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FILE - Wisconsin Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels speaks as he appears with former President Donald Trump at a rally in Waukesha, Wis., on Aug. 5, 2022. Donald Trump's pick for governor in the swing state of Wisconsin easily defeated a favorite of the Republican establishment.
FILE - Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Leora Levy talks to delegates at the State Republican Convention, May 7, 2022, in Mashantucket, Conn. In Connecticut, the state that launched the Bush family and its brand of compassionate conservatism, Levy, the fiery Senate contender who promoted Trump's election lies upset the state GOP's endorsed candidate.
FILE - Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., waves while former President Donald Trump points to her while they look over the 16th tee during the second round of the Bedminster Invitational LIV Golf tournament in Bedminster, N.J., July 30, 2022. Republicans ranging from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to Marjorie Taylor Greene defended Trump against an unprecedented FBI search.
NEW YORK (AP) — Donald Trump's pick for governor in the swing state of Wisconsin easily defeated a favorite of the Republican establishment.
In Connecticut, the state that launched the Bush family and its brand of compassionate conservatism, a fiery Senate contender who promoted Trump's election lies upset the state GOP's endorsed candidate. Meanwhile in Washington, Republicans ranging from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to conspiracy theorist Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene defended Trump against an unprecedented FBI search.
And that was just this week.
The rapid developments crystalized the former president's singular status atop a party he has spent the past seven years breaking down and rebuilding in his image. Facing mounting legal vulnerabilities and considering another presidential run, he needs support from the party to maintain his political career. But, whether they like it or not, many in the party also need Trump, whose endorsement has proven crucial for those seeking to advance to the November ballot.
“For a pretty good stretch, it felt like the Trump movement was losing more ground than it was gaining,” said Georgia Republican Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan, who is urging his party to move past Trump. But now, he said, Trump is benefiting from “an incredibly swift tail wind."
The Republican response to the FBI's search of Trump's Florida estate this week was an especially stark example of how the party is keeping Trump nearby. Some of the Republicans considering challenges to Trump in a 2024 presidential primary, such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, were among those defending him. Even long-established Trump critics like Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan questioned the search, pressing for details about its circumstances.
But even before the FBI showed up at Mar-a-Lago, Trump was gaining momentum in his post-presidential effort to shape the GOP. In all, nearly 180 Trump-endorsed candidates up and down the ballot have won their primaries since May while fewer than 20 have lost.
Only two of the 10 House Republicans who supported Trump's impeachment after the Jan. 6 insurrection are expected back in Congress next year. Rep. Jaime Herrera-Beutler, R-Wash., who conceded defeat after her Tuesday primary, was the latest to fall. Leading Trump antagonist Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., is at risk of joining her next week.
The Trump victories include a clean sweep of statewide primary elections in Arizona last week — including an election denier in the race for the state's chief elections official. Trump's allies also prevailed Tuesday across Wisconsin and Connecticut, a state long known for its moderate Republican leanings.
In Wisconsin's Republican primary for governor, wealthy Trump-backed businessman Tim Michels defeated former Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, an establishment favorite. And in Connecticut, Leora Levy, who promoted Trump's lie that the 2020 election was stolen, surged to an unexpected victory over a more moderate rival after earning Trump's official endorsement.
On Monday, just hours after the FBI search, Trump hosted a tele-town hall rally on her behalf. Levy thanked Trump in her acceptance speech, while railing against the FBI's search.
“All of us can tell him how upset and offended and disgusted we were at what happened to him," she said. "That is un-American. That is what they do in Cuba, in China, in dictatorships. And that will stop.”
Despite his recent dominance, Trump — and the Republicans close to him — face political and legal threats that could undermine their momentum as the GOP fights for control of Congress and statehouses across the nation this fall.
While Trump's picks have notched notable victories in primaries this summer, they may struggle in the fall. That's especially true in several governor's races in Democratic-leaning states such as Connecticut and Maryland, where GOP candidates must track to the center to win a general election.
Meanwhile, several Republicans with White House ambitions are moving forward with a busy travel schedule that will take them to politically important states where they can back candidates on the ballot this year and build relationships heading into 2024.
DeSantis plans to boost high-profile Republican contenders across Arizona, New Mexico, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Former Vice President Mike Pence, another potential 2024 presidential contender, is scheduled to appear next week in New Hampshire.
On the legal front, the FBI search was part of an investigation into whether the former president took classified records from the White House to his Florida residence. While Republicans have rallied behind Trump, very few facts about the case have been released publicly. Trump's attorneys have so far declined to release details from the search warrant.
