Republican senators are reluctant to blame President Donald Trump for the party’s catastrophic results in the midterm elections this month, despite a poll showing that Republican voters believe Trump’s rallies hurt candidates more than they helped.
Asked by NBC News what led to the Republican Party losing both the House and the Senate to Democrats in the midterms, several Republican senators refused to acknowledge the elephant in the room or the effect that Trump’s unpopular Iran war played in pushing the Democratic Party to victory.
Trump Speaking in Arizona. Creative Commons Photo.
Donald Trump at CPAC in 2022. Creative Commons Photo.
The Republican Party Admits it Messed Up, But Refuses to Name Trump as Source of Woes.
Despite acknowledging that the Republican Party had “forgot those people out there are hurting, and they vote,” and that the GOP got its “ever-loving…handed to us,” West Virginia Senator Jim Justice refused to explicitly blame Trump, instead suggesting that “everything plays a part in the whole deal.”
Justice also argued that Trump handled the Iran war “as best” as he possibly could.
Louisiana Senator John Kennedy, meanwhile, downplayed the impact of the Iran war on the elections, arguing that the real problem was economic issues — issues which, coincidentally, largely stemmed from Trump’s Iran war.
“I don’t think that Republicans lost every single statewide election in Texas because voters thought that America’s foreign policy was too interventionist,” said Kennedy. “I’m not looking for blame-shifting. I’m looking for self-examination.”
Asked whether Trump could also benefit from some self-examination, Kennedy told NBC News bluntly, “I don’t have any advice today for the president.”
Colorado Congressman Gabe Evans also refused to say whether Trump had any ill effect on the results of the election.
“We’re still looking at all the data,” he said. “So I’ll have to get back to you.”
Missouri Senator Josh Hawley, meanwhile, cited everything from abortion and transgender surgeries to health care and economics.
But the senator notably did not mention Trump.
Colorado Congresswoman Lauren Boebert told NBC News it was “not just the president” to blame, but the Republican Party “collectively.”
While the results of Boebert’s race have not yet been called, she is projected to lose her seat to Democratic challenger Eileen Laubacher by a narrow margin.
Majority of Americans Disapprove of Trump, Including 1-in-4 People Who Voted For Him
A survey conducted by The Economist and YouGov last week found that 62% of Americans disapprove of Trump’s job in his second term, including one-in-four Trump 2024 voters and 72% of moderates.
66% of Americans surveyed also said the U.S. under Trump was headed in the wrong direction, while 47% of Trump 2024 voters said they were “less optimistic” about life today than 10 years ago.
While Trump has repeatedly insisted that the results of the election would have been different if he were on the ballot, 46% of voters told YouGov they voted, at least in part, to “express opposition to Donald Trump.”
Trump Voters Believe President’s Rallies Hurt Republicans More Than They Helped
Shockingly, Trump 2024 voters were also more likely to say that the president’s rallies hurt Republican candidates more than they helped. 27% of Trump 2024 voters said the rallies hurt Republicans, while 23% said they helped.
Trump’s war in Iran also proved unpopular with voters, according to the survey, with 60% of Americans believing that the president made the “wrong decision” to go to war with the country.
64% said the Trump administration should focus on wrapping up the conflict as soon as possible, while just 23% said the war should continue until all objectives had been accomplished.
Trump Has Refused Responsibility For the Disastrous Results, Instead Blaming Candidates
Trump has repeatedly blamed the Republican Party’s candidates for the defeat in the midterm elections this month, despite giving those candidates glowing endorsements just days before.
Reacting to Texas Governor Greg Abbott’s defeat to Democratic candidate Gina Hinojosa, Trump wrote, “If Greg Abbott, the Governor of Texas, hadn’t become a RINO in the last six months of his Political Life, he wouldn’t have lost.”
Abbott had campaigned with Trump’s endorsement, with the president having described the governor as “strong and highly respected.”
“We would have won easily if I was on the ballot,” Trump insisted to reporters.
About the Author: Charlie Nash
Charlie Nash is a journalist and author whose work has appeared in The Spectator, Mediaite, New Statesman, and the American Conservative, among other major publications. His reporting has been featured by The Washington Post, Fox News, the Daily Beast, MS NOW, NewsNation, Hannity, and more. You can follow Charlie on X at @CharlieNash and on LinkedIn.
