The campaign arm of Senate Republicans has all but excised Donald Trump’s name from their email pitches after previously making him central to their online fundraising efforts — a sign of just how toxic the GOP nominee has become since the video of his lewd comments came out last week.
The National Republican Senatorial Committee had used Trump’s name in each of the five days leading up to the release of the tape at 4 p.m. on Oct. 7, including twice earlier that same day, according to a POLITICO account signed up for updates.
But in the six days since, Trump’s name has appeared only once in the 20 or so emails that the committee has sent.
That represents a dramatic shift in the committee’s fundraising tactics. In September, the NRSC had used Trump’s name in their email solicitations in 23 of the month’s final 27 days, and one of the four days off was on Sept. 11, when the committee did not send any emails asking for money.
The NRSC had offered Trump yard signs, Trump car magnets, Trump bracelets and a chance to fly to watch Trump debate at its Washington, D.C. headquarters in the weeks prior to the tape’s release.
Since? A single email offering a yard sign on Oct. 11.
The disappearance of Trump comes as Republican senators have struggled to craft a cohesive response to the emergence of a recording in which their party’s nominee bragged about being able to get away with sexual assault because he is a celebrity.
Those senators up for reelection this fall have almost universally denounced Trump’s comments, and some renounced their support. But some have since backtracked on their renouncement, saying they will still vote for him, including Sens. John Thune of South Dakota and Deb Fischer of Nebraska.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has avoided the topic entirely. “I don’t have any observations to make on that,” he said in Kentucky earlier this week.
The NRSC did not respond to requests for comment.
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