SerpApi.Org
Top Fox News pundit Laura Ingraham is begging Donald Trump to get out of the war in Iran before the midterm elections, fearing its tremendous unpopularity will sink Republican chances come November.
On the July 20 edition of The Ingraham Angle, the 63-year-old host said the war, which has resulted in 17 deaths of U.S. soldiers and had dramatically negative effects on the global economy, could be a “distraction” for GOP candidates headed to the midterms.
“With the midterm elections a little more than 100 days away, the clock is ticking for President Trump to get out of this war before voters head to the polls,” she said. “It’s making a lot of Republicans nervous. It’s already, as we know, unpopular. According to the new Washington Post/Ipsos poll, 69% of Americans disapprove of the handling of this conflict. Republicans cannot let this become an endless distraction, especially if they want to win in November.”
Ingraham’s hand-wringing followed a similar segment from the network’s Brit Hume, who said a few hours earlier on Special Report, “[Trump] promised to keep us out of endless wars or unsatisfactory wars, and now he’s in one, and it’s not at all clear how it’s gonna end. So, he’s vulnerable on this point, and in political terms, he does need to get this over with. But what he may need is time, and he doesn’t have a lot of time.”
The Fox hosts’ segments tying the war’s unpopularity to the midterms could be seen as a direct plea to the president. Trump, 80, is well known to monitor how he’s being covered on cable news, and frequently comments on segments he disagrees with.
He’s consistently bragged that the upcoming midterms have no bearing on how he makes decisions regarding the war in Iran, but other GOP politicians don’t share his bluster.
In March — just weeks into a war that has dragged on well beyond the promised swift campaign Trump promised at its outset — Senator Rand Paul warned that the midterms could be “disastrous” if the war dragged on.
That groaning has continued into late July. Chuck Grassley told The Hill that the high gas prices caused by the war are bound to hurt Republicans in the midterms, just as high prices harmed Republicans in 2025 special elections.
“It’s the same problem it was during the spring,” he said. “The issue of affordability has been a problem all year.”
Former congressman Vin Weber, now a GOP strategist, said that though the White House is aware of the negative effects the war is having on Republican polling, they are confident they can get everything sorted out by November.
“There’s a great deal of concern about prices, affordability and the war, but at the same time there is a high level of confidence, particularly at the political shop at the White House, that they will conduct this properly between now and the election,” he told The Hill.
“How it happens, I’m not sure,” he added.
