This week in Texas, Donald Trump is supposed to preside over a watershed moment in his political career. It marks the first “midterm convention” in the history of his party – built entirely around him – and held over two nights in a downtown arena in Dallas. And right now, it’s shaping up to be a flop.
The Republicans who are supposed to be running under his banner are instead running away from it. While Trump will attend alongside his Vice President, JD Vance, no-shows will include top GOP senators, candidates in the tightest races in the country and his own wife, who’ve all found somewhere else to be. Of more than 70 Republican candidates and members of Congress surveyed by Politico, a majority (45) said they either weren’t going or wouldn’t commit.
For a man who returned to office wielding threats and at the apex of his power, the event will signal a haemorrhaging of his influence.
Shorts
I’m writing this from Dallas, where the vibe is precisely the opposite of what the President ordered. This was meant to be the career-maker’s convention, held in honour of the man who anoints winners and is gathering chosen candidates around him ahead of an election that will be a referendum on his leadership. But it’s becoming a magnet for the people whose careers he tried to wreck and the opposition party he’s empowered his authorities to repress. They are the ones flying in to protest, mock and counter-message.
