{"id":6362,"date":"2024-06-17T14:22:59","date_gmt":"2024-06-17T06:22:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=6362"},"modified":"2024-06-17T14:23:03","modified_gmt":"2024-06-17T06:23:03","slug":"gop-looks-to-trump-to-turn-up-heat-on-tester-brown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=6362","title":{"rendered":"GOP looks to Trump to turn up heat on Tester, Brown"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Former President Trump is turning up the heat on Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) as Senate Republicans stand on the precipice of winning back the majority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During Trump\u2019s visit with Senate Republicans last week, Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.) urged the former president to do more to \u201chammer\u201d the two Democratic red-state incumbents. The GOP only needs to defeat one, in addition to West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice\u2019s (R) widely expected Senate win in the fall, to recapture the upper chamber.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Trump appeared ready to oblige.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think he was observing how all of a sudden they had become very big Trump fans of late here back in their respective states,\u201d Sen. John Thune (S.D.), the No. 2 Senate Republican, said of the two Democrats who must appeal to Republican voters in their ruby-red states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

GOP members, he said, want Trump to correct the record directly to voters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But defeating Tester and Brown is no simple feat for the GOP, which is relying on candidates Tim Sheehy and Bernie Moreno, respectively. Both incumbents are considered battle-tested lawmakers who have been through tough reelection fights, including during a presidential year, and have emerged on the other side.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But none of their combined Senate victories have come with Trump at the top of the ticket, which Republicans believe will be a difficult mountain to overcome. Tester won Montana by just 3.5 points, while Trump defeated Biden there in 2020 by 16 points. Likewise in Ohio, Brown won his last reelection by about 7 points, while Trump won by 8 points in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Graham noted to the former president during Thursday\u2019s meeting at the Senate GOP campaign arm\u2019s headquarters that he is out-running both Sheehy and Moreno, along with the rest of the GOP\u2019s Senate candidate class who are squaring off with a number of well-financed incumbents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe realize that his success is our success,\u201d Graham told reporters. \u201cI said, \u2018Mr. President, you\u2019re doing better than every Republican Senate candidate in all the states that matter to us in terms of us becoming the majority. We\u2019re in this together.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe road to the Senate majority is also the road to the White House,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Still, Democrats are quick to note that Trump has plenty on his own plate in presidential battlegrounds, which means Montana and Ohio may not be his highest priority. They also point to his lack of Senate success in recent cycles, with Republicans unable to nab the majority when he was on the ballot in 2020 or in 2022 when many of his personally ordained candidates lost general election fights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t see Sen. Herschel Walker [in office],\u201d one Democratic operative with experience in Senate races said. \u201cMoreno and Sheehy have plenty of vulnerabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and other top Republicans have repeatedly cautioned that taking down well-funded incumbents is no easy task, the GOP has grown increasingly bullish that the party will be able to nab that one additional seat, with Montana serving as the prime opportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tester has a distinct brand that has served him well in Big Sky country, but Republicans argue that what aided him in his 2018 win will be working against him this go-around. Mostly Republicans argue Sheehy is a stronger candidate than Rep. Matt Rosendale (R-Mont.) was six years ago, and the environment this cycle will almost certainly be better for the GOP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI think Tester is as dead as you can be at this stage as an incumbent. I just don\u2019t understand the math that gets him back,\u201d one national GOP operative told The Hill, adding that Trump\u2019s increased involvement there \u201cis obviously helpful\u201d and that \u201cthere\u2019s no hurt there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tester backers dispute that assertion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe do this every six years. Republicans say Jon Tester is weak and they run the same playbook,\u201d one Democratic strategist with Montana ties said. \u201cI know how much they want Jon to be a weak incumbent, but it doesn\u2019t change the fact that it\u2019s a beltway fantasy. They make it up every six years.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Ohio, meanwhile, the national GOP strategist argued Democrats can \u201crun the Romney playbook\u201d on Moreno, making \u201chim out to look like an enemy of the working class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s going to be a significant amount of Trump\/Brown voters. The question is: what can [Moreno] keep that margin at?\u201d the operative said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe challenge remains \u2014 can Bernie Moreno stand on his own a little bit?\u201d they added<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A GOP operative with ties to the Moreno campaign pushed back on that characterization and noted that at this time last cycle, now-Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) was down double digits to former Rep. Tim Ryan (D-Ohio), and that Moreno is only down by five, adding that Brown has already gone negative with his ads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAny smart operative knows that as statewide name-ID equalizes in the fall, Sherrod Brown\u2019s blind loyalty to Biden is exposed and momentum for Trump-aligned candidate Bernie Moreno\u2019s campaign surges,\u201d the operative continued. \u201cIt\u2019s going to be difficult for Brown to hold on in November.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Republicans are also quick to note a number of the ads the Brown campaign has run so far are the types of spots they would consider running for a GOP candidate. Headlining those are recent ads spotlighting hollowed-out automobile plants and affected workers and Brown\u2019s work to mandate that U.S. steel is used for all federally funded infrastructure projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An outside group tied to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) also has a recent ad out highlighting the Interdict Act, which Brown worked on with Trump to prevent fentanyl and other drugs from entering the U.S. It\u2019s that type of messaging that are prompting members to push Trump increasingly into those states.