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.
-
Icarus programme – the ‘internet of animals’The Explainer Researchers aim to monitor 100,000 animals worldwide with GPS trackers, using data to understand climate change and help predict disasters and pandemics
-
Experience Tanzania’s untamed wilderness from Lemala’s luxury lodgesThe Week Recommends The vast protected landscapes are transformed into a verdant paradise during ‘emerald season’
-
Sudoku hard: October 9, 2025The Week's daily hard sudoku puzzle
-
The party bringing Trump-style populism to JapanUnder The Radar Far-right party is ‘Rise of Sanseito is ‘shattering’ the belief that Japan is ‘immune’ to populism’ the belief that Japan is ‘immune’ to populism
-
Bondi stonewalls on Epstein, Comey in Senate face-offSpeed Read Attorney General Pam Bondi denied charges of using the Justice Department in service of Trump’s personal vendettas
-
Can Trump bully Netanyahu into Gaza peace?Today's Big Question The Israeli leader was ‘strong-armed’ into new peace deal
-
Court allows Trump’s Texas troops to head to ChicagoSpeed Read Trump is ‘using our service members as pawns in his illegal effort to militarize our nation’s cities,’ said Gov. J.B. Pritzker
-
The GOP: Merging flag and crossFeature Donald Trump has launched a task force to pursue “anti-Christian policies”
-
Five key questions about the Gaza peace dealThe Explainer Many ‘unresolved hurdles’ remain before Donald Trump’s 20-point plan can get the go-ahead
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in OregonSpeed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Russia: already at war with Europe?Talking Point As Kremlin begins ‘cranking up attacks’ on Ukraine’s European allies, questions about future action remain unanswered
