不仅是摇摆选区的脆弱共和党人在与党魁划清界限。当唐纳德·特朗普总统游历全国、吹捧美国经济为“史上最强”时，即便是深红州的参议员也开始反驳他的言论和政策。
It’s not just vulnerable Republicans in swing districts distancing themselves from their party leader. As President Donald Trump travels the country touting the “greatest” American economy in history, even senators in safe red states are beginning to push back on his rhetoric and policies.
“我不会对选民说：‘哦，这是拜登总统的错，其实没那么糟，别信你们的账本，’”参议员约翰·肯尼迪在参议院为选举休会前对记者表示。2024年，他的家乡路易斯安那州以22个百分点的优势支持特朗普。
“I’m not going to tell the voters, ‘Oh, it’s President Biden’s fault, and it’s not that bad, you shouldn’t believe your checkbooks,’” Sen. John Kennedy, whose home state of Louisiana swung for Trump by 22 points in 2024, told reporters before the Senate recessed for the elections.
“我也会告诉他们真相：通胀反弹的主因是伊朗战争。我觉得他们感激真话，但他们很愤怒，”肯尼迪后来对《华盛顿太阳报》说。他的任期至2028年。
“I also tell them the truth: The main reason for the resurgence in inflation is the Iran war. I think they appreciate the truth, but they’re angry,” Kennedy told The Washington Sun later. His term is up in 2028.
这种言论是一个令人惊讶的转折。陷入苦战的候选人常会与不受欢迎的总统割席，今年他们确实这么做了。但不在选票上、或占据安全席位的立法者极少如此。可突然之间他们这么做了，仿佛他们的州不像历史所暗示的那样能免受席卷全国的政治逆风影响，又或许他们察觉到这股风可能在特朗普剩余任期乃至更久继续吹下去。
Such rhetoric is a surprising twist. Candidates in tough races often break with unpopular presidents, as they are doing this year. Lawmakers who aren’t on the ballot or who occupy safe seats seldom do. But suddenly they are, as if their states might not be as sheltered from the political headwinds sweeping the nation as history suggests, or perhaps they see hints that the winds could keep blowing for the rest of Trump’s term and beyond.
肯尼迪只是特朗普支持率持续下滑之际、非换届周期共和党人越发批评特朗普的一个例证。最近几周，至少还有四位无连任压力的共和党参议员与总统分道扬镳。
Kennedy is just one example of out-of-cycle Republicans increasingly criticizing Trump as his approval rating continues to drop. At least four other non-threatened GOP senators have split with the president in recent weeks.
以西弗吉尼亚州参议员吉姆·贾斯蒂斯为例，他呼应了肯尼迪的担忧，即选民对生活成本感到沮丧。他对《华盛顿太阳报》表示，“共和党人”，而不仅是总统，在同美国人谈论经济时出了岔子。
Take West Virginia Sen. Jim Justice, who echoed Kennedy’s concerns that voters are frustrated by the cost of living. He told The Washington Sun that “Republicans,” not just the president, have made missteps while speaking with Americans about the economy.
西弗吉尼亚州以逾40个百分点优势支持特朗普，贾斯蒂斯的任期要到2031年才届满。
West Virginia favored Trump by over 40 points and Justice’s term is not up until 2031.
“电费高、柴油价格离谱、汽油价格离谱、食品杂货涨价，”他说。
“The power bills are high, diesel fuel’s off the chart, gasoline’s off the chart, groceries are up,” he said.
他补充说，共和党人需要更好地传达关于伊朗战争的信息，尤其是这一点。贾斯廷表示，如果他是总统，他会举行炉边谈话，更坦率地讨论战争背后的原因及其经济后果。
He added that Republicans need to do a better job of messaging on the war in Iran, in particular. If he were president, Justice said he would hold fireside chats to more candidly discuss the reasons behind, and the economic consequences of, the war.
