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Mr Trump is trailing behind his opponent Joe Biden in the national polls with just under a week to go until the presidential election. As COVID-19 cases in the US continue to rise — making it the worst hit nation in the world — and many are still concerned about the prospect of civil unrest, Democrats have their fingers crossed that a Biden administration could be elected for next year. However, Mr Trump’s supporters are hoping that the stats are inaccurate, just as they were in 2016 when the billionaire stunned the world and was elected to the White House.
Earlier this month, the BBC’s Americast examined how Mr Trump’s party was also reacting to his current position in the polls.
BBC North America editor Jon Sopel said: “The dilemma for Republicans: if they criticise Donald Trump, Republican candidates, do they lose the Trump voters?
“And if they don’t criticise Donald Trump how are they going to win the independents that they need to win the victory?
“And that is the tightrope Republican candidates are walking in this election.
“You can see it with all sorts of candidates. You think, ‘Why don’t they just break with Trump? Man’s a disaster’, or whatever it happens to be, like ‘he’s tried hard but now we have to move on’.”
Yet, Mr Sopel said the candidates are worried they will personally lose support if they publicly break with Mr Trump.
BBC journalist Emily Maitlis then noted how two key Republican senators stood down at the US midterms because they felt they were not represented by Mr Trump.
She explained: “And then there’s been others that we’ve seen come out of the woodwork recently, like Ben Sasse, the Nebraska senator, who told his constituents that, Trump ‘kisses dictators’ butts’ and ‘flirts with white supremacists’.”
She also pointed out how Mr Sasse had actually voted with the President 87 percent of the time, but only seems to have revealed what he really thinks of Mr Trump now.
The Washington Examiner reported earlier this month that Mr Sasse had said: “I’m now looking at the possibility of a Republican bloodbath and that’s why I’ve never been on the Trump train.”
Ms Maitlis explained that his words have got some of the public thinking, “Oh I wonder if you’re thinking about yourself and the next presidential round in four years’ time”.
Mr Trump did not hold back when he heard of Mr Sasse’s remarks.
He tweeted that the Republican Senator represented the party in “name only” and that once he won the nomination to run for a second term he “went back to his rather stupid and obnoxious ways”.
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He suggested Mr Sasses should consider retiring or that his party “should find a new and more viable candidate”.
Washington Post columnist Jennifer Rubin noted earlier this month that “one must conclude that sheer cowardice and a yen to remain in office” as the explanation as to why the Senator has only just spoken out.
She suggested: “As with every other silent Republican in this era, personal ambition won out over obligation to the country and the constitution.”
The BBC’s podcast also pointed out how there were several Republican figureheads who appeared to be wavering in their support for Mr Trump as the possibility of his re-election seems to be on unsteady ground.
Ms Maitlis added: “The moment it looks like he [Trump] isn’t going to win, they [the Republicans] are all fleeing the pitch.”
She concluded: “There’s a lot of disciplines denying at the moment, and that is quite an ugly spectacle, too.”
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