Today, Explained - The GOP strategy: Ignore Trump

Episode Date: October 3, 2026

Can a Republican candidate run for governor in a red state without bringing up Donald Trump a single time? We went to Ohio to find out.  This show was edited by Kasia Broussalian, fact checked by Esther Gim, mixed by Shannon Mahoney, video edited by Christopher Snyder, and hosted by Astead Herndon. Photo caption: Republican Vivek Ramaswamy speaks during a town hall. Photo by Arden S. Barnes/For The Washington Post via Getty Images You can also watch this episode on youtube.com/vox. Listen to Today, Explained ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members. New Vox members get $20 off their membership right now. If you enjoy our reporting and want to learn more, sign up for Astead’s weekly newsletter, Midterms, Actually. Just go to www.vox.com/midtermsactually to learn more, and get in-depth analysis about this year’s election right to your inbox.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Donald Trump's Republican Party is currently in chaos. The president is massively unpopular, prices are up everywhere, and few people support the Iran war. In fact, in the last couple weeks, it seems even Republican candidates are getting the message. Republican revolt with just 47 days until the midterms. They have to find some way to get away from this president. Democrats are actually the favorite now to take back the United States Senate. With a growing number of Republicans now distancing themselves. from his actions.

Here's the thing. It's hard to even find Republicans on the campaign trail right now. And it's even harder to get them to talk about Donald Trump. Republicans aren't answering our calls and texts. But more importantly, they're also not answering their own voters. New reporting by MSNiles Michael Schnell finds that when the going gets tough,

the tough hide behind a telephone. They're skipping out on debates, not holding press conferences, avoiding town halls. And there are other avenues to do it than just going in to try to give the other side sound bites. I mean, they're doing this for the cameras. We all know it. It's honestly crazy. But there's at least one Republican right now who seems to be trying a different strategy.

There will be a bright red Ramoswamy tsunami. Ladies and gentlemen, bring up the next governor of the state of Ohio. Vivek Ramoswamy. Vivek Ramoswamy, the former businessman and presidential campaign, who was most recently associated with Trump's efforts to gut the bureaucracy, is running for governor in Ohio. I think. I love the energy in this room.

If you take this out, 44 days from day, we're going to win this thing in a decisive victory. Who's ready for that? And if there's one thing Ramoswamy is best known for, it's probably his willingness to talk about anything and everything. Let's get this done. All summer long, Ramoswami has kept up an unusually ambitious call. full of fairs, rallies, and town halls. So a few weeks ago, we went to see one of the few Republicans who's actually stumping for

votes. This week on America, actually, we're in Ohio. What is the GOP message for the midterms? And how are Republicans dealing with the elephant in the room? Trump 2.0 has flopped. Hey, it's Sue Bird. I'm back this week with a brand new episode of Bird's Eye View. I am joined by Portland Fire Head Coach Alex Sarama to discuss bringing his.

unique coaching styles of the WMBA and channeling this year's momentum into the fires next season. But first, Coach Tarama and I break down the action from round one of the playoffs. Make sure to check out Bird's Eye View on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts. Hey guys, Cassidy Hubbard here. This week on Anne Mom, beloved reporter and beauty queen, Allie LaForce, opens up about IVF and an incurable genetic disorder, the stress and shame of miscarriage, and the one thing that would have helped her with her transition.

into motherhood. Check out the latest episode of Anne Mom wherever you get your podcast. When we got to Parma, a suburb just outside of Cleveland, it was pretty clear that the people at this event were overwhelmingly die-hard Republicans, the type of people who usually never have a bad word

to say about Donald Trump. So I wanted to know, is this still true? Considering all of this? Can you tell me your name? Sue. Sue. Dave Carlson. Dave Carlson.

Are y'all, Cleveland, Parma, yeah? Lifelong, we live in Euclid. Have y'all been always been Republicans? I have. Yeah. One of the questions we're asking people is, what do they think the Republican message should be for the midterms? What should Republican candidates be saying to motivate people right now?

