Trump’s Republican Party insists there’s no affordability crisis and dismisses election losses

NEW YORK AP Almost two weeks after Republicans lost badly in elections in Georgia New Jersey Pennsylvania and Virginia numerous GOP leaders insist there is no issue with the party s policies its message or President Donald Trump s leadership Trump says Democrats and the media are misleading voters who are concerned about high costs and the economic system Republican officers aiming to avoid another defeat in next fall s midterms are encouraging candidates to embrace the president fully and talk more about his accomplishments Those are the major takeaways from a series of private conversations briefings and official talking points involving major Republican decision-makers across Washington including inside the White House after their party s losses Nov Their assessment highlights the extent to which the fate of the Republican Party is tied to Trump a term-limited president who insists the market under his watch has never been stronger That s even as an increasing number of voters summary a different reality in their lives But with sparse exceptions the Trump lieutenants who lead the GOP s political strategy have no desire to challenge his wishes or beliefs Republicans are entering next year more unified behind President Trump than ever before Republican National Committee spokesperson Kiersten Pels stated The party is fully aligned behind his America First agenda and the results he s delivering for the American people President Trump s policies are popular he drives turnout and standing with him is the strongest path to supremacy Trump s approval is similar to former Presidents Barack Obama a Democrat and George W Bush a Republican at the same point in their terms however Their parties had major losses in midterm elections Trump insists there is no affordability challenge Since the poll the White House has quietly decided to shift its message to focus more on affordability Much of the first year of Trump s second term has been dominated by his exchange wars his crackdown on illegal immigration his decision to send National Guard troops into American cities and the longest leadership shutdown in U S history Trump has talked more about affordability in the days since Referendum Day On Friday he slashed tariffs on beef and other commodities that consumers say cost too much But Trump s primary message is that the commercial sector is better and consumer prices lower than as released by the media It s much the same message that Democratic President Joe Biden and his allies spent years pushing with little success In a social media post Friday Trump announced costs are tumbling down Affordability is a lie when used by the Dems It is a complete CON JOB Trump wrote Thanksgiving costs are lower this year than last under Crooked Joe We are the Party of Affordability A scarce days earlier on Fox News he asserted We have the greatest economic system in history Trump s numbers about the cost of Thanksgiving dinners are off Grocery prices are higher than they were in Economic worries were the dominant concern for voters in this month s elections according to the AP Voter Poll Republican strategist Doug Heye declared Trump s approach is not necessarily helpful for the Republican Party or its candidates who already face a complicated political atmosphere in when voters will decide the balance of power in Congress Historically the party occupying the White House has notable losses in nonpresidential elections Republicans need to relay to voters that they understand what they re going through and that they re trying to fix it Heye mentioned That can be hard to do when the president takes a nonmetaphorical wrecking ball to portions of the White House which distract so much of Washington and the media Candidates cannot afford to be distracted Heye added As we saw in the modern elections especially in Virginia if you re not talking about what voters are talking about they will tune you out A view from a key governor s race The reality outside Washington suggests that not every Republican candidate shares Trump s outlook New York Rep Elise Stefanik a House Republican leader who began a campaign for governor last week noted there is no question about the top issue for her constituents affordability She also played down her party s focus on conservative cultural priorities including transgender athletes which was a top Republican focus in the current Virginia governor s race Certainly I promotion women and girls sports and protecting them but as you see in all of our messaging we re focused on the top issues which every conversation with voters is about the high taxes and spending the unaffordability Stefanik reported The Associated Press She offered a nuanced perspective on Trump s leadership unwilling to criticize any of his major policies or governing decisions but also unwilling to say her party is fully unified behind him My sense is our party is fully united behind firing Kathy Hochul Stefanik revealed of New York s Democratic governor when requested about her party s aid for Trump I am laser focused on delivering for New Yorkers and putting New Yorkers first While Stefanik announced it is key for the governor to have an effective working relationship with Trump she declined to say whether she would aid a hypothetical Trump move to send the National Guard to New York City as he has threatened It wouldn t need to happen if there was a Republican governor she stated Stefanik s comments reflect the challenge ahead for Republican candidates running in a challenging political terrain Defiant talking points The Republican National Committee which serves as the political arm of Trump s White House issued a series of talking points that shrug off the current electoral contest losses as a byproduct of Democratic voter advantage in the states where the top races played out The talking points obtained by The Associated Press ignore Republican losses in Georgia and Pennsylvania They also overstate Trump s political strength claiming that he is more popular than Obama and Bush were at the same time in their tenures The claim has been echoed across conservative media in contemporary days An AP polling analysis finds that Trump s approval is not higher than Obama s or of Bush at a similar point in their second terms Trump s approval at in a November poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Population Affairs Research is slightly higher than it was at this point in his first term But both Obama and Bush has approval ratings were in the low s at this point in their second terms according to Gallup polling which is similar to where Trump landed in Gallup s latest approval poll in October For Obama and Bush their parties had big losses in the midterm elections that followed The Republican messaging crafted by Trump s band however doubles down on supporting the president and his policies The newest elections were not a referendum on President Trump Republicans in Congress or the MAGA Agenda the RNC talking points state To win in Make America Great Again voters will need to show up at the ballot box President Trump and Republicans are going to make that happen Associated Press writers Will Weissert and Amelia Thomson DeVeaux in Washington contributed to this document