Last night, Americans largely rejected Trump and his allies’ criminal conspiracy to overthrow the will of the people. Across the country, democracy won and MAGA election deniers were defeated. Overall, Americans rejected MAGA ideology’s threat to our basic freedoms. But Donald Trump and his hundreds of followers headed to Congress continue to pose a very real threat to our hard-won freedoms. Make no mistake: while Americans confirmed their commitment to democracy last night, the threat continues in force.
Washington Post: Why The 2022 Election Was Such A Disaster For Trump. “Former president Donald Trump has made no secret in recent days that, even as Republicans were aiming for takeovers of both the House and Senate, he was utterly preoccupied with his own political fate. While ostensibly campaigning for fellow Republicans, he has repeatedly prioritized teasing his own potentially imminent presidential campaign and sought to begin the intraparty maneuvering that comes with that — most notably by going after his erstwhile ally Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R). He could scarcely have picked a worse time. Election Day 2022 is looking like a growing disaster for Trump. The question is whether anyone in the party summons the courage it has lacked to actually call that out and course-correct.” [The Washington Post, 11/9/22]
Fox News: Conservatives Point Finger At Trump After GOP’s Underwhelming Election Results: ‘He’s Never Been Weaker’. “Many conservatives put the blame on former President Donald Trump for the GOP’s underwhelming midterm election results, which saw Trump candidates across the country failing to gain office. Many conservative commentators took the election results as a sign it was time for the GOP to move on from Trump. Commentators argued that Trump had endorsed outlandish candidates who turned easy victories into close races, and close races into losses… ‘All the chatter on my conservative and GOP channels is rage at Trump like I’ve never seen,’ Michael Brendan Dougherty, a senior writer at National Review, wrote on Twitter. ‘The one guy he attacked before Election Day was DeSantis — the clear winner, meanwhile, all his guys are s—ing the bed.’” [Fox News, 11/9/22]
Business Insider: Trump Is ‘Livid’ and ‘Screaming’ His Head Off After Disappointing Midterm Elections For The GOP, An Advisor Said. “Former President Donald Trump ‘is livid’ and ‘screaming at everyone’ after many Republican candidates backed by him underperformed in Tuesday’s midterm elections, an advisor to Trump told CNN. Trump had endorsed more than 330 GOP candidates running for both state and federal office in this election cycle, but a much-anticipated ‘red wave’ of Republican victories never came in the fight for control of Congress. […] ‘How could you look at these results tonight and conclude Trump has any chance of winning a national election in 2024?’ Scott Jennings, a former advisor to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, said in an early Wednesday tweet.” [Business Insider, 11/9/22]
Salon: ‘I Should Not Be Blamed At All’: Trump Throws His MAGA Candidates Under The Bus After Midterm Losses. “Former President Donald Trump has already started throwing Republicans he endorsed ahead of their midterm losses under the bus, rejecting any blame for the failed ‘red wave’ on Tuesday. […] Trump ahead of the results on Tuesday made clear that he should not shoulder any blame if Republicans lose. ‘Well, I think if they win, I should get all the credit. If they lose, I should not be blamed at all,’ Trump said in an interview with NewsNation. ‘But it will probably be just the opposite,’ he said, predicting that ‘when’ Republicans win, he will ‘probably be given very little credit’ despite his endorsements, but ‘if they do badly, they will blame everything on me.’” [Salon, 11/9/22]
Forbes: Fact Check: Trump Asserts Baseless Midterm Election Fraud Claims In Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania. “Without evidence, former President Donald Trump reiterated midterm election fraud theories throughout the day Tuesday as Republicans vied for control of Congress, claiming election officials in Arizona were tampering with voting machines and that a “large” number of absentee ballots in Detroit were fraudulent—although election officials denied both accusations… Benson denied Trump’s election fraud claims in a tweet, saying, ‘Please don’t spread lies to foment or encourage political violence in our state. Or anywhere. Thanks.’ Trump-backed candidates largely followed the former president’s lead in promoting the baseless claim that the 2020 election was stolen, including 202 GOP congressional candidates running this year who believed it was either flawed or based on fraud, according to the Brookings Institution.” [Forbes, 11/9/22]
New Republic: Trump: Thank Me If Republicans Win, Don’t Blame Me If They Lose! “In an interview Tuesday evening, former President Donald Trump said that if Republicans he endorsed do well, he should ‘get all the credit’—but if those candidates lose, he ‘should not be blamed at all.’ He is self-obsessed enough to flirt with a presidential announcement in the lead-up to a midterm election that is already meant to be a slam dunk for Republicans. He’s spending time at candidate rallies testing new nicknames for possible primary opponents, including Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. All that only serves to remind midterm voters why they voted him out of office just two years ago. [New Republic, 11/8/22]
New York Times: Trump Hoped for a Celebration But Did Not Have Much to Cheer. “Donald J. Trump wasn’t on the ballot Tuesday, but he’d spent the past two years behaving otherwise, aiming to deliver key victories to a Republican Party from which he’s likely to seek, once again, a presidential nomination. Several battleground races remained too close to call early Wednesday, but it was clear there would be no “giant red wave” that Mr. Trump had spent weeks pleading with his supporters to deliver. In some key states, Trump-backed candidates lost or were faring poorly. In Pennsylvania, the Democrat Josh Shapiro won the governor’s race against the Republican Doug Mastriano, while the Democrat John Fetterman defeated Mehmet Oz, a Republican, to flip control of a U.S. Senate seat. In Michigan, Tudor Dixon, Mr. Trump’s pick in the governor’s race, came up short in her bid to unseat Gov. Gretchen Whitmer.” [NY Times, 11/9/22]