Prosecutors in Washington and Georgia are also investigating Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 election he falsely claimed was stolen. The Jan. 6 congressional commission has exposed damning details about Trump's behavior from Republican witnesses in recent hearings, which have prompted new concerns, at least privately, among the GOP establishment and donor class.
And on Wednesday, Trump invoked his Fifth Amendment protection against self-incrimination as he testified under oath Wednesday in the New York attorney general’s long-running civil investigation into his business dealings.
Trump’s legal entanglements represent a distraction at best for Republican candidates who’d rather focus on President Joe Biden’s leadership, sky-high inflation and immigration troubles to help court moderate voters and independents in the general election.
“Today, every Republican in every state in this country should be talking about how bad Joe Biden is, how bad inflation is, how difficult it is to run a business and run a household,” said Duncan, the Georgia lieutenant governor. “But instead, we’re talking about some investigation, we’re talking about Donald Trump pleading the Fifth, we’re talking about Donald Trump endorsing some conspiracy theorist.”
Trump critics in both parties are ready and willing to highlight Trump's shortcomings — and his relationship with midterm candidates — as more voters begin to pay attention to politics this fall.
“This is, and always has been, Donald Trump’s Republican Party," Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison said in an interview, condemning “MAGA Republicans” and their “extreme agenda" on abortion and other issues.
At the same time, the Republican Accountability Project and Protect Democracy launched a $3 million television and digital advertising campaign this week across seven swing states focused on Trump's role in the Jan. 6 insurrection. The ads, which will run in Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Nevada, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, feature testimonials from Republican voters who condemn Trump's lies about nonexistent election fraud that fueled the Capitol attack.
One ad features congressional testimony from Cheney, the Wyoming Republican who has publicly declared that Trump should never hold public office again.
Still, Cheney faces her own primary election against a Trump-backed challenger next week in Wyoming. One of Trump's top political targets this year, she is expected to lose. Anticipating a loss, Cheney's allies suggest she may be better positioned to run for president in 2024, either as a Republican or independent.
Trump's allies are supremely confident about his ability to win the GOP's presidential nomination in 2024. In fact, aides who had initially pushed him to launch his campaign after the November midterms are now encouraging him to announce sooner to help freeze out would-be Republican challengers.
“It’s going to be very difficult for anyone to take the nomination away from him in 2024,” said Stephen Moore, a former Trump economic adviser who has spoken with Trump about his 2024 intentions. “He is running. That is a certainty."
Rep. Tom Rice, R-S.C., predicted that Trump would “lose in a landslide” if he sought the presidency again, adding that the former president's overall grasp on the party is “eroding on the edges.”
“In a normal election, you’ve got to win not just the base. You’ve got to win the middle, too, right, and maybe crossover on the other side,” said Rice, who lost his recent primary after voting in favor of Trump’s second impeachment.
Rice warned that Trump far-right candidates could lead to unnecessary losses for the party in November. “Donald Trump is pushing things so far to the right,” he said in an interview.
Meanwhile, former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, eyeing a 2024 bid himself, warned against making bold political predictions two years before the Republican Party selects its next presidential nominee.
“We’re sitting here in August of 2022,” Christie said in an interview. “My sense is there’s a lot of water over the dam still to come before anybody can determine anybody's individual position in the primaries of '24 — except to say that if Donald Trump runs, he will certainly be a factor.”
Associated Press writers Susan Haigh in Hartford, Connecticut, and Meg Kinnard in Columbia, South Carolina, contributed to this report.
Copyright 2022 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
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Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer says Democrats have made changes in their giant economic bill that include paring part of their proposed minimum tax on huge corporations. Schumer described some of the revisions Friday as Democrats lined up the votes needed to deliver a campaign-season victory to President Joe Biden on his domestic agenda. Schumer also said bargainers dropped a proposed tax boost on hedge fund executives after pivotal centrist Sen. Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona said she would otherwise vote “no.” Schumer said the package would instead levy new taxes on companies that buy back their own stock.
President Joe Biden’s legislative victories have aimed to position the U.S. to “win the economic competition of the 21st century,” but his investments to boost the nation’s technology, infrastructure and climate resilience over the next decade are set against a 90-odd-day clock until the midterms. From turbocharging the U.S. computer chip sector to shifting the nation to a greener economy, the achievements from Biden will take years to come to fruition. Yet Democrats are gambling that the rapid clip of recent accomplishments will persuade a downcast electorate to vote in their party’s favor. Democratic Sen. Brian Schatz of Hawaii says, “It’s a vibe, and the vibe is winning."
