White House tells 3,000 conservative groups it is ‘monitoring’ their public statements - The Independent

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The White House has told conservative organizations it was “monitoring” their public statements after Republicans suffered crippling defeats in the midterm elections, according to a new report.

The White House Office of Public Liaison sent the message Thursday to upwards of 3,000 conservative groups, The Wall Street Journal reported. The memo listed President Donald Trump’s achievements and vowed to stop Democrats, who won control of both the House and Senate, from undoing them.

The email ended with a highlighted sentence: “As always, we are monitoring statements, press releases, and media engagements from your organizations.”

The message was not a threat, a White House spokesperson told the Journal, but an attempt to galvanize Trump’s supporters. The spokesperson said similar messages had been sent in the past.

When the outlet reviewed past messages from the liaison office, it did not find the same language about “monitoring” statements.

Thursday’s email came after a number of conservative groups publicly criticized the Trump administration, following the Republican Party’s midterm drubbing.

“Republican consultants got the campaign they wanted, and the defeat they earned. You cannot spend years telling your base to sit down and shut up, then act surprised when they don’t stand up for you on Election Day,” said Marjorie Dannenfelser, the president of the non-profit Susan B. Anthony Pro-Life America, in a memo.

Some GOP officials also issued statements blaming Trump and his policies for the losses.

Florida Governor Ron DeSantis called the election “a rebuke of the president and the Congress by Democrats, independents and some Republicans.” Texas Senator Ted Cruz, set to be the only statewide Republican officeholder, said that “tariffs have made everything too expensive” and that the Iran war “has dragged on too long.”

Vice President JD Vance put out a social media post saying: “The reason we lost is the war.” Trump himself acknowledged that the Middle East conflict may have played a role, though he said he made the right decision in going to war.

Democrats swept to victory Tuesday in a string of red states — including Texas, Kansas and South Carolina — amid voter frustration over the Iran war and the cost of living.

Exit polls suggest both issues helped shape many voters’ choices, along with concerns about government corruption, tariffs, immigration and artificial intelligence.

As of Friday, Democrats were projected to win 54 Senate seats and 253 House seats, with some races yet to be called.