France24’s Kéthévane Gorjestani, Zourabichvili’s daughter, says Republican Party could lose voters on migration

France24 foreign affairs correspondent Kéthévane Gorjestani, the daughter of former Georgian President Salome Zourabichvili, has spoken about deepening internal divisions within the US Republican Party and the challenges it faces ahead of upcoming midterm elections, warning that migration - one of the party’s core political pillars - could now become a source of political damage.

Gorjestani drew attention to recent remarks by Republican Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, who sharply criticised Kristi Noem and Stephen Miller, calling them “incompetent” and arguing that their approach runs counter to the interests of the Republican Party.

According to Gorjestani, Tillis’ position is shared by many other Republicans, although not all are willing to voice their concerns publicly. She noted that anxiety is particularly high among those preparing for the midterm elections scheduled for the end of the year.

“This is extremely important, because many Republicans think this way, but not everyone says it so openly”, Gorjestani said. “In private conversations, Republicans acknowledge that those launching re-election campaigns for the midterms clearly understand one thing: on migration - which, once again, was the main strength of the Republican Party and Donald Trump - they are now being criticized by their own voters”.

She added that while the most loyal MAGA supporters may remain firmly aligned with Trump, broader Republican voters - along with independents who previously backed Republicans because of migration and economic issues - are beginning to turn away from the party.

“The party is losing these voters, and this may be the reason Republicans start speaking out more loudly”, she noted, drawing a parallel with debates surrounding the Second Amendment. “Just as the issue of the Second Amendment pushed people to speak up - people who previously did not strongly criticise the White House - gun rights supporters are now openly saying, ‘we have the right to come to demonstrations armed’”.