How the GOP Navigates Trump Issue in November
Rep. Joe Sosnowski (R-Rockford) says Republicans “can’t avoid” Donald Trump and his unpopular poll numbers in Illinois in November. But he says it doesn’t have to cost the GOP at the ballot box.
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With each passing day, it’s becoming more and more likely former President Donald Trump is the Republican nominee for President in November.
With House Republicans defending seven seats won by President Joe Biden in 2020 and Trump having lost Illinois by more than a million votes twice already, many Republican insiders fear Trump could drag the GOP down even further in Illinois this fall.
But Rep. Joe Sosnowski (R-Rockford), a top House Republican, says GOP candidates shouldn’t shy away from Trump.
“Republicans can’t just avoid it and say ‘we’re not going to talk about it,” he said.
Though, he says, President Biden’s lagging poll numbers could help even the odds in Illinois.
“I think [we] see, right now, there are some positive trends,” Sosnowski said. “I think [President] Biden is so bad that it will help our numbers in Illinois.”
But not all Republicans think there are positive aspects to Trump as the nominee.
“If I’m a suburban [legislative] candidate, I’m running as far away from Trump as possible,” said a GOP consultant who asked not to be identified. “He’s toxic to suburban women and I wouldn’t want my candidate anywhere near [him.]”
But, Sosnowski says, there are positives GOP candidates can take from Trump into November.
“Let’s build our Illinois brand and let’s address the fact that some of [Trump’s] policies were a whole lot more beneficial for the country overall,” he said. “What we’re seeing now from Biden is terrible policy and it’s trickling down to [issues like] immigration and how it’s impacting the state of Illinois and City of Chicago.”
Sosnowski is a guest on this week’s The Illinoize Podcast. You can subscribe to our YouTube channel here. You can also subscribe on your favorite podcast platform like on Apple, Spotify, or Amazon.