Trump advisers joke about asylum in Israel during pre-midterm strategy call
Select a version of the text written from a presumed ideological perspective. This is not the original text, but a hypothetical version — how someone with that viewpoint might have phrased it. Tapping the current version again will return to the original or select cleaned version.
A private video conference of senior Trump campaign staff featured dark humor about fleeing the country and discussed bleak electoral scenarios ahead of the midterm elections.
Six days before the midterm election, more than two dozen senior advisers to President Donald Trump participated in a private video call that opened with a joke about cyanide pills. Chief pollster Tony Fabrizio asked, “Do you want the white pill first, or the black pill first?”
Data consultant Tim Saler described two possible outcomes for the $400 million MAGA Inc. super-PAC: an optimistic scenario in which the group reaches its target voters, and a worst-case “wipeout.” James Blair, who left the White House to oversee the president’s midterm strategy, replied, “I’m getting my affairs in order,” prompting laughter.
The discussion turned to gallows humor, including references to funeral arrangements, prison food, presidential pardons and a sarcastic comment about seeking asylum in Israel. Blair said, “At least Bibi won. He’ll protect us,” referring to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after Israel’s election, and Fabrizio added, “Maybe we could get asylum in Israel.”
A week later, Democrats secured a large majority in the House and took control of the Senate, winning in traditionally Republican states such as Kansas, South Carolina and Texas. Analysts estimated the Republican Party would lose the national popular congressional vote by about 13 points, the worst margin in fifty years.
A slide deck circulated by Blair linked Republican polling trends to the timeline of the conflict with Iran, showing Democratic advantages widening during active hostilities and narrowing during cease-fire talks. By late July, Democrats held a ten-point lead in congressional polling, a gap the deck warned could jeopardize the Senate for Republicans.
Trump’s campaign war chest, described by the president as “my money,” was held back until late summer, limiting ad spending. In mid-October, the Trump super-PAC paid $30,000 for a single radio slot, far more than a leading Democratic super-PAC’s $2,700 purchase, resulting in far fewer ads aired.
At a Republican midterm convention in Dallas, Trump announced a proposal to give $5,000 to every American adult if Republicans won, a plan that had not been disclosed to senior advisers and was criticized by some as a “naked effort to bribe people for their votes.”
Candidate selections also hurt Republican prospects. Trump endorsed Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton over Senator John Cornyn, leading to a costly $300 million campaign in the state; Paxton lost by 12 points. In South Carolina, Trump-backed candidate Darline Graham was defeated, marking the first Democratic Senate win in the state since 1998.
A White House official noted that Trump “was not on the ballot, and it’s proven that Trump voters show up when he is on the ballot.”