Kaitlan Collins put a simple question to Republican Rep. Thomas Massie Thursday night:
Why are Republicans suddenly putting distance between themselves and Donald Trump?
Massie’s answer was brutal.
“Because they have to find some way to get away from this president.”
The Kentucky Republican appeared on CNN’s The Source with Kaitlan Collins as a growing number of GOP candidates in competitive races have begun breaking with Trump on issues ranging from the Iran war and immigration enforcement to tariffs and soaring fuel costs.
Collins asked Massie why that daylight was suddenly appearing.
Massie argued that Republicans spent their primaries embracing virtually everything Trump wanted.
Now, with the general election approaching, he said they’re confronting a very different political reality.
“They don’t want him in their districts,” Massie told Collins.
“They’ve got to put space between them and him.”
Then came his prediction:
“They’re about to take a shellacking here in the general election.”
Massie’s prediction is just that — a prediction.
But the broader Republican distancing Collins was asking him about is real.
Roll Call reported Thursday that several Republican candidates in competitive races have recently broken with Trump or his administration on politically difficult issues.
In Iowa, Republican Senate nominee Ashley Hinson called for the Iran war to be brought to a “successful and immediate end.”
Michigan Republican Senate candidate Mike Rogers has also pushed for the war to end.
Kansas Republican Sen. Roger Marshall, meanwhile, has called on ICE to coordinate more closely with local law enforcement as federal immigration operations expand in his state.
The Wall Street Journal has separately documented Republican candidates in difficult races putting distance between themselves and Trump on tariffs, Iran, immigration enforcement and other issues.
And Trump has given them a difficult political environment to navigate.
A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted September 18–20 found Trump’s job approval at 32% among U.S. adults, with 61% disapproving.
The same poll found Democrats leading Republicans 42% to 34% when respondents were asked which party’s candidate they would support for Congress.
Those numbers are a snapshot of opinion, not a forecast of what will happen in November.
But Collins wasn’t finished.
She reminded Massie that he knows personally what happens when a Republican breaks with Trump.
Massie lost his Republican primary earlier this year to Trump-backed Ed Gallrein after repeatedly clashing with the president.
Then Collins pointed to Republicans now distancing themselves from Trump on ICE, the Iran war, diesel prices and tariffs.
“What do you think the president’s response to that is going to be?” Collins asked.
“Do you think he’ll understand tough elections are coming up?”
Massie didn’t hesitate.
“No.”
Then he unloaded.
“If you look at his social media accounts just in the last few hours, he’s unrepentant. He’s in denial.”
Massie said someone inside the White House needed to get through to Trump.
And then came his sharpest line of the entire interview:
“I think his comeuppance will happen on Election Day.”
Massie went even further.
“And the day after, I think there’s gonna be a reckoning.”
He compared the situation to the 2006 midterms, when Republicans suffered major losses under President George W. Bush. The day after that election, Bush announced Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld’s departure.
Massie wondered aloud whether Trump would respond to electoral setbacks with a similarly significant change in direction.
Whether that scenario actually happens will be decided by voters in November.
But Collins’ original question captured a political dynamic already playing out in several races.
Republicans who once competed to demonstrate their loyalty to Trump are now, in some contests, emphasizing disagreements with his administration as they campaign before a broader general-election electorate.
Massie thinks he knows why.
“They have to find some way to get away from this president.”
And when Kaitlan Collins asked whether Trump understands what is happening around him, Massie offered an even harsher assessment:
“He’s in denial.”
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