How does Donald Trump address a massive fall off in his support that nearly cost the Republicans a seat in one of the reddest of red districts? He lies about it.
Estes won his spot by less than 7 percent. That’s compares to Republicans winning that slot in 2016 by 31 percent. The same kind of numbers held true going back for decades. Donald Trump also won the district by 27 percent. However you look at it, this is a massive drop in Republican support.
Republicans, especially Trump supporters, would like to blame the numbers on dissatisfaction with Kansas Governor Sam Brownback, but Brownback’s approval rating is actually 4 percent higher in 2017 than it was in 2016. He’s not the one responsible for Republicans plummeting chances.
No, this is a Trump Slump for Republicans. It’s not all his fault—the dysfunctional GOP Congress that can’t even cooperate with itself catches some blame—but it’s mostly Trump.
As for the rest of Trump’s tweet, the biggest dose of money that Democratic candidate James Thompson received came from right here on Daily Kos. National organizations like the DCCC sat this one out. After all, there are only 100 districts in the nation as red as this one.
So, let’s go through that tweet again. Great win? Lie. Won easily? Lie. Democrats spent heavily? Lie. Predicted victory? Lie.
That’s pretty high density lying in a single tweet—even for the guy who is dragging his party toward disaster.