Topline
Some Republicans have taken aim at former President Donald Trump after the party underperformed in Tuesday’s midterm elections, as the former president’s The first-choice candidate did just days before Trump could announce his candidacy for 2024, and so far, things have been mixed.
Former President Donald Trump in November Gestures at a rally of 6 in Miami, Florida.
Key Facts
According to various media reports, the special Trump was particularly angry at Republican Mohamed Oz’s loss in Pennsylvania’s Senate race to Democrat John Fettman, citing sources close to the former president who said Trump blamed his wife and Han. Nitty encourages him to support Oz.
In Trump’s 39 contested contests to support candidates, politicians he likes so far With 12 wins and 11 losses, 16 remain undecided as of 2:15pm ET on Wednesday.
Trump-backed candidate wins Ohio Senate race with Republican JD Vance Defeat Rep. Tim Ryan (D) and a Utah Senate race in which Sen. Mike Lee (R) is pitted against independent challenger Evan McMullin.
Trump’s allies in high-profile gubernatorial races in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania — battleground states Trump narrowly wins in 2020 — — Both lost elections to Democratic candidates.
Major races still up in the air include Senate and gubernatorial races in Arizona and Nevada, as well as Herschel Walker and Sen. Rafael Warnock (D-Ga .) between the Georgia Senate race, which will be a runoff.
Trump acknowledged in a post on his Truth social platform that Tuesday’s results In “some respects” it was “somewhat disappointing” on Wednesday afternoon, while claiming the election was “a very big win” for him.
The former president was reportedly muted in person at the Mar-a-Lago event Tuesday night, The New York Times reported that he was “not particularly interested” in giving speeches and The Guardian reported that Trump only said it was a ‘fun night’ .
Key Quotes
“I think if [Trump supports [candidates] win, I deserve all the credit, and if they lose, I shouldn’t be bla at all,” Trump said on NewsNation ahead of the election. A high-profile loss for the party. National Review writer Michael Brendan Dougherty tweeted: “All the chatter on my Conservative and Republican channels – I’ve never seen anything about Trump. anger.” Sarah Matthews, Trump’s former deputy press secretary, told CNN on Wednesday morning that election night “is the biggest indicator that Donald Trump shouldn’t be the Republican nominee in 2024. ”, adding that Trump “has made the Republicans pay the cost of winning seats by promoting inferior candidates.”
What to watch out for
Trump said he planned to make a “very big announcement” on Nov. 15, and he was widely expected to launch his presidential campaign in 2024 — a timing that was expected to build Republican midterm victories. It remains to be seen how his candidate’s mixed performance on Tuesday will affect the announcement, although a source close to Trump told CNN it will likely go ahead because “the delay would be a shame.” . Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, widely seen as Trump’s main contender for the 2024 presidential nomination, won his gubernatorial race by nearly 20 percentage points on Tuesday.
Surprising fact
People close to the former president are urging him to delay his expected 2024 presidential bid next week Announced, The New York Times report. At the same time, sources told ABC News that advisers to the former president are concerned that DeSantis’ decisive re-election victory shows Trump cannot beat his former protégé in the 2024 presidential primary.
Key Background
Trump has invested heavily in the midterm elections ahead of his projected 2024 campaign. The president staged a blitz for candidates he backed on the eve of Election Day, with a super PAC tied to the former president pouring millions of dollars into a contested Senate race with Trump-backed candidates. Polls show Republicans largely still support the former president, with a September Morning Consult/Politico poll finding that 62% of Republican respondents think Trump should be “definitely” or “probably” Running again in 2024, despite more mixed views of him from the wider electorate, only 40% of respondents to an Emerson College poll in October said they would support Trump over President Joe Biden .
Further reading
Midterm 2022: How Trump’s endorsement came about (Axios)
Trump-linked super PACs spend millions in these key Senate races (Forbes)
‘Red wave’ of optimism in GOP It fades quickly in people – here’s why (Forbes)
