Trump under fire for Republicans' 'complete disappointment' in midterm elections

Former US president Donald Trump is under fire from within the GOP after the recent elections turned into a “complete disappointment" for the Republican Party.

Florida Senator Rick Scott (R-Fla.) said on Friday that the 2022 midterm elections were a “complete disappointment” for Republicans, lamenting low voter turnout on Election Day.

“Here’s what happened to us. Election Day, our voters didn’t show up. We didn’t get enough voters. It was a complete disappointment,” Scott told Fox News talk show host Sean Hannity on Friday.

He said the Republicans, who were expected to make significant gains in the 2022 midterm elections, lacked a positive political message to prompt GOP voters to show up at the polls.

“I think we’ve got to reflect now. What didn’t happen?” said Scott. “I think we didn’t have enough of a positive message. We said everything about how bad the Biden agenda was. It’s bad, the Democrats are radical, but we have to have a plan of what we stand for.”

In the meantime, Trump was seen as largely to blame for the Republicans’ disappointing performance in Tuesday’s vote.

GOP allies criticized him on social media and cable news, questioning whether he should continue as the party’s leader and pointing to his toxic political message as the common thread woven through three consecutive lackluster election cycles.

“Republicans have followed Donald Trump off the side of a cliff,” David Urban, a longtime Trump adviser, said in an interview.

Former Representative Peter King, a Republican from Long Island who has long supported Trump, said, “I strongly believe he should no longer be the face of the Republican Party,” adding that the Republican Party “can’t become a personality cult.”

Kayleigh McEnany, a former Trump White House press secretary and one of his longtime defenders, said on Fox News on Wednesday that Trump should hold off on making any announcements until the Senate elections is completed, pending the runoff election in Georgia in December.

“He needs to put it on pause, absolutely,” McEnany insisted. “If I’m advising any contender, no one announces 2024 until we get through Dec. 6.”

The Hill reported on Friday that Senate Republicans are worried that Trump may derail the GOP party's chances of winning the runoff election in Georgia next month by either casting doubt on the legitimacy of the midterm elections or announcing his plan for the 2024 presidential election.

In the meantime, the Senate leadership will not be determined until the Georgia election in December, most likely. The Republicans may control it, or they may have a split house.

Republicans also appear poised to secure a slim majority in the 435-seat House of Representatives, thus wresting the chamber away from Democrats and effectively calling a halt to the legislative agenda of US President Joe Biden.

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