Trump election speech divides a GOP wary of midterms

President Trump’s efforts to win congressional approval of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE America) Act at all costs are frustrating Republicans who see him as picking the wrong fights with his party ahead of a crucial midterm election.

The frustrations were magnified by the primetime address Trump gave Thursday night that revisited his frustrations with the 2020 presidential election.

Trump criticized the U.S. election machinery while urging Republicans to pass the SAVE America Act, which would require proof of citizenship in order to register to vote and would require voter ID to cast a ballot.

Efforts to move that bill have been stalled by GOP senators, who say the legislation doesn’t have the support to get through the Senate.

Some Republicans say his insistence on passing the legislation in the face of the opposition is a waste of time, while his remarks questioning public faith in the U.S. election system is taking the GOP off better election-year messaging.

“To me, it’s just a missed opportunity to talk about an issue that voters are actually going to cast votes on,” Michigan Republican strategist Jason Cabel Roe told The Hill.

“We continue to have to revert back to him airing his grievances, and, you know, Republicans are expected to just stand and salute to it,” he added.

Other Republicans acknowledge the frustration among some within the party but argue election security is an issue with the ability to fire up Trump’s base, which is comprised of many low propensity voters, during a midterm election year.

“It’s in a way probably a push to galvanize the base and get them a little bit more fired up because we do need to get them excited to vote in November, and this could be one of those issues to highlight that, but we definitely do want to see more of a push on the economy as well,” one national Republican operative said.

Trump’s address, which included unsubstantiated claims that China had interfered in the 2020 election cycle while national security officials........

© The Hill