Trump mastered the 24-hour news cycle. Now it’s hurting the GOP.

Donald Trump's knack for dominating headlines, which carried him through his campaigns, is now getting in the way of Republicans fighting to hold Congress, MS NOW reports. With the midterms three weeks off, party candidates want to talk about pay, taxes, Social Security, immigration and crime, and many have kept the president out of their commercials. But a steady stream of Trump-generated stories keeps replacing the day's coverage before any of that sinks in.

Recent examples include his pledge of $5,000 payments if the GOP keeps its majorities, taxpayer-funded promotional spots he later said his super PAC would cover, a diesel arrangement with Vladimir Putin, and an angry outburst aimed at Norway over the Nobel Peace Prize. Pete Hegseth's livestream plan for an execution and a Homeland Security search of Rep. Ilhan Omar's home added to the pile. Candidates must either answer and lose their own message or stay quiet and seem peripheral.

The payments drew a response from Speaker Mike Johnson, who said lawmakers would have to authorize them. On the Putin arrangement, Mike Rogers, Dan Sullivan and Susan Collins pushed back, while numerous other competitive-race Republicans said nothing.

Summarized by PolitiKool from MS NOW’s reporting. Read the full story at MS NOW →