Imagine your reviews if your bad guy was as obviously evil as this batch of Republicans.
They might as well twirl their mustaches and practice their evil laughs. On top of their cartoonish and obvious wickedness, the reporters are convinced by them. They question the motives and the facts quoted when a Democratic politician is involved, but the obvious, repeat liars are given a pass.
If you wrote this in a book the critics would laugh. They would say, well yes, in Star Wars it was pretty clear who was good and who was evil, but at least Darth Vader had some nuance. This Ted Cruz character is entirely unbelievable. There has to be some sort of quality people like or he would never get elected and no one would fund his campaign.
This Trump character is as bad. You have insane fanatics sending money to a hideous lying "billionaire" who brags at everything? And this Jim Jordan guy, he's too much. Seriously there needs to be some redeeming quality or no one is going to believe this story.
Just flipping through your book, yes here it is, the scene where the guy in the car prays to Trump for help. Yes, there was pathos but get real, no one is going to think the Trump character you described could be a source for miracles. Even if you are writing a melodramatic fantasy book, you need to tone it down. No one is going to buy the idea that these people could ever be in charge of anything.