The Wall Street Journal editorial board this week put the blame for Republican losses in the midterms at the feet of former President Trump, calling him the GOP’s “biggest loser.”
The board said in an editorial published Wednesday that Trump-style Republican candidates lost in races that were “clearly” winnable, but the defeats might be what the Republican Party needs to see before the 2024 presidential election.
“What will Democrats do when Donald Trump isn’t around to lose elections? We have to wonder because on Tuesday Democrats succeeded again in making the former President a central campaign issue, and Mr. Trump helped them do it,” the board said.
Republicans were hoping for a red wave to retake control of both chambers of Congress, but Democrats outperformed the polls in many races. The GOP will likely win a narrow majority of the House, while which party will control the Senate is uncertain.
The board also criticized Trump for attacking other Republicans at a rally ahead of the midterms in an editorial published this past weekend.
The board pointed to several Senate races where Trump-backed candidates underperformed.
Don Bolduc lost the New Hampshire Senate race to incumbent Sen. Maggie Hassan (D) by about 8 points, according to most recent estimates, but Gov. Chris Sununu (R), who has been critical of Trump, won reelection by 16 points.
The board said businessman David McCormick would have been a better candidate to face Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman (D) in the state’s Senate race. But McCormick would not entertain Trump’s claims that the 2020 election was stolen, so Trump endorsed a weaker candidate in Mehmet Oz, who lost to Fetterman, the board said.
The board said Trump could have stayed mostly quiet in the last few weeks of the election cycle except to spend money for Republican candidates, but he did the opposite and “played into Democratic hands.”
It said Trump’s rally with Oz last week could have hurt the Senate candidate with suburban voters who voted against Trump in 2020.
“Since his unlikely victory in 2016 against the widely disliked Hillary Clinton, Mr. Trump has a perfect record of electoral defeat,” the board said.
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Wall Street Journal labels Trump biggest Republican "loser" https://t.co/Ec1cSZbOHM pic.twitter.com/nMokAPn5P3
— The Hill (@thehill) November 10, 2022
Rupert begins the attack https://t.co/EMeGZXiGLU
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) November 10, 2022
'Not at All ANGRY': Trump Lashes Out at Maggie Haberman For Reporting He Blamed Melania For Midterm Loss https://t.co/MnmBEfZiRH via @mediaite
— Sarah Rumpf 🇺🇸🇺🇦 (@rumpfshaker) November 10, 2022
You don’t want to be in Mar-a-Lago right now. Trump either has to make a bad decision or be seen as a weak coward.
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) November 10, 2022
It's almost as if – and just stay with me on this – you can start pushing change in a dysfunctional party by handing it repeated defeats from the top right down to dog catcher
I mean, who could imagine such a strategy https://t.co/A3ugscgHhZ
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) November 10, 2022
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