Republicans were expecting a "red wave" on Election Day, with the typical gains for the out-of-power party turbo-charged by high inflation and economic malaise. That wave did not materialize, and "many pundits and journalists across the spectrum pointed their fingers at former President [Donald] Trump," Fox News reports. "As several Trump-backed candidates in major races lost or lagged behind other Republicans in their states, a consensus appeared to emerge that Trump had a bad night."
It was unclear Wednesday morning whether Republicans had captured the House or Senate, but "what I can tell you is the biggest loser tonight is Donald Trump," ABC's Jonathan Karl said.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Trump's pick for Ohio Senate, J.D. Vance, did win. But Republican candidates Trump had endorsed or even recruited lost in several key states — Mehmet Oz and Doug Mastriano in Pennsylvania, Don Bolduc in New Hampshire, Lee Zeldin in New York, Tudor Dixon in Michigan, Tim Michaels in Wisconsin — while several others were trailing in preliminary vote counts, including Kari Lake and Blake Masters in Arizona and Herschel Walker in Georgia.
"There's a potential narrative out of this night that if you're a discerning Republican voter trying to figure out the future direction of this party, we once again learn that Trump is not a national winner for the Republicans," conservative commentator Scott Jennings said on CNN.
Trump had been expecting to celebrate big Republican gains, and his role in securing them, at an election night party at Mar-a-Lago, but as results came in, "he was not particularly interested in addressing the crowd," Michael Bender and Maggie Haberman report at The New York Times. Trump was looking for momentum before announcing his presidential bid, but now Republicans may remember "he was the first president in decades to lose the House, the Senate, and the White House within four years."
Trump doesn't seem likely to accept any responsibility. Before the polls closed, he told NewsNation he thinks if the 330 candidates he endorsed win, "I should get all the credit. And if they lose, I should not be blamed at all."
-
6 homes for entertainingFeature Featuring a heated greenhouse in Pennsylvania and a glamorous oasis in California
-
Obesity drugs: Will Trump’s plan lower costs?Feature Even $149 a month, the advertised price for a starting dose of a still-in-development GLP-1 pill on TrumpRx, will be too big a burden for the many Americans ‘struggling to afford groceries’
-
The ‘Kavanaugh stop’Feature Activists say a Supreme Court ruling has given federal agents a green light to racially profile Latinos
-
Affordability: Does Trump have an answer?Feature Trump ‘refuses to admit there is a problem’
-
Ecuador rejects push to allow US military basesSpeed Read Voters rejected a repeal of a constitutional ban on US and other foreign military bases in the country
-
Trump pivots on Epstein vote amid GOP defectionsSpeed Read The president said House Republicans should vote on a forced release of the Justice Department’s Jeffrey Epstein files
-
Is Marjorie Taylor Greene undergoing a political realignment?TALKING POINTS The MAGA firebrand made a name for herself in Congress as one of Trump’s most unapologetic supporters. One year into Trump’s second term, a shift is afoot.
-
How are these Epstein files so damaging to Trump?TODAY'S BIG QUESTION As Republicans and Democrats release dueling tranches of Epstein-related documents, the White House finds itself caught in a mess partially of its own making
-
Will California tax its billionaires?Talking Points A proposed one-time levy would shore up education and Medicaid
-
Trump DOJ sues to block California redistrictingSpeed Read California’s new congressional map was drawn by Democrats to flip Republican-held House seats
-
GOP retreats from shutdown deal payout provisionSpeed Read Senators are distancing themselves from a controversial provision in the new government funding package
