The Debrief with Mario Parker: Tight Race Republicans Confront Trump Dilemma

As President Trump steps up his cadence on the campaign trail, some Republicans in key races are creating a bit of distance with the president on some important issues. In Michigan, Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers is using a new ad to take aim at President Trump's tariff fight with Canada, drinking a bath and watching the Red wings. Man, it just doesn't get any more Michigan than that. And here in Michigan, we know that Canada is not our enemy. We need to end this tariff war. Now, as Michigan's senator, I'll bring both parties together to lower your prices. That's job number one. Okay, hold the bats. Rogers is not alone in Maine. Senator Susan Collins is also stressing her independence from Trump. Texas Governor Greg Abbott was absent from Trump's rally yesterday in San Antonio, and now New York Congressman Mike Lawler says he will skip the president's rally in Syracuse tomorrow. But with early voting already underway and 26 days out from the big day, is it too late for Republican candidates to change minds by distancing themselves in this way? Let's bring in Bloomberg's Mario Parker for this week's edition of The Debrief. Murray, you've been talking to Republican insiders. What are you hearing? Well, I start the conversations asking, how bad is it, just given the political climate that we see and wait for some of the sources that I have close to the white House and or on the trail, uh, to respond differently. Yeah. One source I will say today, uh, for example, said this is a category five storm right now. Okay. Uh, you played the clips, right, of Susan Collins of Mike Rogers, of Greg Abbott, of Mike Lawler, all distancing themselves, being the latest Republicans to distance themselves from the president. When asked, uh, when I asked some of the strategists what the underlying issue is right now in this election, what has made this a category five type of environment? The answer has been simply President Trump, his approval rating. Right? And simple math. Joe, from what these sources tell me, the president's approval rating is somewhere in the mid 30s to high 30s. He need 50% to win. That's a 10 to 13%, uh, point percentage. Uh, the gap that they have with the president kind of wing of the campaign. So if you're a Republican candidate, you know, the talking points coming out of the administration are clearly not going to do it here. So we asked yesterday, outgoing Senator Thom Tillis, you know, he's retiring in January. He's part of the YOLO caucus, as we say. And he had some advice for Republicans when it comes to messaging to voters right now. Listen, get out there and campaign. Don't be afraid. And also don't be afraid to separate from the president on issues where you genuinely disagree. You can't do it artificially, but if you genuinely believe it, now's the time to say, yeah, we're not we're not hitting on all senators in Iran. We do have an affordability crisis. Okay, well, that sounds familiar. How many are doing it, though, outside of the front liners? We're talking to Mike Rogers is in a head to head match off with al said that could be within the margin of error. Or some of these other races are simply too close to call. Or if you're a mike Lawler and a district that Kamala Harris one. Joe Biden one. What do you do? You see Lawler uh, his campaign effectively printed out like the Google Maps. right to chart out the distance between his district in Syracuse. Susan Collins in the debate yesterday. I've never seen I haven't seen a Republican so proudly, particularly over this, this last two years of President Trump's second term, so proudly say that they weren't his favorite Republican as well, right? Stark. Just how the images of Greg Abbott being absent on the trail with the president also as well. Whether or not it's too late, uh, that that's that's still unclear at this point. There is another calculation. Again, I mentioned the word calculation. I mean, some Republicans may bet that if this is a turnout election, that maybe the president's presence, his MAGA base that maybe aren't as disenchanted as independents are, yeah, maybe that helps them get across the finish line in those close races that you invoke. Just quickly. Lastly, we're out of time. Is day drinking in a dimly lit bar the best image in the closing throes of the campaign? That look back. Yeah, it was pretty pretty effective. Yeah. So I want to be all right. What do I know? I just I have to ask the dumb questions. Mario Bloomberg's Mario parker, that's the debrief.