Throughout his political career, Donald Trump has tended to blame everyone but himself for losses and setbacks.
If his party suffers a big loss in the midterm elections this week, Trump is unlikely to look inward, take responsibility, or publicly regret actions that have hurt his party.
Donald Trump speaking with supporters at a campaign rally at the Prescott Valley Event Center in Prescott Valley, Arizona. Image Credit: Gage Skidmore.
Donald Trump Back in 2016. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
More likely, Trump will either claim a conspiracy or foreign interference, or possibly blame members of his own party for failing to show sufficient loyalty to him.
However, one columnist said this week that we may start to see Republicans blaming Trump for a midterm election loss.
The Blame Cycle
Jonathan Martin, in a column in Politico published Tuesday, predicted that if the GOP loses, Trump will “lunge for scapegoats.”
Martin predicted that if the GOP loses on Tuesday, Trump will blame his fellow Republicans for not hewing closely enough to him, and for not passing the “SAVE America Act,” while also possibly alleging fraud or other forms of cheating.
Martin noted, however, that if the GOP loses, Trump will be the reason why.
“Presidents from both parties have suffered midterm shellackings, but never until 2026 has a president been so single-handedly responsible for the wave that’s about to crash over the GOP,” the columnist said.
That’s because Trump has made himself extremely prominent in the election campaign.
At the same time, most of the facts on the ground that are likely to affect the result, such as gas prices, continuing inflation, and the Iran war, are the direct result of his policies.
In addition, Trump has failed to keep the main promises of his successful 2024 campaign, led by keeping prices down and staying out of foreign wars, and has therefore seen his unique coalition from that election fall apart.
And while Trump has always been popular on immigration, the often brutal ICE raids have hurt him with that issue as well.
Among the demographics from that coalition, from which Trump has lost support, are “Black, Hispanic, and young people, and the Republicans who tolerated his buffoonery as long as he kept the economy afloat and didn’t plunge the country into costly wars.”
The president, Martin writes, “owns this upcoming defeat — and he seemed determined to prove as much by using election eve to stand in front of the Reflecting Pool and remind every undecided voter that he’s more interested in his vanity projects than their needs.”
Trump also, the columnist says, has articulated no real vision for his last two years in office, aside from his likely DOA proposal to give all Americans $5,000 checks if his party wins both houses of Congress.
The president has also been less than strategic in choosing candidates, putting personal loyalty over electability.
He backed candidates like Ken Paxton in Texas, who are less likely to win, while passing on candidates like Sen. Thom Tillis in North Carolina.
Trump’s strange behavior in the closing weeks of the campaign, including his new habit of commenting on the bodies of male candidates at rallies, doesn’t seem to have helped much either.
Martin also compares quotes from former President Bill Clinton referring to a big midterm election loss as a “thumper,” but there’s no record of Clinton ever saying that; George W. Bush, after the GOP midterm wipeout in 2006, called the result a “thumping.”
Will Republicans Turn on Trump?
Something else will happen after Tuesday: Trump will become a lame duck, with no more elections left to run. Before long, the 2028 presidential race will get going in earnest, and the sense will emerge that the Trump era is finally coming to a close.
When the 2028 Republican primaries get going, a major point of contention will likely be how closely candidates hew to Trumpism, and there’s a good chance that at least some candidates will run on wanting to chart a new course.
That may also apply to Republicans in Congress, who, if Democrats win, will no longer have the majority.
There will likely be some portion of Republicans who remain loyal to Trump, even when he’s no longer in politics, but Trump’s time as a spent force is now closer than ever.
About the Author: Stephen Silver
Stephen Silver is an award-winning journalist, essayist, and film critic, and contributor to the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Broad Street Review, and Splice Today. The co-founder of the Philadelphia Film Critics Circle, Stephen lives in suburban Philadelphia with his wife and two sons. For over a decade, Stephen has written thousands of articles on politics, national security, technology, and the economy. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) at @StephenSilver, and subscribe to his Substack newsletter.
