into the mid $4 range, maybe $4.40 to $4.65 based on what we're seeing," he said.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has entered its 12th day following what Ukrainian authorities described as increased shelling of encircled cities and another failed attempt to evacuate civilians from the port city of Mariupol.
Gasoline prices are pushing even farther above $4 a gallon, the highest price that American motorists have faced since July 2008, as calls grow to ban imports of Russian oil.
Jay Hatfield, Chief Investment Officer at ICAP, believes a lot of the bad news regarding the fighting in Ukraine and Fed is already priced into the market and looming uncertainty factored into Friday's movement. However, he also believes the upcoming Fed decision will be good news for Wall Street.
News of Russian forces taking control of a Ukrainian after artillery bombardment of a nuclear power plant raised concerns this week. Nuclear policy expert and Quincy Institute Distinguished Fellow Joe Cirincione joined Cheddar News to discuss the implications for a potential disaster. “I’m with the director general of the IAEA, the International Atomic Energy Agency. He says that he is extremely concerned, and that this Russian attack is a severe risk and that Russia clearly violated the fundamental principle of preserving the integrity of nuclear power plants," Cirincione said.
Amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, major businesses from BP to Big Tech like Apple have been pausing their business dealings with the invading nation. Brian Walker, chief strategy officer at commerce software company Bloomreach, joined Cheddar News to discuss how some companies are showing support for Ukraine and what this could mean for consumers. "Whether it be impacts on energy or operational costs, shipping and logistics, or frankly impacts on the financial services industry, these will have long term implications on retail prices," he said.
About 678,000 jobs were created in February, hundreds of thousands more than predicted, according to the latest Labor Department report, showing a broad economic recovery despite inflation woes. Heather Boushey, member of the Council of Economic Advisers for President Biden, joined Cheddar News to talk about the employment figures. "This really shows that the economy is now more resilient because of the tools that we have in place," Boushey said. "So I'm optimistic that we'll be able to weather future storms."
Ramit Varma, Independent candidate for Mayor of Los Angeles, joins Cheddar News to discuss the race and how he plans to tackle critical issues in the California city.
