
Donald Trump Jr. is determined, even though he's already failed miserably this year as a campaign surrogate.

Despite his already established record as a crummy campaign surrogate, Donald Trump Jr. thinks he should play a major role for the GOP in the 2018 election cycle. The news comes as the Republican Party faces the daunting task of maintaining control of the House and the Senate while the Trump in the White House remains deeply unpopular.

Once certain that the party's tax giveaway to billionaires and corporations would drive the GOP's campaign message this year, Republicans have had to search for other options in the wake of the bill's widespread unpopularity.

And now it looks like the GOP may have to rely on the likes of Trump Jr.


This week, he and his handlers are making it clear, via the press, that he wants to play a larger role in the midterm cycle.

"A source close to Don Jr. said he believes his brand of "MAGA conservatism" — pro-gun, anti-media, anti-establishment — could make a difference in turning out the base in these states," Axios reported.

And it turns out that Trump Jr. was the one who reached out to the winner of the West Virginia Republican primary Tuesday night, while his father consoled the loser.

Keep in mind that Trump Jr. has already hit the road this year as a campaign surrogate to a "MAGA region" — and the results were disastrous.

During the closing days of the special election in Pennsylvania's 18th Congressional District in March, Trump Jr. appeared with Republican candidate Rick Saccone, who went on to lose a district that had voted Republican by 20 points in 2016.

During that Western Pennsylvania swing, Trump Jr. also toured a chocolate factory and reminisced about his boarding school days in the Keystone State.

This is the danger of campaigning at a candy factory. #PA18 pic.twitter.com/omssQlvAF1 — Andrew Rush (@andrewrush) March 12, 2018

Neither effort seemed to connect with voters.

Indeed, there's no evidence to date that whatever "connection" Trump has with current voters has transferred to his son.

Meanwhile, Trump Jr. oversees the management of the Trump Organization business, along with his brother, Eric.

The Trump Organization is supposed to operate separately from politics. But that seems especially unlikely if Trump Jr. is both running the company and openly campaigning on his father's behalf this year.

It seems like the GOP has cause for concern if Trump Jr. succeeds in forcing himself onstage.