| President Trump has divided the GOP with his focus on immigrants and combative rhetoric six days out from Nov. 6. On Tuesday, Republicans leaders in Washington denounced the president’s improvisational boast that he could use his executive powers to end automatic citizenship for children born in the United States to non-citizens, a right embodied in law and the Constitution. And on a solemn day when Trump traveled to Pittsburgh to meet with families of victims of the synagogue shootings, top Republican leaders declined to join him. The Hill: Inside Trump’s plan to end birthright citizenship. On the campaign trail, GOP candidates are juggling Trump’s controversies in the final days of their contests. The president, seen for months as an asset bolstering many Republican candidates, runs the risk of becoming an unwelcome drag in key races. 
© Twitter The president had been eager to keep immigration at the forefront ahead of Election Day, dispatching the military to the southern border to deal with the migrant caravan moving through Mexico. The Hill: Trump doubles down on immigration gambit ahead of midterms. The Associated Press: Trump targets citizenship, stokes pre-election migrant fears. But Republicans, who are making their closing arguments to voters about tax cuts, the economy and strengthening border security, had not planned to debate in the closing days of the midterms whether the president has the legal authority to circumvent Congress and determine who becomes a U.S. citizen. “You cannot end birthright citizenship with an executive order.” – Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.). “It seems to me it would take a Constitutional amendment to change that as opposed to an executive order." – Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa). The Hill: Trump can’t unilaterally end birthright citizenship, legal experts say. George Conway (husband to Kellyanne): Trump’s proposal is unconstitutional. The blowback was particularly stiff among vulnerable Republicans up for reelection in swing districts. 
© Twitter The Hill: Trump surprise rattles GOP in final stretch. Not everyone rejected the president’s proposal. Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who aspires to be Senate Judiciary Committee chairman next year, said he’d propose legislation to end birthright citizenship. And during a candidate debate last night, Sen. Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.), who is in a tough reelection fight in a state Trump won in 2016, said he’d consider supporting it (The Hill). Meanwhile, Trump’s trip to Pittsburgh to comfort the grieving was clouded by his immigration remarks and his hesitant response to the pipe bombs allegedly sent by a Trump admirer to top Democrats and to CNN last week. The mayor of Pittsburgh asked Trump to delay his visit to the mournful city on Tuesday, and opted not to meet with him while three funerals took place. Thousands of people signed a petition urging the president to stay away and hundreds of demonstrators marched in the streets in protest that Trump made the trip. There were no local officials on hand to greet the president when Air Force One landed, as is usually the case. The White House asked congressional leaders in both parties to accompany the president, but they declined (The Hill). 
© Twitter Trump and first lady Melania Trump lit candles for each of the 11 victims at the Tree of Life Synagogue, where a gunman had carried out what the Anti-Defamation League called the deadliest attack on Jews in U.S. history. They were joined by Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, both Orthodox Jews. The New York Times: How Ivanka Trump, Jared Kushner shaped Trump’s response. Trump met privately with the widow of one of the victims and laid stones and flowers from the White House garden at a memorial. Afterward, Trump and his family visited University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Presbyterian Hospital, where four police officers wounded in Saturday’s gun battle are recovering. The Hill: Trump visits Pittsburgh synagogue. The Associated Press: Mourning and protests as Pittsburgh begins victims’ burials. Democrats and some in the media blame recent violence on an atmosphere of anger they believe is stirred by Trump’s combative rhetoric. Republicans largely reject those assertions. 
© Twitter But some, such as Sen. James Lankford (R-Okla.), have urged the president to scale back his combative tone amid the heightened fears of political violence and as the nation grieves over the deaths of 11 people. Instead, Trump has ratcheted up his attacks on the media and took aim on Twitter at some Democrats targeted by the package bombs. While past presidents have seen a bump in popularity in times of national crisis, a Gallup survey released on Monday found Trump’s approval plunged 4 points in a matter of days. McClatchy: Vice President Pence delivers the traditional message Trump won’t. Still, as the president begins his final push on the campaign trail, some believe that his popularity outside of Washington is underestimated. “While right-leaning anti-Trump figures are granted outsize air time and column inches by mainstream and legacy media outlets, these echo chambers continue to operate in a world divorced from the middle-class, blue-collar voters that put Trump in office. With every news cycle, the president weathers nearly constant negative and adversarial coverage, but this barrage has failed to move the needle among Republicans. If anything, his position is stronger with his own party than it was two years ago.” — Lobbying group CGCN in a Tuesday memo to clients | 
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