Republicans didn’t see a “red wave” in any reasonable understanding of the idea during this week’s midterm elections, and it doesn’t sound like Trump’s thrilled.
Although Donald hasn’t spent as much as some others on actually supporting Republican candidates in key races, he previously endorsed contenders nationwide, including the GOP picks in races for governor in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Arizona. In at least Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, these Republican candidates have already lost, and Trump’s pick for governor also lost in Michigan — meaning in all three of these states, Democrats will be at the helm of state government after the next presidential race, when it’s time for certifying the results. During the certification process after the last presidential race, Trump and his allies found numerous procedural mechanisms to abuse in their quest to upend Biden’s win. In Wisconsin, the now defeated GOP pick for governor, Tim Michels, apparently even left open the possibility of pursuing the legal invalidation of the state’s 2020 results — a legally baseless notion that could nonetheless have created chaos.
Trump specifically pushed for that move in Wisconsin, setting up Michels’s loss as an especially damaging impact to Donald’s ego. Jim Acosta of CNN shared what someone close to Trump revealed about the ex-president’s state of mind following the GOP’s drubbing in the midterms, and it wasn’t pretty: “”Trump is livid” and “screaming at everyone,” after last night’s disappointing midterm results for GOP, according to a Trump adviser.” This same adviser also expressed criticism for some of the candidates behind whom the former president threw his support, adding that despite these problems, Trump likely wouldn’t be pushing back his formal confirmation of his run for president in 2024 — although with Trump, who really knows?
Trump has all-but-already confirmed he’s running for president again, although there’s also the possibility he faces a perhaps surprisingly formidable challenge from the apparently wildly popular (among Republicans) Florida governor, Ron DeSantis. DeSantis won re-election this week by nearly 20 percent.
For comparison’s sake, DeSantis won his first election as governor by less than half of a percentage point. In the time since, his profile increased through means like his fight against restrictions associated with efforts to stem the spread of COVID-19. DeSantis hasn’t confirmed he will run for president, although he conspicuously declined to answer a question from his failed Democratic challenger during a debate about whether he’d serve a full term if he won re-election. Primary polling has already shown — more than once — DeSantis leading Trump in Florida in a hypothetical match-up in the 2024 Republican presidential primary. Trump remains generally in the lead in polling taken at the national level. Overall, Daniel Dale of CNN tallied at least ten Republicans running for governor this week who cast aspersions on the legitimacy of the 2020 election results and lost to a Democrat.
This adviser said it’s unlikely Trump would delay his expected presidential announcement because “it’s too humiliating to delay.” But the adviser said there are too many unknowns at this point.
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) November 9, 2022
