It was supposed to be a red wave that former President Donald Trump could ride triumphantly into the Republican nomination as he prepares to launch another run at the White House. Instead, Tuesday night’s disappointing results for the GOP raise new questions about Trump’s appeal and the future of a party that has fully embraced him, seemingly at risk, while giving new impetus to his most powerful potential challenger. Indeed, some allies have been calling on Trump to delay his planned announcement next week, saying the party’s full focus should be on Georgia, where Trump-backed football great Herschel Walker’s bid to unseat Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock leading to a runoff that could once again determine control of the Senate. “I would advise him to carry his announcement until the Georgia runoff,” said former Trump adviser Jason Miller, who spent the night with the former president at the Mar-a-Lago club in Florida. “Georgia should be the focus of every Republican in the country right now,” he said. Democrats avert ‘red tide’ in US midterm elections as vote counting continues Highlights of key races in the 2022 US midterm elections Trump has sought to use the midterms as an opportunity to demonstrate his enduring political influence after losing the White House in 2020. He has endorsed more than 330 candidates in races up and down the ballot, often highlighting inexperienced and deeply flawed candidates. He enjoyed their primary victories. But many of their positions, including echoing Trump’s lies about a stolen 2020 election and embracing hard-line views on abortion, were out of step with the political mainstream. Trump scored some big wins on Tuesday, particularly in Ohio, where his Senate pick, “Hillbilly Elegy” author JD Vance, cruised to an easy victory after Trump’s endorsement catapulted him to the front of a crowded base. In North Carolina, Rep. Ted Budd, one of Trump’s early picks, kept an open Senate seat in GOP hands. But Trump lost some of the night’s biggest prizes, particularly in Pennsylvania, where Dr. Mehmet Oz, who narrowly won his Senate primary with Trump’s support, lost to Democrat John Fetterman. Trump-backed candidates also lost gubernatorial races in Pennsylvania, Michigan and Maryland, and a Senate race in New Hampshire, though Trump appeared to celebrate the latter, criticizing Republican Dan Bolduc for trying to moderate his positions, retreating since the election of Trump. lies. “If he had stayed strong and stayed true, he would have won, handily,” Trump told his social media network. “Lessons!!!” (Trump also cheered the loss of Colorado Republican Senate candidate Joe O’Dea, who had said he believed it was time for the party to move on from Trump.) Other high-stakes races in Arizona and Nevada remained too early to call. Indeed, the biggest Republican victory of the night came in Florida, where Gov. Ron DeSandis, re-elected, cements his status as a national Republican rising star as he eyes his own 2024 run. “I just started fighting,” he told supporters in his victory speech. While Republicans still appear well-positioned to flip the House and could eventually take the Senate, those who believed frustrations with record inflation, combined with President Joe Biden’s low approval ratings, would give quick and decisive victories pointed the finger at the former. guidance of the president. The message of the night, they argued: The American people want to move on. “I mean, we had a historic opportunity, and Trump’s recruitment of unelectable candidates blew us away,” said Scott Reid, a veteran Republican strategist. “Now Trump has lost three elections in a row for the Republican Party and it’s time to get out of this nonsense.” Martin: US midterm elections could be the death knell for Trump Opinion: Another midterm election brings another unreadable America Reed argued that the party “had everything going for us: money, the issue agenda, Biden in the tank,” but said Trump’s efforts to stay in the spotlight by teasing a run in the final stretch of the race “obviously worked a lot. independents and Democrats to come and vote.” Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a longtime Trump friend and adviser turned critic who is considering a run for president in 2024, said Republicans “have a fundamental decision to make.” “We lost in ’18. We lost `20. We lost ’21 to Georgia. And now in ’22 we’re going to lose governors outright, we’re not going to get the number of seats in the House that we thought we would and we may not win the Senate despite the president having a 40% job approval,” he said. “There’s only one person in charge of that and that’s Donald Trump.” He blamed Trump for fielding deeply flawed candidates who won their primaries but struggled in the general election. “The only motivating factor (for him) in determining an endorsement is, ‘Do you think the 2020 election was stolen or not?’ Christy said. “It’s not, ‘Can you raise money?’ It’s not, “Do you have a clear vision for the future of your state or district?” It is not evidence of previous success in contacting voters. It’s a completely self-centered definition.” Trump, meanwhile, insisted publicly that he was pleased with the results. “While in some ways yesterday’s election was a bit of a disappointment, in my personal view it was a very big win – 219 WINS and 16 losses in the General – Who has ever done better than that?” he wrote on his social network Truth on Wednesday afternoon. His spokesman, Taylor Budowitz, also touted Trump’s endorsement record and said, “As President Trump looks to the future, he will continue to champion the ‘America First’ agenda that won overwhelmingly at the ballot box last night.” But Republican strategist David Urban, a former Trump adviser, said the Trump brand is hurt no matter what the former president says. “Of course, he’s going to claim victory, right? The president touts a record of accomplishments that includes winning uncontested races. He can say whatever he wants. But how do people in America feel? I think people don’t feel good about the Trump brand right now,” Urban said. “It’s bad.” Some now worry that if Trump goes ahead with his planned announcement next week, it could pave the way for a repeat of the 2021 Republican losses in Georgia, dominating the race. Former Trump press secretary Kaylee McEnany, who now works for Fox News, advised on air that Trump should hold off on an announcement until the Georgia Senate runoff. “I think he should put it on hold,” he said. Asked if Trump should campaign in the state, she said: “I think we have to make strategic calculations. Governor DeSantis, I think we should welcome him to the state given what happened last night. You have to look at the reality on the ground.” Budowitz did not respond to questions about such efforts, but Trump appeared to pour cold water on the advice. “We’ve had tremendous success,” he told Fox News Digital Wednesday. “Why should anything change?” Trump’s failures, meanwhile, have given new hope to the long list of potential challengers who have been quietly waiting in the wings and now face the decision of whether to run. That includes DeSantis, who emerged as the clear winner of the night. “DEFUTURE,” said the New York Post. In addition to his wide margin of victory, DeSantis carried the Democratic stronghold of Miami-Dade, and he did so without Trump’s endorsement. (Though Trump told reporters he had voted for the governor days after he insulted him as “Ron DeSanctimonious.”) “DeSantis is coming out of the election with a lot of momentum,” said GOP strategist Alex Conant. “Trump has been weak for a long time, but it wasn’t clear what the alternative was. … For the first time, Trump really has a formidable opponent within the party.” Even some Democrats acknowledged DeSantis’ strength. Miami-based Democratic strategist Jose Parra said Trump’s opponent enters the 2024 conversation with “a lot of wind in his sails” after stronger-than-expected showings across the state — especially in Miami-Dade County of south Florida. Speaking at the White House on Wednesday, Biden said it was “his intention” to run again. However, noting the emerging rivalry between Trump and De Sandys, he said it would be “fun to see them go head-to-head.”
