Republicans can’t separate themselves from Trump now — even if they want to

Marc Molinaro is the exact type of Republican who should be trying to distance himself from Donald Trump. The Cook Political Report rates his race as a toss-up, and his district — New York’s 19th — voted for President Joe Biden in 2020.

Under typical circumstances, endangered incumbents hope to create some distance from a nominee who may drag them down. Joe Manchin, the now-retiring independent senator who won in coal-friendly West Virginia, famously shot an Obama-era climate bill with a rifle despite being a Democrat. And before she put herself in the running to be Trump’s running mate, Representative Elise Stefanik voted against the Trump tax cuts.

Yet Molinaro, a freshman Republican, joined his colleagues in heading over to the Capitol Hill Club on Wednesday morning to hear the former president rally the troops.

Molinaro told The Independent that his district voted for Trump in 2016, which is true, and tried to position himself as independent.

“I am exceptionally tied to the people that I represent,” he said. “So if President Trump's going to deliver to make it easier for the people of upstate New York, then that will be better than what they've been experiencing these last four years.”

In the past, Representative Nancy Mace of South Carolina rebuked Trump for inciting a riot on Capitol Hill three days after she was sworn in for her freshman term. She told The Independent last year, after the Dobbs v Jackson case that killed Roe v Wade, “We're not going to win hearts and minds over by being a**holes to women.”

But on Thursday, just two days after she won a primary thanks to Trump’s support, she said that the former president had abortion figured out.

“He talked about exceptions for rape, incest and the life of the