{
  "id": 15877978,
  "title": "Even Republicans don’t want to touch Trump right now",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/21/even-republicans-dont-want-to-touch-trump-right-now",
  "topic": "business",
  "section": "Business",
  "published": "2026-10-21T10:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Fast Company",
    "slug": "fast-company",
    "url": "https://www.fastcompany.com/91626865/even-republicans-dont-want-to-touch-trump-right-now"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "As Election Day approaches on November 3, Republicans are employing two divergent campaign strategies that may confuse voters. One involves championing President Donald Trump, while the other seeks to distance him from the race. Despite Trump's recent appearances at campaign events, actual Republican candidates are striving to keep him out of the picture. In ads, only a fraction of the budget - under $1 of every $100 - mentions Trump, compared to $20 of every $100 in Democratic ads. Trump even hosted two nights of a \"Trumpapalooza\" convention and gave speeches at 15 rallies, spending nearly $22 million on government-funded commercials, drawing bipartisan criticism. For Republican candidates, avoiding any reference to Trump has become challenging. Traditionally, party in power distance themselves from the president mid-term, but Trump's unpopularity is unprecedented. A recent poll shows only 31% of Americans approve of his job performance. Earlier in the campaign, Republicans frequently referenced Trump, capitalizing on his endorsement to win primaries. However, mentions of Trump have dwindled after Labor Day, with Republican candidates removing Trump from their websites and skipping events when he or Vice President JD Vance visit. Some candidates, like Maria Elvira Salazar and Mike Rogers, have criticized Trump's policies. With Trump's unpopularity, Republicans fear their efforts to support him might backfire.",
  "summary": "Heading into the final two weeks before Election Day on November 3, Republicans are pursuing two conflicting campaign strategies that could send voters mixed messages. One is all about President Donald Trump and the other pretends he doesn’t exist. While Trump has returned to the campaign trail promoting his record and asking voters to pretend he’s on the ballot, actual Republican candidates have…",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}