Midterm: Election result slows Trump down

Although the final outcome of the US congressional elections remains elusive, it is already clear that the “red wave” Republicans had hoped for did not materialize. According to calculations by election experts at Edison Research, Republicans were still less than seven seats out of the required 218-seat majority in the House of Representatives. The Democrats won 197 seats with 27 seats pending, including a series of tough races.

The election result was especially impressive because American voters often use midterms to teach a lesson to the president’s party. Incumbent US President Biden is also experiencing weakness in the polls, in part due to the country’s high inflation. Many Republicans are now accusing Trump of damaging the party by interfering in the election campaign and selecting controversial candidates.

Trump plans ‘big announcement’ on Tuesday

Although the former president did not run for reelection himself during the US midterm elections, he often stepped in and sponsored candidates who, like him, still did not recognize Biden’s 2020 presidential victory and were on the losing side after Tuesday’s voting marathon. .

Trump may have originally planned to use the expected wave of success for Republicans to announce his candidacy for president in 2024, promising a “big announcement” for next Tuesday. But in light of the course of the election, there is already speculation about whether he can postpone this appearance at short notice, according to the “Guardian”.

But behind the scenes at his Mar-a-Lago, Florida home, he’s already worried about his reputation after the disappointing midterm results and still hesitant about how to proceed, with initial invitations to the special announcement event already sent out. had become.

Reports: Trump supporters divided

The Guardian quoted anonymous sources as saying that some of Trump’s top aides are urging him to announce his White House campaign as planned on Tuesday. However, the number of advisers urging him to wait until the Senate run-off and then decide how to announce his candidacy is growing.

The group, which has been pushing for a delay, appears concerned that Trump could negatively impact Senate elections for Republicans — just as he was widely believed to have done in 2020, when he focused on his complaints about the 2020 election, rather than helping candidates Republicans even charge.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) also attributes the fact that Trump-backed candidates such as Muhammad Oz in Pennsylvania, Herschel Walker in Georgia and Don Boldock in New Hampshire were unsuccessful in the race for Senate seats to the former president’s return behavior. . The Wall Street Journal said that instead of organizing rallies that played in favor of Democrats, he should have remained silent in the final weeks of the campaign and supported the candidates financially.

Republicans distance themselves

Pennsylvania Republican Senator Pat Toomey also criticized Trump’s influence on the selection of candidates for the midterm elections. Former House Speaker Paul Ryan described Trump as a “burden” that will hurt the party’s chances in the 2024 presidential election. We want to win the White House and we know that with Trump we will lose much more.

“Republicans have followed Donald Trump to the brink,” David Urban, a longtime Trump adviser with ties to Pennsylvania, told the New York Times (“New York Times”). “It is my firm belief that he should no longer be the face of the Republican Party,” former Representative Peter King was quoted by The New York Times as saying. The former Trump supporter said the party could not “become a cult of personality”.

Even former Trump favorite Fox News found harsh words for the 76-year-old. While prominent Fox broadcaster Tucker Carlson blamed the Republican establishment for the election result, he said Trump had always been a political “double-edged sword.” “The big winner in the midterms was undoubtedly Governor DeSantis, whose landslide victory in Florida was impressive,” Fox News columnist Liz Beck wrote. “The Biggest Loser? Donald Trump.”

DeSantis as the biggest opponent within the party

DeSantis has long been considered one of Trump’s fiercest opponents within the party — and he came out stronger from the election. The Republican celebrated his re-election as governor of Florida by nearly 20 percentage points. DeSantis is more than ever seen as a promising contender for the Republican presidential nomination within two years – much to the chagrin of Trump, who attacked him before the Florida governor’s election.

He warned him against running for president in 2024 and threatened that he would reveal harmful information about his private life. In an angry and turbulent statement Thursday night, Trump blasted DeSantis: “Fake news asks him if he would run if President Trump were to run, and he says, ‘I’m just focused on the governor’s race, I’m not looking into that future. Well, in terms of loyalty and class, that’s not really the right answer.”

DeSantis’ landslide victory opens a future in which the Republican Party can actually win a majority of the vote in a presidential election — something not seen since George W. Bush in 2004, according to CNN. Trump’s vice president at the time, Mike Pence, who distanced himself from his former boss, is said to have ambitions of running for the Republican presidency.