Republicans in battleground states and elsewhere — bruised by sweeping losses for a 3rd straight election — are casting blame in a route they had been as soon as reluctant to level: towards former President Donald Trump.
“Personalities come and go,” mentioned Dave Ball, the GOP chair in Pennsylvania’s Washington County, who has supported and defended Trump. “Generally you could have overstayed your welcome. You’ve bought new folks, new faces come, and it’s important to change with the instances typically.”
In interviews, greater than two dozen state GOP leaders, elected officers and operatives mentioned Trump’s heavy involvement in midterm contests up and down the poll doomed them in swing states, leaving intact the Democrats’ blue wall in Pennsylvania and the commercial Midwest and costing them a winnable Senate seat in Nevada. Trump loomed massive within the minds of voters, exit polls confirmed, and in lots of key races, voters rejected his hand-picked candidates.
These Republicans, together with those that supported him prior to now and others who tolerated him however not often spoke out publicly, mentioned they more and more see Trump and Trumpism as shedding propositions and would favor he not run for president once more in 2024. Trump is making ready to do exactly that, with a Tuesday announcement anticipated at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida.
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