Vulnerable Republicans cannot save their political fortunes by distancing themselves from President Donald Trump, a conservative activist said Thursday.

Matt Schlapp, chairman of the American Conservative Union (ACU), told guest host Raymond Arroyo on “The Laura Ingraham Show” that he learned this while working for former President George W. Bush. The president’s approval ratings sank lower and lower in his second term amid growing discontent with the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Republican members of Congress faced a tough midterm election environment in 2006.

“Republicans tried to flee from their president,” he said. “And you know what, Raymond? In selected cases, maybe that kind of works. But generally, that is a terrible strategy.”

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Maneuvering around Bush did not prevent Republicans from shedding 31 seats in the House of Representatives — five in the Senate — and coughing up control of both houses of Congress.

“It’s a huge mistake to think that it’s gonna pay off to distance yourself from the president,” Schlapp said. “He is the president of the United States. He’s the head of the Republican Party. You can’t change that fact. And a lot of them out there, and a lot of grass-roots people I’ve talked to, don’t want to change that fact.”

Schlapp (pictured above) said it is not surprising that Trump has left controversy in his wake as he storms through his agenda. His candidacy foretold it, Schlapp said.

“Let’s face it, Donald Trump is a disruptor, and he was a latecomer to the Republican Party,” he said. “And Washington is still having trouble getting [that], digesting the fact that Donald Trump is the president. And, by the way, his approval ratings are going up and up, and his agenda is very popular.”

The president’s average approval rating in the RealClearPolitics roundup has ticked up a percentage point or two since March. And the “generic” congressional ballot — while still favoring Democrats in the midterms — is less pronounced that it was last month.

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Figures such as Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) exemplify the anti-Trump dissent within the GOP. But Schlapp said Corker is not running for re-election because there is no constituency among the rank and file for that sentiment.

“It’s tough for him, because he loves being a senator,” he said. “But the people of Tennessee don’t love him being their senator.”

Schlapp ridiculed vows by Democrats to run on repealing the tax cuts passed by Republicans last year.

“They’ve done that before, and the fact is that this election is going to hinge on the state of the economy,” he said. “And it’s not the macro numbers that matter — where the stock market is, what the GDP growth is, although those are important as well. What’s really gonna matter, Raymond, is: Do individuals feel like they have greater opportunity?”

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Schlapp also backed the decision by retiring Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to finish his term rather than leave early to give the party a chance to pick a new leader heading into the midterms.

“What Paul Ryan’s doing is the right thing … And the Republicans would make a big mistake to have a big, bloody fight over who will lead the party in the House before the midterms. I don’t think the American people care that much about who the leaders are.”

For conservatives, Schlapp said, there is another advantage to waiting. The election likely will remove moderate Republicans from the Northeast, he said. While that likely would narrow the Republican majority — assuming they keep it at all — it would make the caucus more conservative in 2019.

“That gives the most conservative candidate a real shot to win,” he said.

PoliZette senior writer Brendan Kirby can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter.

(photo credit, homepage and article images: Matt Schlapp [1], [2], CC BY-SA 2.0, by Gage Skidmore)