Republicans spent millions of dollars on a special election in a gerrymandered Tennessee district that Donald Trump won by 22 points in 2024.
Republicans are so concerned about the election that Speaker Mike Johnson went there for a rally to try to boost Republican candidate Matt Van Epps against Democratic candidate Aftyn Behn.
Recent polls showed Democrats trailing by just two points and could be on the cusp of a landslide victory.
One of the most interesting elements of this special election is that Trump currently has a net negative approval rating (-2) in a district he carried by 22 points a year ago.
Republicans are still treating Trump as if he is an asset, when it is clear that, even in red districts, he is now a liability.
Trump apparently didn’t have the health, stamina, or care to show up in the district and rally the Republicans in person, so he called Mike Johnson, who put him on the speakership, because things were getting way off the rails.
Trump said:
Remember, he has a majority of three, a majority of three, and there are not many people who can do that, but we have to win this. Yes, we gave you the biggest tax cuts in history and the new law, the big, beautiful law, which, as you know, goes into effect on January 1, hasn’t even gone into effect yet.
And then you have no tax on tips, no tax on social security, no tax on overtime. If you borrow money to buy a car, you get a deduction. That has never happened before. All these things start on January 1st. Many people don’t know. They said, oh, they’ve already started. I said, no, it doesn’t start until January 1st.
So that was the first date. I just want to thank everyone. I love Tennessee, one of my favorite places of all time. I think Tennessee likes me because we won by the biggest margins anyone has ever won by, so that’s cool. But if you can go with Matt Van Epps, he’s a winner. He’ll be great. Don’t pass up this stuff.
The Democrats are spending a fortune and we don’t want people who want to raise your taxes. She wants to raise your taxes on top of everything else. But she said two things in particular that bothered me. First, she hates Christianity. Number two: she hates country music. How on earth can you choose someone like that?
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