Trump election speech divides a GOP wary of midterms

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.

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.

"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.

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.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.), ahead of the speech, told the New York Post that there may be a way to pass the proof of citizenship voter registration legislation through a budget reconciliation process, which cannot be filibustered in the Senate.

"I was just briefed by the White House on what to expect this evening. I would encourage every American to tune in tonight to the President's speech. This may be the most important Oval Office address since the Cuban Missile Crisis," Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) wrote on social platform X before the speech.

"The problem is we won every election. We won the House, we won the Senate, we won the White House. We've got a conservative majority in the Supreme Court," Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who has frequently battled with Trump, said ahead of the speech. "And we're trying to convince people that the problem is we can't win elections or the elections weren't fair? I think that's going to fall flat."

According to a July poll from Echelon Insights, 67 percent of Republican voters said the fact that the SAVE America Act has not passed the Senate yet means that more Republicans should be elected to the body so legislation like the bill can pass. The same poll also found that 51 percent of Republican voters said they believe Senate GOP leadership is doing the best it can to pass the legislation, while 35 percent said the party's leadership in the Senate is "betraying" Trump by failing to pass the legislation.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) appears to be taking the issue and running with it. On Friday, one day after Trump's address, the RNC launched its "Election Integrity Week of Action" across the country.

"The math isn't there to get it passed, and it's yet another example of pushing something that isn't going to help us in the elections, at the expense of things that will help us in the elections," Roe said.