I like low taxes and more jobs. Low taxes, more jobs. What do you say? I would say the same. Partly what we were talking to people about is how they're feeling about the second Trump administration. We asked somebody earlier, what would you rate Trump's second term from one to ten?

Ten. Ten? Nine. Okay. That's pretty high. Hey, we got a six earlier today because people were mentioning gas prices, things like the Iran War.

I would love for you to say, like, those things don't seem to be bothering you all? I hate paying high tax or high gas prices. But the tradeoff for dealing with Iran, you know, There's seven presidents before Trump who swore that Iran is an enemy. We need to get rid of him. And nobody did anything until he did.

It's bold. Thank you for hosting us in Parma today. Yes, glad you could make it. How enthusiastic would you say are Republicans for the upcoming votes? I think they're very enthusiastic. You see folks motivated. Yes, definitely, because it's all about lower taxes. and our Second Amendment rights,

and we're pro-life in Parma. And you might not know this, but Parma was the biggest city in Ohio that voted for President Trump. The biggest city on Ohio that voted for President Trump? That's a good fact to know. Three times. Three times.

If you could rank the issues that may think matter most to you, what would they be? Well, the economy, for sure, lower taxes, something that's affordable for people, but people are concerned about their Second Amendment rights, too. That's a big issue also.

Big issue, yes. Last question I have is like, we have seen a lot of, at least numbers tell us, and it's come up as we've traveled and says Trump has gotten a little more unpopular over the last year. I would say, like, how would you explain that? And then how do you manage that leading into November?

Well, he's human, okay? He makes mistakes, too, like we all do. But I think that he's got good people around him. people making decisions. JD Vance, we really support JD. This is about what I expected, because there are some voters who are going to support this president no matter what.

But as we talk to more and more people, we started to hear some more acknowledgement of what's been clear in the numbers. These days, even some Republicans are turning on Trump. I guess I keep asking around the same things, but I mean, he said prices were going to go down. He said the wrong war would be over by now. Like, those things haven't happened yet.

Like, isn't that hurting Republicans more than anything else? Well, I think what you're listening to are the polls, and I don't believe in the polls. Got it. That's the problem. This whole country is addicted to these polls. So do you feel confident that come election day, Republicans will turn out? I'm not 100% confident. But if ever there was a midterm election cycle that things were going to change,

It's going to be this one. Tell me your name. John Rineinello. I hear the name is Buddy, though, too. That's my nickname. Tell me what you do, buddy. I'm a maintenance person for a company called Ranch Village Properties. I'm going to ask a couple questions about President Trump.

How do you think the second term is gone? I've got to flip the coin on that one. 50-50. 50. Why would you say 50-50? Because some things I don't think he's doing right. Some things he is doing right. Yeah, when we talk to some people, we hear a mixed bag,

even more so than we may have heard last year. It seems like people are maybe feeling a little differently about him this summer than they were feeling last summer. That's true. What do you think changed? That's just basically with the economy and everything else. Yeah. So you think the economy is the number one issue? There's been that flip.

Right. We talk to gas prices. Are we talking like, what is it? Well, we're talking about everything in general. But I'd be very honest with you that many years ago, my parents grew up, everything else, and they were able to make ends meet with the money, wages they were coming in. But nowadays, people are overextending. themselves.

Yeah. And that feels like more than just one party of a problem. It feels like both parties have contributed to that problem. They have, yes. You know, Donald Trump ran on the promise of making stuff cheaper and better. What do we think we're wrong? He's not listening to everybody. That's what I say.

My question would be, what do you think he should be saying on Iran to maybe make people feel a little better about the situation? Well, he keeps saying prices are going to go down. The war's going to be over soon. And I heard him say the other day, we're either going to end it all over there or we're just going to pull out. And I think he needs to make up his mind on what it is. And I don't know what it should be, to be honest. Do you worry that, like, if the war is still going and gas prices are still high come to midterms,

that it could be a bad night for Republicans? Yes, I do. I worry all the time. I always worry about it. How do you kind of feel about where the National Republican Party is right now? Oh, I think the Republican Party has not looked highly upon right now, and I think that everyone knows it. I'm curious, like, when do you think that changed? Because obviously, like, Trump had a big win in 2024. Like, he's really popular in places like Ohio.

