A number of Republican lawmakers, conservative pundits, and other prominent voices in GOP politics — notably Rupert Murdoch's media empire — are publicly blaming former President Donald Trump for the party's historically poor showing in last week's midterm elections. If Trump is the big loser here, the early Republican winner of the 2022 elections is Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who coasted to reelection and appears to have cemented the electoral powerhouse as a solidly red state.
Trump has been written off by his party before, notably after the Access Hollywood tape in 2016 and the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection, only to reassert his dominance in short order. But a series of post-midterms polls on Monday — a day before Trump is expected to announce his 2024 presidential campaign — suggest Trump's erosion in the GOP is real this time.
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.
A slew of polls by Republican firms predicted a "red wave" in the midterms, so some outside observers are skeptical of the accuracy and of these new Trump-DeSantis surveys, and the motivation behind them.
But another post-midterms poll by nonpartisan pollster YouGov also found DeSantis beating Trump among Republicans and GOP-leaning voters by 7 points, 42 percent to 35 percent. Polls before the election uniformly showed Trump as the heavy GOP favorite in 2024.
Brendan Buck, a former aide to the last two Republican House speakers, Paul Ryan and John Boehner, warned that Trump is a danger to the GOP whether he's embraced or rejected.
"A Republican civil war is erupting at virtually every level of the party," and "this is only the beginning," Axios predicts. "Election disappointments always lead to recriminations," and most of the candidates Trump boosted in the midterms lost, often in winnable races. The defeat of Kari Lake in Arizona's gubernatorial race on Monday night may well be the final straw for Republicans, Washington Post columnist Jason Willick suggests.
-
The ‘menopause gold rush’Under the Radar Women vulnerable to misinformation and marketing of ‘unregulated’ products
-
Voting Rights Act: SCOTUS’s pivotal decisionFeature A Supreme Court ruling against the Voting Rights Act could allow Republicans to redraw districts and solidify control of the House
-
No Kings rally: What did it achieve?Feature The latest ‘No Kings’ march has become the largest protest in U.S. history
-
No Kings rally: What did it achieve?
Feature The latest ‘No Kings’ march has become the largest protest in U.S. history
-
Push for Ukraine ceasefire collapsesFeature Talks between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin were called off after the Russian president refused to compromise on his demands
-
Trump eyes regime change in VenezuelaFeature Officials believe Trump’s ‘war on narco-terrorism’ is actually a push to remove Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro
-
‘Social media is the new tabloid’Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
How are ICE’s recruitment woes complicating Trump’s immigration agenda?TODAY’S BIG QUESTION Lowered training standards and ‘athletically allergic’ hopefuls are hindering the White House plan to turn the Department of Homeland Security into a federal police force
-
Trump vows new tariffs on Canada over Reagan adspeed read The ad that offended the president has Ronald Reagan explaining why import taxes hurt the economy
-
Donald Trump’s week in Asia: can he shift power away from China?Today's Big Question US president’s whirlwind week of diplomacy aims to bolster economic ties and de-escalate trade war with China
-
Marjorie Taylor Greene’s rebellion: Maga hardliner turns on TrumpIn the Spotlight The Georgia congresswoman’s independent streak has ‘not gone unnoticed’ by the president
