I spoke to Maggie Haberman of the New York Times about the upcoming Ohio primary as a test of Trump’s political standing. As I told Maggie, for all the talk of his diminished clout in races like GAGOV and ALSEN, Ohio and North Carolina stand to be a better barometer of his enduring pull.

Liam Donovan, a Republican strategist and former top aide at the National Republican Senatorial Committee, said that while Mr. Trump’s approach with his endorsements has been fairly random in recent months, the Vance endorsement is different because of the composition of the primary. “This is the first time Trump’s political might has been tested on a level playing field among broadly acceptable candidates,” Mr. Donovan said.

In both Ohio and North Carolina, Mr. Donovan said, “the Trump nod may lift his picks from the middle of the pack to victory over established favorites with lengthy statewide resumes. That would be an objectively impressive display of power.”

Read the full piece here.

News’ of Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter harkened back to a conversation I had with Bloomberg‘s Joshua Green last year, positing a theoretical scenario where a Trump return to the platform lent unforeseen tailwinds to Democrats.

Blake Houndshell of the New York Times‘ On Politics newsletter took note, and asked me what a return could mean for the midterms.

“Dems would be delighted to have him back, if only to change the subject from inflation and ineffectuality,” said Liam Donovan, a Republican lobbyist in Washington.

“Republicans who are paid to win elections would have considerable heartburn,” he added.

Read the full piece here.

I spoke to CNN‘s Mike Warren about the struggles of Trump’s primary picks and what it means and doesn’t mean for his power within the party.

“What it tells me isn’t that Trump has lost his touch, but that he made some objectively questionable picks that didn’t pay off,” said Liam Donovan, a Republican strategist. “In some cases he made picks on a lark, in some he made them because he had a personal ax to grind. There are still a number of messy primaries where his input could make a big difference.”

Trump’s imprimatur can’t and never could make poor candidates into good ones, and more often than not, Trump has bet on lame horses. But this focus on his failure obscures the fact that every GOP nominee will eagerly kiss the ring. In that sense, he already won.

Real the full piece here.

I spoke to Insider‘s Joseph Zeballos-Roig about the fallout surrounding Senator Rick Scott’s “Rescue America” platform and its significance heading into the 2022 midterms.

The Florida Republican is widely viewed as a future presidential contender. Liam Donovan, a lobbyist and former GOP political operative, said he believed the entire proposal was meant to burnish Scott’s conservative credentials ahead of a potential 2024 run.

“This is all kind of vibes-based, riffing off of popular themes,” he said in an interview. “And I think there’s open questions as to how any of those would translate into actual legislation.”

It’s possible that it won’t amount to more than a messaging effort. Other planks of the platform was comprised of a 12-year term limit on all federal employees and members of Congress, slashing the IRS budget by half, outlawing government collection of racial data, and ensuring all federal legislation sunsets after five years. “If a law is worth keeping, Congress can pass it again,” the plan stated. That may mean re-approving landmark laws such as the American with Disabilities Act or Social Security Act on an ongoing basis.

“I just don’t think it is deep enough to be taking the Republican Party back anywhere or even forward anywhere because it’s just a vibe,” Donovan said. “This is meant to get your email address and get you to open your wallet.”

“The provocation is the point,” he added.

Read the full piece here.

I spoke to Jess Bidgood of the Boston Globe about the early performance of Trump-endorsed midterm candidates and what it says about his enduring power within the GOP.

“The question is, can you recover from anything that is being seen as remotely disloyal?” said Liam Donovan, a Republican lobbyist and former aide to the Senate GOP’s campaign arm. “Any would-be challengers . . . they’re going to feel a lot more comfortable putting the pieces in place with the expectation that, even if Mr. Trump gets mad and fires off some nasty press releases, that’s not going to be a dealbreaker with the voters.”

Read the full piece here.