What do you think has shifted the energy? It's changed, I think, just because people have seen it more when they're shopping. It's just the prices? Yeah. So, as you heard, there are Republicans who are disappointed in this administration about the war, about the economy. But I still wondered how Vivek Ramoswami would deal with the Trump pickle in his speech. I mean, here's someone who helped create one of Trump's signature initiatives when he got back into office, the Department of Government Efficiency. So would

Ramoswamy mount a defense of this administration, or would he ignore Trump altogether? Up next, Ramoswamy takes the stage. After talking to a bunch of Republican voters, I was even more interested to hear Ramoswami's town hall. I mean, nobody in this room liked Democrats, but there was acknowledgement that Republicans were in a weak position this November, a brand problem made worse by an unpopular president. Bless our time. And of course, we asked that you bless Vivek and his family and his team. But as soon as Vivek took the stage, it was clear that his strategy for dealing with Trump was not to deal with him at all.

And if we celebrate success, we get more of it. If we villainize success, we get less of it. It is that simple. That is the choice between socialism and free enterprise, between success and failure, between American greatness and, God forbid, American decline. That is the choice on the ballot this November. And, in fact, if you listen to his speech, you would have no idea that Republicans are in power right now in Ohio.

in Congress, and especially in the White House. An open border is not a border. Parents should determine the education of their children. The nuclear family is not a bad word. It is the greatest form of governance known to mankind. Capitalism is not a bad word. It is the greatest system we have to lift people up from poverty. There are three branches of government, not four, not the administrative state.

And the U.S. Constitution, it is the strongest and greatest guarantor of freedom in human history. That is the truth. And we stand up for the truth. That is who we are as conservative. And I want Ohio to be the state that leads our country back to greatness. For us to be the state that Texas and Florida

and Tennessee look up to rather than the other way around. On one hand, I get that his focus is local. It is a governor's race after all. But I still think it's notable that when Ramoswami talks about things like bringing jobs back to Ohio, he makes no mention of Trump's tariffs. The administration's signature economic policy aimed at regions just like this one.

At the turn of the last century, we were the wealthiest state of the Union. We led the first industrial revolution. Even in 1950, six of the top 15 wealthiest cities in America were here. Dayton led in computing. My hometown of Cincinnati was known around the world as the Queen city, the machine tools hub, the consumer products capital. In fact, I had heard a lot of this speech already. It's basically the same one that Ramoswami would give back when he was running for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024. I will still say, as a father of three young kids myself, there is no other country

on planet Earth where I would rather have been born and raised. There is no other country on planet Earth where I would rather be raising our kids. than this one. There is no other time in human history where I would rather have been bored of raising our kids

than at this moment now and for that we must be grateful. The biggest difference was his focus on public education, an issue that we don't hear that often

from congressional midterms candidates. Ramoswamy mentioned it several times in his speech and when he started to take questions from the audience,

it was clear the issue was on their minds too. So my mom is the first teacher in inner city Akron, and there's a literacy crisis. What will you do to guarantee the third grade reading guarantee, which is the biggest predictor if a child will graduate literate from high school? Love your question. You see your mom is teaching what grade? She teaches first grade in Akron and

the interstate. Amazing. Give your mom a round of applause forever here. Is she here with us? No. Okay, okay. We'll tell her. We appreciate her. Yeah, we'll do. And I also found this question about data centers to be particularly interesting, given our previous reported. The candidate pitched data centers as a solution for abandoned industrial sites in Ohio. But when the audience questions began, it wasn't

clear they were buying it. Data centers, can we put them on airport property? Where there's already turbines making lots of noise. Is it Wayne? So look, I had a question about this coming in. I'll give you the short answer. I'm laying out a full policy on this, but

short answers, put him on abandoned industrial sites. if you're going to put them anywhere. It just makes a lot of sense. We got a lot of abandoned industrial sites. Don't interrupt farmland. It doesn't make any sense to use virgin farmland or residential communities. We have a lot of abandoned industrial sites. After the event, I wanted to see how Ramoswami's pitch landed with the voters in attendance.

