Do Republicans need to ditch Trump before the midterms?

Is Donald Trump now more of an electoral hindrance than a help, even in his home state of Florida, where one candidate has talked down his links with the US president. In this episode, we hear Anthony’s reporting from Florida where the race to replace Ron DeSantis as governor won’t be an easy win for Republicans.

Byron Donalds is looking to become Florida's first African American governor. He has Trump's endorsement and is a loyal MAGA supporter of the president, but in recent weeks, he’s played down his association with the president on his campaign website. He isn’t the only Republican candidate to do so. What does that tell us about how Republicans are messaging in this state, and beyond?

Sarah and Anthony also discuss the issues most important to Republican voters with five weeks go to before November’s midterm elections, and where early voting has already started.

HOSTS:

• Sarah Smith, BBC North America Editor

• Anthony Zurcher, North America Correspondent

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This episode was made by George Dabby with Alix Pickles and Nik Sindle. The technical producer was Mike Regaard. The series producer is Purvee Pattni. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.