Donald Trump says he invoked the Fifth Amendment and wouldn’t answer questions under oath in the long-running New York civil investigation into his business dealings. Trump arrived at New York Attorney General Letitia James’ offices Wednesday morning, but sent out a statement more than an hour later saying he declined to answer the questions under the rights and privileges afforded to every citizen under the United States Constitution.” Anything he said during the deposition could have been used against him in a criminal case, if one ensues. While James’ investigation is civil in nature, the Manhattan district attorney is running a parallel criminal probe.
Republican politicians and candidates are distorting how a major economic bill working its way through Congress would overhaul the IRS and affect taxes for the middle class. The Inflation Reduction Act, which awaits a House vote after passing in the Senate on Sunday, would increase the ranks of the IRS. But it wouldn’t create a mob of armed auditors looking to harass middle-class taxpayers, as some Republicans are claiming. And while experts say corporate tax increases could indirectly burden people in the middle class, any claims that they’ll face higher taxes aren't supported by what’s in the legislation.
The FBI has searched former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate as part of an investigation into whether he took classified records from the White House to his Florida residence. That's according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss an ongoing investigation. Trump says agents opened up a safe at his home and describes their work as an “unannounced raid” that he likened to “prosecutorial misconduct.” The FBI and Justice Department have not confirmed the search. It marks a dramatic and unprecedented escalation of law enforcement scrutiny of the former president.
Facebook owner Meta is quietly curtailing some safeguards designed to thwart voting misinformation or foreign interference in elections even as the U.S. midterms approach. The pivot is raising alarm about Meta’s priorities and how some might exploit the world’s most popular social media platforms to spread misleading claims, launch fake accounts and rile up extremists. Public communication about the company’s plans to combat election misinformation has gone quiet. Ahead of the 2018 and 2020 elections, the company released more than 30 statements about how it would stifle U.S. election misinformation and divisive hate speech. Menlo Park, California-based Meta says policies developed around election misinformation or foreign interference are now hard-wired into company operations.
Senate Democrats say they have reached an accord on changes to their marquee economic legislation, clearing the major hurdle to pushing one of President Joe Biden’s leading election-year priorities through the chamber in coming days. Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema, a centrist who was seen as the pivotal vote, says she is ready to “move forward” on the bill. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York says lawmakers have achieved a compromise that will receive the support of all Democrats in the chamber. His party needs unanimity and Vice President Kamala Harris’ tie-breaking vote to move the measure through the Senate over certain solid opposition from Republicans.
Conservative groups pushing for a convention of the states as a way to amend the U.S. Constitution have been spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in state legislative primaries to elect Republican lawmakers sympathetic to their cause. Much of the money comes from groups that do not have to disclose their donors, masking the identity of who is funding the push to change the Constitution. Their goals are vague and include limiting the power and jurisdiction of the federal government, and imposing fiscal restraints. No amendment to the Constitution has ever been done through a state convention.
Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota won a closer-than-expected Democratic primary race against a centrist challenger who questioned Omar's support for the “defund the police” movement. Another progressive, Becca Balint, won the Democratic House primary in Vermont, positioning her to become the first woman representing the state in Congress. And in Minnesota, Republican Brad Finstad was headed to Congress to serve the remaining months of the late Rep. Jim Hagedorn’s term. A key race also unfolded in western Wisconsin, where Democratic Rep. Ron Kind’s retirement after 26 years in office opens up a seat in a district that has been trending Republican.
Sri Lanka's justice minister has submitted a proposed constitutional amendment to Parliament that would clip the powers of the president, a key demand of protesters calling for political reforms and solutions to the country’s economic crisis. The action came as former President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, who fled violent anti-government protests last month, was reportedly seeking to enter Thailand. A Thai Foreign Ministry spokesperson says he would be allowed entry but had not asked for political asylum. However, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha says Rajapaksa is seeking asylum in a third country, which he did not name. The proposed constitutional amendments would transfer some presidential powers to a constitutional council comprising lawmakers and respected non-politicians.
FILE - Wisconsin Republican gubernatorial candidate Tim Michels speaks as he appears with former President Donald Trump at a rally in Waukesha, Wis., on Aug. 5, 2022. Donald Trump's pick for governor in the swing state of Wisconsin easily defeated a favorite of the Republican establishment.
FILE - Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Leora Levy talks to delegates at the State Republican Convention, May 7, 2022, in Mashantucket, Conn. In Connecticut, the state that launched the Bush family and its brand of compassionate conservatism, Levy, the fiery Senate contender who promoted Trump's election lies upset the state GOP's endorsed candidate.
FILE - Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., waves while former President Donald Trump points to her while they look over the 16th tee during the second round of the Bedminster Invitational LIV Golf tournament in Bedminster, N.J., July 30, 2022. Republicans ranging from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to Marjorie Taylor Greene defended Trump against an unprecedented FBI search.
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