You know, there is a lot of, you know, hollowed out industry in these areas. And one of what Ramoswami was saying was that you could use those places to kind of bring in different AI firms or things like that. help folks. I know that sometimes makes people a little scared though. Like I was wondering for you, like when you hear someone say that, does that make you think, you know, hey, this could be something that helps Ohio? Or when you hear things like AI and what its impact on jobs, do you worry about how it could hurt Ohio? Right. I think personally, I haven't seen the value of data centers for our society. And in the long term, you know, I don't know if those are going to be good, good for our society are used their right ways.

And I have a lot of concerns about their energy usage and their water usage and their noise. You know, it seems like no one's worried about the global climate change anymore all of a sudden where these things have a, you know, big impact for sure. In large part, attendees defended Ramoswami's decision to avoid Trump. Did that surprise you? No, because it's his own governor. Yeah, you're saying he's focused. on his own vision.

Yeah, it's his race. Well, this is an Ohio race for Ohio governor. Donald Trump's name didn't come up in there. Did that surprise you? No, because Donald Trump ain't running the campaign. You said it's about governor. It's about Vic Ramoswamy. And when I asked whether it would be beneficial for Republicans to just distance themselves

from an unpopular president, the voters provided a familiar excuse. No, because it's all Joe Biden's fault anyway. Now, we've talked to people who seem to be contending with some of the people who seem to be contending with some of Uncomfortable numbers, Donald Trump's gotten a little more unpopular, as the war gets worse, as gas prices go up. What do you think Republicans should be saying to win votes in November? Well, without a doubt, they need to be bragging about what we've accomplished so far. And what people are forgetting is how bad, and I emphasize the word bad, things were

under the Biden regime. If you could list the Trump accomplishments that matter the most to you, what would they be? Well, we've got inflation under control for the most part, and we've got new jobs coming here. We have new companies moving back. You know, under Biden, prices went up. When prices go up, they stay up. The inflation was inherited. Trump's inflation, three, you know, much lower than historical.

I don't know. I don't know if you're baiting me to... No, no, I guess I was just asking, how long does that window of... basically deference last. And not to mention my IRA has, it's unbelievable. It's just unbelievable. It happens.

It happens under Biden. It happens under every president. The price goes up. Shit happens. It is what it is. We are gone to this event in hopes of speaking with Ramoswamy directly. I mean, he's usually the guy who talks. And he's usually happy to talk about Donald Trump.

But his team turned. turned us down for an interview at the event, and they ignored several requests for a follow-up. But I think that speaks directly to the pickle Republican candidates are in for the midterms. I mean, Donald Trump is still the most popular figure among their most committed voters, so they can't distance themselves. But at the same time, he's increasingly disliked nationally, so they can't really defend him. Instead, they're taking what I call the ostrich strategy, just hiding their heads in the sand,

hoping everything works out for them. But to this point, there's little evidence that it has. Just this week, new polling showed Ramoswamy trailing Democrat Amy Acton by nine points in the governor's race. A shocking number, considering just how red Ohio has become. So when Trump says, pretend that I'm on the ballot, I think that's a bet, Democrats will gladly take him up on.

He's driving the enthusiasm among us. their base. And he's depressing the enthusiasm among the Republican one. America actually will be in your feeds every Saturday with an interesting interview in culture or politics. You can also watch these episodes as the Vox YouTube channel. Just go to YouTube.com slash Vox or click the link in the show notes. If you enjoy our reporting and you want to learn more, sign up for my weekly newsletter, Midterms Actually. Go to Vox.com slash Midterms Actually to learn more. That's Vox.com slash midterms actually.

This show was edited by Kasha Rosalien, fact-checked by Esther Gim and mixed by Shannon Mahoney. Christopher Snyder is our video editor, and Kuh Nui is our senior art director. Our executive producer is Christina Vallis, and our theme music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Additional support from Miranda, David Tadashore, and Nisha Tutal.

I'm Ashton, and this is America Action. I'm sorry.