Republicans are using personal attacks against Democratic candidates as midterms approach. In Kansas, Texas, and Michigan, party members made baseless claims about their opponents. Former Senator Jeff Flake said, "We've gotten progressively more crass and crude and vulgar." Many Republicans now worry this trend has reached a new, dark level.
Facing backlash over inflation and anger with the president, Republicans have turned to an onslaught of baseless claims about Democratic candidates.
In Kansas, Senator Roger Marshall, a vulnerable Republican, baselessly said his Democratic opponent "probably is grooming" children.
In Texas, Republicans have cast James Talarico, the Democratic Senate nominee, as a "freak" and insinuated he is gay, secretly a vegan, and obsessed with transgender children because he made statements supporting them in the past.
And in Michigan, Republicans have targeted the Democratic Senate nominee, Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, with Islamophobic attacks. Mr. Trump has described Dr. El-Sayed as a "vicious, violent jihadist."
Facing a backlash over rising prices and working to overcome the president's deep unpopularity, Republicans across the country have tarred their opponents with false, inflammatory and deeply personal attacks in the final stretch of the midterm election.
In many cases, they are following the lead of a president who has repeatedly rewritten the rules of acceptable discourse in American politics. Many of the attacks have drawn little pushback from within the party, but some Republicans say they are concerned by the trend.
"It's awful," said former Senator Jeff Flake, an Arizona Republican and critic of Mr. Trump. Mr. Flake, who is backing candidates in both parties in the midterms, said Republicans had gone down a darker road in their messaging: "We've gotten progressively more crass and crude and vulgar. But this seems to be a new level."
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