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhat our folks obviously were interested in is just making sure that he sets the record straight and that people in those states understand who he\u2019s backing and that there be no confusion,\u201d Thune said. \u201cThere are lots of allusions \u2026 in those campaigns to places where they now agree with Trump or are very suggestive that they\u2019re friends and work with him, etcetera.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe differences will probably become clear over time,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former President Trump is turning up the heat on Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) as Senate Republicans stand on the precipice of winning back the majority. During Trump\u2019s visit with Senate Republicans last week, Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.) urged the former president to do more to \u201chammer\u201d the two Democratic red-state incumbents. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":6363,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-usa"],"yoast_head":"\nGOP looks to Trump to turn up heat on Tester, Brown - LISTEN WORLD<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=6362\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"GOP looks to Trump to turn up heat on Tester, Brown - LISTEN WORLD\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Former President Trump is turning up the heat on Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) as Senate Republicans stand on the precipice of winning back the majority. During Trump\u2019s visit with Senate Republicans last week, Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.) urged the former president to do more to \u201chammer\u201d the two Democratic red-state incumbents. […]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=6362\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"LISTEN WORLD\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-06-17T06:22:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-06-17T06:23:03+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/\u5fae\u4fe1\u622a\u56fe_20240617142027.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"653\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"365\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Xenia\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/\",\"name\":\"LISTEN WORLD\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=6362#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/\u5fae\u4fe1\u622a\u56fe_20240617142027.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/\u5fae\u4fe1\u622a\u56fe_20240617142027.jpg\",\"width\":653,\"height\":365},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=6362#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=6362\",\"name\":\"GOP looks to Trump to turn up heat on Tester, Brown - LISTEN WORLD\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=6362#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-06-17T06:22:59+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-06-17T06:23:03+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/#\/schema\/person\/0858d87b9dca5080708652d8e71bab95\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=6362#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=6362\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=6362#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"\u9996\u9875\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"GOP looks to Trump to turn up heat on Tester, Brown\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/#\/schema\/person\/0858d87b9dca5080708652d8e71bab95\",\"name\":\"Xenia\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/28b948f24823b0b7ad891b285d30c0f9eb58ea462ebe1e48936fbba5e46a42c2?s=96&d=wavatar&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/28b948f24823b0b7ad891b285d30c0f9eb58ea462ebe1e48936fbba5e46a42c2?s=96&d=wavatar&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Xenia\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?author=10\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"GOP looks to Trump to turn up heat on Tester, Brown - LISTEN WORLD","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=6362","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"GOP looks to Trump to turn up heat on Tester, Brown - LISTEN WORLD","og_description":"Former President Trump is turning up the heat on Sens. Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio) as Senate Republicans stand on the precipice of winning back the majority. During Trump\u2019s visit with Senate Republicans last week, Sen. Lindsey Graham (S.C.) urged the former president to do more to \u201chammer\u201d the two Democratic red-state incumbents. […]","og_url":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=6362","og_site_name":"LISTEN WORLD","article_published_time":"2024-06-17T06:22:59+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-06-17T06:23:03+00:00","og_image":[{"width":653,"height":365,"url":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/\u5fae\u4fe1\u622a\u56fe_20240617142027.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Xenia","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/#website","url":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/","name":"LISTEN WORLD","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=6362#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/\u5fae\u4fe1\u622a\u56fe_20240617142027.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/06\/\u5fae\u4fe1\u622a\u56fe_20240617142027.jpg","width":653,"height":365},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=6362#webpage","url":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=6362","name":"GOP looks to Trump to turn up heat on Tester, Brown - LISTEN WORLD","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=6362#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2024-06-17T06:22:59+00:00","dateModified":"2024-06-17T06:23:03+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/#\/schema\/person\/0858d87b9dca5080708652d8e71bab95"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=6362#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=6362"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?p=6362#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"\u9996\u9875","item":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"GOP looks to Trump to turn up heat on Tester, Brown"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/#\/schema\/person\/0858d87b9dca5080708652d8e71bab95","name":"Xenia","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/28b948f24823b0b7ad891b285d30c0f9eb58ea462ebe1e48936fbba5e46a42c2?s=96&d=wavatar&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/28b948f24823b0b7ad891b285d30c0f9eb58ea462ebe1e48936fbba5e46a42c2?s=96&d=wavatar&r=g","caption":"Xenia"},"url":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/?author=10"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6362","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6362"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6362\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6364,"href":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6362\/revisions\/6364"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/6363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tingchao.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}