'He’s never been weaker': Conservatives 'rage at Trump' over red tsunami that never materialized

09 November 2022

Although some of the Republican candidates that former President Donald Trump campaigned for were victorious in the 2022 midterms — for example, U.S. Senate candidates J.D. Vance in Ohio and Ted Budd in North Carolina — many others weren’t. The candidates who were endorsed by Trump but lost ran for the Senate (Dr. Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania, Don Bolduc in New Hampshire), governor (Doug Mastriano in Pennsylvania, Tudor Dixon in Michigan, Tim Michels in Wisconsin, Lee Zeldin in New York State) or secretary of state (Kristina Karamo in Michigan).

Trump, true to form, is giving himself credit for the victories that some MAGA candidates enjoyed on Election Night. When his candidates lose, he typically attributes their loss to either voter fraud or claims that they lost because they weren’t MAGA enough. But in an article published by Fox News’ website on November 9, journalist Anders Hagstrom reports that some conservatives are blaming Trump for the lack of a red tsunami.

“Many conservative commentators took the election results as a sign it was time for the GOP to move on from Trump,” Hagstrom reports. “Commentators argued that Trump had endorsed outlandish candidates who turned easy victories into close races, and close races into losses. Others compared Trump's failure to secure wins across the country with the huge wave of support for Republicans in Gov. Ron DeSantis' Florida.”

On Twitter, the National Review’s Michael Brendan Dougherty posted, “All the chatter on my conservative and GOP channels is rage at Trump like I've never seen. The one guy he attacked before Election Day was DeSantis — the clear winner, meanwhile, all his guys are s---ing the bed.’”

RealClearPolitics’ Phil Wegmann posted, “GOP Source tells me after tonight, with Trump candidates underperforming and DeSantis winning by double digits, 2024 is a ‘free for all.’ Everybody in the water. If you want to take on Trump, he’s never been weaker.'"

Conservative Twitter user @ReaganBattalion posted, “Time to move on from Trump.” And another Twitter user on the right, @MaxNordau, wrote, “Trump’s big November 15 announcement should be an endorsement of Ron DeSantis for president in 2024. We can do better.”

Meanwhile, in an article published by Politico on November 9, journalist Meredith McGraw describes November 8 as a “night of missed opportunities and disappointments” for the GOP.

“Trump had spent the past year acting as a political kingmaker, picking and choosing his preferred candidates — party leadership be damned,” McGraw explains. “Over the course of the midterm elections, he endorsed over 330 candidates, held 30 rallies and raised millions of dollars. Tuesday was meant to be an exhibit of his muscle — a chance to celebrate Republican wins but, more importantly, witness the seeding of the party with his acolytes. A slate of his endorsed candidates prevailed, including J.D. Vance in Ohio, Ted Budd in North Carolina, Katie Britt in Alabama and Eric Schmitt in Missouri.”

McGraw continues, “But by the early hours of Wednesday morning, Republicans were down a seat in the Senate, and the House remained too close to declare a winner. And in those contests, as well as some prominent gubernatorial elections, Trump’s overall record contained many notable misses. Several prominent Trump-backed candidates lost without much of a whimper, including MAGA gubernatorial candidates Doug Mastriano in Pennsylvania and Dan Cox in Maryland, House candidates J.R. Majewski in Ohio, Karoline Leavitt in New Hampshire and Yesli Vega in Virginia, and Don Bolduc, who he endorsed in the New Hampshire Senate race. The biggest blow of the evening came in Pennsylvania as Democrat John Fetterman defeated Trump-backed Mehmet Oz in the most expensive Senate race in the country…. On Tuesday night, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ decisive win over Democrat Charlie Crist fueled even more speculation that he wasn’t just a serious 2024 contender, but a safer bet for the party than Trump.”

Despite all of the losses among MAGA candidates, Trump posted, “174 wins and 9 losses. A GREAT EVENING, and the Fake News Media, together with their partner in crime, the Democrats, are doing everything possible to play it down. Amazing job by some really fantastic candidates!”

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