“我会对他们说：‘这就是我们的战略，这就是我们取得的成就，’”贾斯廷说。“我们早就知道，这极有可能推高汽油、柴油和化肥等各类商品的价格。我们对此心知肚明，但从未真正预料到局势会持续这么久。”经济和战争并非共和党人反驳总统的唯一议题。参议院多数党领袖约翰·图恩上周开始批评一系列看似由纳税人资金资助的特朗普竞选广告。
“I would be saying to them: ‘Here was the strategy, here’s what we accomplished,’” Justice said. “We knew that there was a real chance that it would drive gasoline and diesel and fertilizer and all that kind of stuff. We knew that and everything, but we never really dreamed we’d be there this long.”The economy and war aren’t the only issues on which Republicans have countered the president. Senate Majority Leader John Thune began last week criticizing a slate of Trump campaign ads that seem to have been financed with taxpayer money.
“这是一条很好的信息，我喜欢这条信息，但它不应该由纳税人的钱来支付，”图恩说。
“It’s a great message. I like the message. It shouldn’t have been paid for by taxpayer dollars,” Thune said.
来自南达科他州的同僚参议员迈克·朗兹斯也谴责了政府的政治操作，此外还包括收回国会批准的近10亿美元资金，以及特朗普签署的行政命令，该命令暂时扩大外国牛肉进口。
Fellow South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds also denounced the administration’s political s, in addition to the clawback of nearly $1 billion in funding approved by Congress, as well as Trump’s executive action to temporarily expand the import of foreign beef.
当《太阳报》询问是什么促使他近期与总统多次决裂时——特朗普在2024年以近30个百分点的优势赢得了南达科他州——朗兹斯摊开双手，耸了耸肩。
When asked by The Sun what spurred his various recent breaks with the president, who won South Dakota by nearly 30 points in 2024, Rounds threw his hands up and shrugged.
朗兹斯今年面临连任，他将特朗普关于牛肉进口的宣布视为催化剂。畜牧业和肉类加工业是南达科他州的重要产业。“他最近才宣布的，”朗兹斯说。“那时我们才开始讨论此事。这是基于他们的行动，他们暗示希望在我们本应推动‘美国优先’政策的时候进口牛肉。”犹他州共和党参议员约翰·柯蒂斯也大声批评了总统近期的一些政治举措，尽管特朗普在2024年以近22个百分点的优势赢得了犹他州，且柯蒂斯要到2030年才面临选举。
Rounds, who is up for reelection this year, pointed to Trump’s announcement on beef imports as a catalyst. Ranching and meatpacking are important industries in South Dakota“He just recently announced it,” Rounds said. “That’s when we started discussing it. It’s based upon the actions where they were suggesting that they wanted to import beef at a time in which we should be making an American-first push.”Sen. John Curtis (R-Utah) has also been a loud critic of some of the president’s recent political moves, though Trump won Utah by nearly 22 points in 2024 and Curtis is not on the ballot until 2030.
与朗兹一样，柯蒂斯谴责特朗普取消拨款以及使用纳税人资金的行为。他尤其要求参议院司法委员会调查唐纳德·特朗普小唐纳德·特朗普上月接受俄罗斯寡头资金以支付部分婚礼庆典费用的行为。
Much like Rounds, Curtis decried Trump’s funding rescissions and taxpayer-funded s. Most notably, he asked the Senate Judiciary Committee to investigate Donald Trump Jr. for taking money from a Russian oligarch to pay for some of his wedding festivities last month.
“请相信，一位俄罗斯寡头为唐纳德·特朗普小唐纳德·特朗普支付了一场奢华的婚礼派对费用，”柯蒂斯在一段直接面向镜头的社交媒体视频中说。“在我看来，这闻起来就很臭。这是腐败。我不喜欢这样。”
“Believe this, a Russian oligarch paid for a lavish wedding afterparty for Donald Trump Jr.,” Curtis said in a direct-to-camera social media video. “To me, it just stinks. It’s corruption. I don’t like it.”
