The Republican Party as a whole is already painfully aware that they're almost guaranteed to get their asses handed to them on a silver platter in the upcoming midterm elections -- but, apparently, they don't seem to think that Donald Trump's help in that matter is worth a dime.
The embattled president is slated to headline the second day of a Dallas midterm convention, dubbed "Trumpapalooza" next week, as part of his desperate efforts to gain some ground before he loses his ass in the midterms come November. However, it seems no one really wants to go.
According to humiliating new reporting from POLITICO, no less than 45 Republican candidates and members have already snubbed Donald's high-dollar midterm event, with dozens more remaining up in the air as to whether they'll waste their time with an appearance.
Their excuses for not attending have been vast and varied, ranging from prior arrangements to a desire to remain in their districts through the last legs of their campaigns, to the eye-popping $25,000 entrance fee, while some of them just flat-out want to be as far from Donald Trump and his endless scandals as possible in hopes that the distance will save their campaigns.
One House Republican held nothing back and admitted they're simply not going because it would be a complete "waste of time."
"You shouldn’t be having to rally your base at this point," the unidentified House Republican told POLITICO. "You should be trying to convince independents. Independents are not attending nor watching the midterm convention.”
Rep. Tom Barrett, who's in the fight of his life to try to hang on to his Michigan seat, said that he's skipping the Trump event because he feels that he would be "more useful in my district."
"I travel a lot for this job, and if I can be back home and see my family and do the job back home as well, then that’s sort of what I lean toward doing."
But above all else, it seems that Republicans are keenly aware of the fact that Donald Trump is a political leper right now, amid his war with Iran that has sent gas and food prices soaring and left the average American struggling to feed their families and keep a roof over their heads. Candidates know that publicly aligning themselves with the man who's responsible for America's intense suffering right now would likely end any chance at victory they may have had.
Many of them also know that Trump's appearance likely won't even have anything to do with the midterms and everything to do with himself and his variety of personal obsessions, like his ballroom bunker, the Kennedy Center, and his Reflecting Pool fiasco.
"I can't control what the president's going to say at the convention," Rep. Barrett said, "but I can control where I'm at, what I'm doing."
Several other candidates and lawmakers have cited previously scheduled engagements, such as events related to the 9/11 anniversary, and prior family obligations.
To make the matter even more humiliating for Trump, no one will likely be tuning in to his event on the tube either, as both nights of the convention directly coincide with the first two games of the NFL season and you can pretty much guarantee that no one will be choosing a bloated Trump speech over a football game.
Joshua Blank, research director for the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas at Austin, told The Hill, "It raises the question of whether the timing is somewhere between ill-conceived or just not conceived at all. It seems more like a reaction to concerns about enthusiasm among Republican voters. It’s more of a reaction than it is a clear plan.”
Giving up is always an option, Donald. Never forget that.
Fox Business reports that only about 2,000 tickets have been distributed to the RNC's "Trumpapalooza" pic.twitter.com/2Mygt06c0W
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) September 3, 2026
