Washington Examiner Executive Editor Bob Cusack said the Iran war is posing a major challenge for Republicans as negotiations paint a troubled picture for the midterm elections.
“A deal has got to happen very soon for Republicans because this war is not popular,” Cusack said Friday on C-Span’s Washington Journal.
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Voters have heard of promised deals “dozens of times” from President Donald Trump, Cusack said.
Trump claimed Friday morning that ceasefire deals reported by Iranian officials were “fake news.”
Cusack defended parts of the negotiations, saying it is hard to verify information because a lot of the Iranian leaders are in hiding, which in turn has led U.S. officials and the public to question whether they can be trusted.
This sense of uncertainty is beginning to shape Republican support for Trump, alongside already minimal to zero support from Democrats.
“Portions of the Right who supported this deal are already very skeptical of this deal, or any reported deal over the last several weeks,” Cusack said.
“He’s going to get hit by both sides.”
Cusack emphasized that the clock is ticking for Republicans who are facing rough midterm elections in November. He stressed that lawmakers’ top concern is gas prices, compounded by growing unease over the president’s handling of the war.
“The Iran war has taken all the oxygen out of the political room,” Cusack said.
He said the war is not going to end until Trump signs a deal: “The president calls the shots.”
Cusack maintained that the two most important things for a deal are what is actually in the document and what the enforcement mechanisms will be, “as far as uranium and inspectors going to Iran.”
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Cusack highlighted the America 250 celebrations this summer, questioned whether the United States would still be at war by then, and drew attention to Republicans’ need to get the war under control in order to have a shot at the midterm elections.
“Foreign policy usually isn’t the No. 1 issue, but when it’s affecting prices at home, as the Iran war clearly is, people don’t like that,” Cusack said.
