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This is the Daily Blast from the New Republic, produced and presented by the DSR Network.

I'm your host, Greg Sargent.

Republican members of Congress facing tough races have suddenly decided having Donald Trump at the top of the ticket might present them with a little problem.

According to new reports, they fear having to answer for Trump's degeneracy and extremism,

including his tendency to call immigrants not people, and his affection for describing January 6th rioters as hostages.

Vulnerable Republicans also worry that Trump has explicitly rejected the support of GOP voters who backed

Nikki Haley in the GOP presidential primaries, voters those members need for their own re-election.

To top all that off, the GOP's small donor base is not delivering, even as Trump is siphoning off large sums of donor money for

legal fees, a problem for the party overall. So what explains this sudden epiphany about Trump

among Republicans, and how likely is it that

these fears will materialize?

Today we're talking to Tim Persico, a Democratic strategist who was executive director of the Democratic

Congressional Campaign Committee in 2022, which was the last time House GOP candidates dramatically

...