“For the base, the hardcore base, I don’t know that it matters that much, but it certainly swings independents and those who have second thoughts along the way. You got to think that,” Sen. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.), one of the president’s loudest GOP critics, said when asked what impact Cohen’s recent plea deal and the fraud conviction of former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort would have on midterm races.
“This is serious,” added Flake, who’s retiring in early January.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) warned, “It’s not helpful to Republicans.”
“It’s just one more narrative of people around the president doing bad things,” he said. “The economy is strong. We’ll have our side of the story. But I don’t think you have to be a political genius to understand stuff like that.”
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