Trump Lashes Out at South Florida GOP Congresswoman as More Republicans Distance Themselves From the President

President Trump seems to regret backing Congresswoman María Elvira Salazar — a south Florida lawmaker in a deep-red district — after she cut an ad for her re-election campaign saying that some of the president’s immigration policies had “gone too far.” Ms. Salazar’s comments came after polls show a significant swing toward Democrats among Hispanics ahead of the midterms. The Miami congresswoman joins House, Senate and gubernatorial candidates in states across the country, but particularly in the Midwest including Michigan, Iowa, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Minnesota and Kansas, where Republican candidates are questioning Trump policies.Ms. Salazar filmed her ad in front of the White House earlier this month. In the video, she speaks directly to the president. “Mr. President: some of your immigration enforcement efforts have gone too far,” Ms. Salazar says in the ad. “Be careful what your advisers are telling you about immigration policies. The same Hispanics who helped you get to the White House in 2024 feel betrayed today.”“You can be for immigration what Lincoln was for slavery and Reagan was for communism,” she said.. “I’m not talking about giving them amnesty — I’m talking about giving them a dignified life in this promised land, and only you can do that.” Ms. Salazar is also airing a version of the ad in Spanish. Mr. Trump at first did not criticize the congresswoman. Asked about the advertisement in the Oval Office, Mr. Trump said he liked Ms. Salazar and that the two simply had a difference of opinion on the immigration issue. On Sunday, however, Mr. Trump shared a trio of messages making clear that he was growing frustrated with Ms. Salazar. He sent out a screenshot of someone sharing a Washington Post article titled,” “Rep. María Elvira Salazar released an ad criticizing Trump’s immigration policies as going ‘too far.’”“But Latino voters in her district told reporters their support for Trump hasn’t wavered, while support for Salazar has,” the user continued in his or her post. “I am one of those voters in her district. I should have voted for the guy that primaried her,” another person wrote in an X post shared by Mr. Trump. “Didn’t she voted [sic] with Trump 99% of the time? Trump must remove his endorsement from her,” a third person wrote in a message shared by Mr. Trump.Ms. Salazar has represented Miami in the House since 2021, and her district has moved significantly to the right since then. In 2024, Mr. Trump carried the district by nearly 15 points, though now it appears Ms. Salazar is in a toss-up race. According to polls, Ms. Salazar is now in a single-digit race despite the fact that she was re-elected by more than 20 points less than two years ago. In March, the firm Blueprint Polling found her leading her Democratic opponent by only three points. The Democratic candidate, Elliott Rodriguez, released an internal poll in August showing a tied race. Mr. Trump is not the first to come after Ms. Salazar, though. The House Freedom Caucus’s X account reposted an ad from the Freedom Caucus Foundation which began running earlier this year criticizing Ms. Salazar’s DIGNIDAD Act. “The name’s in a foreign language because it benefits foreigners over American citizens,” the 30-second spot states. “The DIGNIDAD Act is an amnesty bill.”Among Republicans more broadly, polling has shown that the issue of mass deportations has divided parts of the GOP base. A poll released by Politico on Friday shows that more than nearly one-third of self-identified “non-MAGA” Republicans — 31 percent — say Mr. Trump’s mass deportation campaign has gone “too far.” Those same voters are far more likely to say that immigration is a net benefit for the country and that it is already too difficult for migrants to come to the United States through a legal pathway. It isn’t just South Florida where aggressive deportation operations appear to have become a political liability. In Kansas, Senator Roger Marshall — a staunch supporter of the president — is in a highly competitive race with a Democrat, Adam Hamilton. Last week, after the Department of Homeland Security launched a surge of ICE agents to southwest Kansas to begin arresting migrants working on farms and in meatpacking plants, Dr. Marshall raised concerns about the agency’s actions. “When ICE operates in Kansas, it needs to coordinate with our local law enforcement. Our sheriffs and police know these communities better than anyone, and working together keeps officers and residents safe,” Dr. Marshall said in a statement. In recent weeks, several other Republican candidates have been backing away from the president, especially those running in the Midwest, like Mr. Marshall. A spike in gas and diesel prices have hit the region especially hard, and a number of candidates are calling for a swift end to the conflict. The Republican Senate nominees in Iowa and Michigan have both called for an end to the war, while two of Iowa’s House members — both Republicans in competitive races — voted for a war powers resolution earlier this month to bring the conflict to an end. The Republican nominees for governor in Michigan and Wisconsin have similarly said the war should end quickly. High diesel and fertilizer prices are causing other Republicans to demand more urgent action.

Trump Lashes Out at South Florida GOP Congresswoman as More Republicans Distance Themselves From the President

Trump Lashes Out at South Florida GOP Congresswoman as More Republicans Distance Themselves From the President

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