柯蒂斯周五发布了另一段视频，称共和党在应对生活成本问题上做得不够。“我们没有解决你们所有人深切关注的问题，也就是可负担性，”柯蒂斯一边列举他所在州的汽油价格，一边说道。“我们就是没做好。”至于这些共和党人是否在为即将到来的更加敌对的政治环境做准备，目前尚不确定，但最近一些传统上安全的选区竞争变得更加激烈。
Curtis released another video Friday, saying Republicans have not done enough to tackle the cost of living. “We’ve not addressed what all of you care about so deeply, and that’s affordability,” Curtis said, recounting the price of gas across his state. “We just have not done a good job.”Whether those Republicans are bracing for an even more hostile political environment coming their way is an open question, but several typically safe seats have recently become more competitive.
2024年，特朗普在阿拉斯加以13个百分点的优势获胜，在俄亥俄州以11个百分点获胜，在得克萨斯州以14个百分点获胜，但今年共和党和其盟友正在这些州投入大量资金。这可能已经引起了其他政治人物的注意。
Trump won Alaska by 13 points, Ohio by 11 and Texas by 14 in 2024, yet the Republican Party and its allies are spending heavily in those states this year. That may have caught other politicians’ attention.
“下降的趋势非常明确，”马里兰大学政府学教授大卫·卡罗尔告诉《太阳报》。“他们知道这一点，也意识到了这一点，而在多大程度上这削弱了特朗普，就在多大程度上让人们感到更自由地与他一些特别不受欢迎的决定或行为划清界限。”特朗普本人似乎也很担心，他计划在未来几周在俄克拉荷马州和阿拉巴马州等稳固的红色州举行集会。此外，一些与特朗普保持距离的议员，包括肯尼迪，都暗示了他们自己的总统竞选野心。
“The trend downwards is very clear,” David Karol, a government professor at the University of Maryland, told The Sun. “It’s something that they know and that they’re aware of, and to the extent it makes Trump weaker, it makes people feel more free to separate themselves from some of his particularly unpopular decisions or actions.”Trump himself seems concerned enough that he is planning rallies in solid-red states like Oklahoma and Alabama in the coming weeks. And some of the lawmakers who have distanced themselves from Trump, including Kennedy, have alluded to their own presidential ambitions.
尽管如此，参议员汤姆·蒂利斯（共和党，北卡罗来纳州）告诉《太阳报》，他不会将这些分歧视为“根本性转变”，并指出大多数参院共和党人始终与总统的投票立场保持一致。蒂利斯在特朗普第二任期内曾多次与总统发生冲突，并将于今年退休。不过，蒂利斯支持那些与特朗普划清界限的共和党人。
Still, Sen. Thom Tillis (R-North Carolina), who has repeatedly clashed with the president throughout Trump’s second term and who is retiring this year, told The Sun that he wouldn’t consider these breaks to be a “sea change,” noting that most Senate Republicans have consistently voted alongside the president. Tillis supports those Republicans separating themselves from Trump, though. “It’s people really expressing their differences, which I’ve encouraged,” Tillis said.
蒂利斯表示：“这是人们真正表达分歧，而这是我一直鼓励的。因为我确实认为，独立性以及在即将到来的选举中树立独立形象，对共和党人连任至关重要。这是一个简单而务实的考量。”
“Because I actually believe that independence and having that image of independence going into this election is critically important to getting Republicans reelected. It’s a simple, practical matter.”
卡罗尔部分归因于时机因素。特朗普在今年的初选中拥有巨大影响力，成功淘汰了过去曾与他决裂的共和党议员。那些竞争已告一段落，但2028年大选尚未真正拉开帷幕，卡罗尔说道。
Karol chalked up the rise in part to timing. Trump had an outsized influence in this year’s primaries, successfully ousting Republican lawmakers who had broken with him in the past. Those contests are over, but 2028 still isn’t quite on the horizon yet, Karol said.
卡罗尔表示：“特朗普不希望受到批评，但以尊重的方式批评一个并非他核心关切的政策立场，我认为这是可以生存下来的。2028年还很远。”
“Trump doesn’t want criticism, but to criticize a policy position that is not something that is necessarily near and dear to his heart in a respectful way, I think it’s survivable,” Karol said. “2028 is a long way off.”