Trump admin’s ‘political miscalculation’ baffles GOP strategist: ‘The message is wrong’

When asked about the Trump administration’s new $1.7 billion taxpayer-funded settlement for those alleging unfair targeting by Biden's Justice Department – including violent Jan. 6 Capitol rioters – a GOP strategist told CNN Saturday that not only was it a “political miscalculation,” but that the fund could be politically toxic in the midterm elections.

Named by the Trump administration as the “anti-weaponization fund,” the settlement agreement was reached after President Donald Trump agreed to drop his $10 billion lawsuit against the Internal Revenue Service over his tax returns leaking in 2019. Among those eligible for payouts from the taxpayer-funded settlement are those who violently stormed the U.S. Capitol in 2021 and Trump’s donors, Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche was forced to admit this week.

When asked about the fund during an appearance on CNN Saturday, GOP strategist Jeanette Hoffman gave a less-than-charitable reading of what she characterized as the Trump administration’s misplaced priorities.

“I think it was a political miscalculation. You saw what happened: half the Senate caucus was extremely frustrated, you had people like Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) saying it's disgusting, morally bankrupt, stupid; you had [Sen.] Thom Tillis (R-NC) saying this is 'stupidity on stilts,' [Sen.] Susan Collins (R-ME) asked a lot of questions about it,” Hoffman said.

“So I don't think they're going to get their way on this. The message is wrong, this is not something that Republicans want to be talking about – Jan. 6 when we're coming back into midterms – and I think the administration has other priorities they need to focus on to really accomplish things for the American people in the next several months.”