With President Donald Trump’s approval ratings sagging and Republicans bracing for a rough midterm election, some in the party are reaching for an old rhetorical escape hatch: Blame the aides.
In a recent interview with MS NOW, Sen. Thom Tillis said Trump has gotten bad advice on the affordability crisis. In an ad directed at Trump that aired in September, Florida Rep. María Elvira Salazar said that “some of your advisers are giving you bad advice” on immigration enforcement. And in June, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz used the same line while criticizing a potential deal with Iran: “I think the president, unfortunately, is receiving bad advice.”
Blaming advisers has a long pedigree in American politics, because it lets a lawmaker publicly acknowledge that a president’s record on an issue is unpopular without fully breaking with the president — or with the voters who still support him. In 2009, Democratic Rep. John Conyers said Barack Obama was getting “bad advice from … clowns” on Afghanistan. Trump’s first term produced repeated versions: Rep. Thomas Massie said he was getting bad advice on the attempted Affordable Care Act repeal, while Rep. Mark Meadows said the president was getting bad advice on border-wall funding.
In some cases, the framing also allows an ally to maintain a positive relationship and maybe even steer the president toward the ally’s own recommendations. In 2006, Republican Rep. Chris Shays used the frame to push George W. Bush to shift his Iraq policy: “When people keep giving you bad advice, you need to get other people to give you good advice.”
But this excuse doesn’t quite work with Trump. He’s spent a decade presenting himself as a singular figure in American politics. In his 2016 convention speech, he famously claimed that “I alone can fix it.” He has claimed, at various points, to know more about ISIS than the generals, more about the economy than the Federal Reserve and more about the courts than “any human being on Earth.” He has also filled his second-term administration with Cabinet officials who lavish him with praise.
More articles
But this excuse doesn’t quite work with Trump. He’s spent a decade presenting himself as a singular figure in American politics.
Last year, Trump similarly dismissed warnings about the economic effects of his sweeping tariffs. After the head of Goldman Sachs said the tariffs would raise costs, Trump wrote that the bank had made “a bad prediction” about both the market and tariffs and was “wrong, just like they are wrong about so much else.”
In February, after reports that the chairman of the Joint Chiefs had warned him about the risks of a military strike on Iran, Trump publicly disputed the account and said that the general believed such a war would be “easily won.” Then he made the relevant point himself: “I am the one that makes the decision.”
And the people around him increasingly seem to understand the arrangement. Top White House aides and elected Republicans have said they no longer even try to change Trump’s mind, according to an Axios report citing unnamed sources. “Why bother?” a longtime adviser and admirer told the publication. “He’s the boss.”
Blaming Trump’s advisers doesn’t even avoid this president’s wrath. After Salazar’s ad aired, Trump initially said he simply disagreed with her, and she reported a “courteous” conversation with him. A week later, he amplified social media posts criticizing her, including several that called for replacing her.
For Republicans looking to break with Trump on an issue, here’s some advice: Find a better line.
Ryan Teague Beckwith is the newsletter editor for MS NOW.
Become a Member to join the conversation