The New York Times warned on May 18 that an astonishingly unpopular president was about to destroy the Republican Party: “Trump’s Approval Sinks Amid Unpopular War, Darkening G.O.P. Prospects.” Discussing new poll results, the newspaper concluded that “the survey suggests that Republican candidates are entering their general-election races with stark political liabilities.” Anyone tied to Donald Trump was doomed.
On May 19, covering the defeat of Kentucky Republican Thomas Massie in that state’s primary election, The New York Times concluded that the results had proved “the president’s power to punish his critics.” A second story that same day similarly framed the Kentucky race as “a referendum on Mr. Trump’s influence over his party,” proof of the president’s power.
