Later this week, the first ever RNC Midterm Convention will be held in Dallas, and as described by the GOP, it's, "a primetime showcase for President Trump’s success, candidates, and causes." It has also become a focus of the left-wing media, many of whom have chosen to mock the event, and Sunday on CNN's Inside Politics, they did just that while comparing the President's approval ratings to his predecessors without providing perspective.
After introducing his panel, Host Manu Raju seemed amused, smiling and looking as if he was holding back a chuckle as he referred to the event: "So, weekend news about this rather interesting event from this that's coming up this week, this Dallas convention, this midterm convention."
As Raju continued, his revelation of Trump's speaking schedule did actually result in a chuckle from Raju, and drew laughter from at least one member of the panel, all of whom were off screen at the time:
The speakers announced for this two day event next week, and surprise, surprise, President Trump will be speaking both nights of the event!
[Laughter]
J.D. Vance will be the headliner on the second night. Trump is supposed to be giving closing remarks on that event.
There are also some other interesting people in this list. The Attorney General of the United States, Todd Blanche, typically the Attorney General does not play a political role. Well, we've seen something different in this administration. Todd Blanche is one of the headliners here, as is the HHS secretary. Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.
After listing several "vulnerable" GOP candidates who will be speaking at the event, he turned to political reporter and author, Molly Ball, who actually talked about the positives of such candidates showing up:
Well, look, if you are a vulnerable Republican, if you're a John Husted, the calculation is on the one hand, the President is not popular and aligning yourself with him might not be the best thing for you politically when you're trying to win a tough state... On the other hand, what you need is that base turnout...So, some of these candidates are making the calculation that there's more upside than downside in, in doing that.
Raju would then play a montage of himself approaching six GOP Congressmen, and asking if they will be attending the convention. Four said no, two didn't answer. He would then turn to CNN Senior Political Analyst Nia-Malika-Henderson, who got her dig in:
Listen, there is no real upside for a lot of these folks. I mean, and they're right. They probably should be home in their district campaigning for the voters there. You know, the purpose of Trump and Molly is exactly right. It is sort of a plea to come home to daddy, right? Daddy being Donald Trump in this sense. You saw what he did in that South Carolina Senate race where he essentially told those voters to pretend that I am on the ballot. And a lot of them did. And they voted for Darline Graham. And she, of course, won. And so that's essentially what the argument is going to be here.
Come home to daddy is certainly not subtle. Neither was her comment making this a TV ratings contest between the event and the opening two games of the NFL season, one scheduled for the first night, Wednesday and one for Thursday night. It seemed a given that more people would tune into the games, and you can bet we will be hearing about that after the fact, to declare the convention as a failure.
Raju then put up a chart showing presidential approval ratings in September for midterm years, going back to George W. Bush in 2002:
But here are the bad parts of Trump if you're a Republican on the ballot, he's sitting at 35 percent right now in the approval ratings compared to, say, you know, Bush in the similar time of this post, 9/11 in 2002, he was at high mark at 66 percent. But still, Trump is lower than his predecessors at this point ahead of the midterms. That's a troubling sign for a Republican.
Not necessarily true. Perspective left out by Raju: In September of 2018, Trump's approval rating was 36%, virtually the same as today, according to the CNN results he put on screen, and while Dems gained 40 House seats, the GOP gained two Senate seats. As for Bush's 2002 midterms, Republicans gained just eight House seats and only two in the Senate, despite his 66 percent approval rating. And in 2010, Obama's 50 percent approval resulted in his party losing 63 House seats and 6 Senate seats.
Laughing, chuckling and mocking the upcoming convention was one thing, not presenting the numbers of seats won & lost by former presidents, in conjunction with their approval ratings, while concentrating on Trump's ratings, that's inexcusable. This is CNN!
