WASHINGTON — The Republican Party is preparing for its Midterm Convention in Dallas, but many congressional lawmakers are skipping the event to campaign in their home districts, and grassroots supporters are balking at attendance costs.
The party has shifted its messaging strategy in a striking way. For years, Republicans hammered Democrats by linking candidates to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a figure potent enough that 15 newly elected Democrats refused to vote for her as speaker in 2019, among them Abigail Spanberger, Mikie Sherrill, and Elissa Slotkin from battleground districts.
Now Republicans are targeting Hasan Piker, a socialist Twitch streamer known for his anti-Israel statements and support for Abdul el Sayed, the Democratic nominee in Michigan's Senate race. The GOP is weaponizing Piker's past comments, including his assertion that "America deserved 9/11," as a central contrast message.
Vice President JD Vance directly attacked both el Sayed and Piker during a Michigan campaign stop. "My message to Abdul el Sayed is: You can pal around with terrorist sympathizers, and you can say that America deserved 9/11, or you could empathize, not with the children who were targeted at Temple Israel, but with the attacker," Vance said. "These are all despicable things, but they're all things that the people of Michigan will judge."
The pivot reflects a real problem for Republicans: House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries lacks the notoriety of Pelosi, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have not generated equivalent controversy in GOP messaging.
