Republicans spent millions of dollars on a special election in a Tennessee district that Donald Trump won by 22 points in 2024.
Republicans are so worried about the election that President Mike Johnson went to a rally there to try to support Republican candidate Matt Van Epps against Democratic candidate Aftyn Behn.
A recent poll found that Democrats are trailing by just two points and could be on the verge of a massive victory.
One of the most interesting things about this special election is that Trump currently has a negative net approval rating (-2) in a district he owned by 22 points a year ago.
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Republicans continue to treat Trump as 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 focus to show up in the district and rally Republicans in person, so he called Mike Johnson, who put him on speakerphone, as things went off the rails.
Trump said:
Remember, he has a majority of three, a majority of three, and not many people can do that, but we have to win. Yes, we got you the biggest tax cuts in history and the new bill, the big beautiful bill, goes into effect, as you know, on January 1st, and it hasn’t even gone into effect yet.
And then there’s 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. This has never happened before. All of these things come into effect on January 1st. Many people don’t know this. They said, oh, they’ve already started. I said, no, it won’t start until January 1st.
So that was the first date. I just want to thank everyone. I love Tennessee, one of my all-time favorite places. Tennessee, I guess, loves me because we won by the largest margin ever, so that’s cool. But if you can go for Matt Van Epps, he’s a winner. He’s going to be great. Don’t leave this to yourself.
The Democrats are spending a fortune and we don’t want people wanting to raise your taxes. Above all, she wants to increase your taxes. But she said two main things that bothered me. First, she hates Christianity. Second, she hates country music. How the hell can you elect a person like that?
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