Candidates need the Trump base, but they don’t want Trump: Bob Cusack

Published October 7, 2026 10:34am ET



Washington Examiner executive editor Bob Cusack said Republican candidates face a conundrum in the midterm elections: They need President Donald Trump’s base to turn out, but his “abysmal” numbers make him a liability.

“If he goes to Maine, the chances of Susan Collins winning plummets,” Cusack said Tuesday on CNN’s Laura Coates Live. “That’s why she does not want him in Maine.”

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