Republican Strategist Rips Trump for Not Spending More on GOP Candidates: ‘Donald Wants to Spend Money on Himself’

Republican strategist Doug Heye ripped President Donald Trump for not spending more of his political war chest to help GOP candidates, arguing during a Monday appearance on CNN that Trump “wants to spend money on himself,” not fellow Republicans.

Heye’s criticism on a special edition of The Source with CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, comes as Trump has increasingly put himself at the center of the GOP’s midterm strategy. According to The Atlantic, Trump has recently decided to use his super PAC’s funds to buy “a series of television advertisements about his own record that will serve as a backdrop to the hundreds of individual House and Senate contests.”

When asked how he’s feeling about his party’s prospects come November, Heye responded Monday, “Look, they’re bleak, and they’re bleak because history tells us that this is what happens in midterm elections. They’re also bleak because of where the president’s numbers are.”

“Republicans know that their back is against the wall,” Heye continued. “The Trump campaign has not been spending money to help Republican candidates like it needs to.”

“Why do you think that is?” Collins inquired.

“Donald wants to spend money on himself,” Heye responded bluntly. “He doesn’t want to give things away. He wants Republicans to earn it, so we still have The Apprentice playing out here, to some extent… The other issue is then what Donald Trump talks about, whether he’s off topic or not, or when he’s on topic, he tells voters, ‘We’ve never been hotter or richer,’ and voters don’t feel hot or rich right now.”

After growing calls from his own party to tap into MAGA Inc.’s available funds in the Texas Senate race, Trump’s group finally opened its coffers over the weekend, shelling out $10 million on television and online ads to help Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton defeat Democratic challenger and Texas state Rep. James Talarico.

As The Associated Press reported, this is the first “significant” move by MAGA Inc. heading into the midterm — despite the group sitting on more than $403 million in cash, as it reported at the end of July.

In August, Trump hit his lowest approval rating in the history of Reuters/Ipsos polling, with just 33% of Americans approving of his performance and 64% disapproving.

Watch above on CNN.

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