What US midterm results say about Donald Trumps influence

Donald Trump had
hoped for a red wave for Republicans in the US midterms 2022. But the wave never
arrived. The Democrats have retained control of the Senate while Republicans
are marginally ahead in the House of Representatives. Trump, who has been
building up to his announcement that he is going to run for the 2024 presidency,
said the announcement is likely next week.

The 45th
President of the United States, the most controversial in recent history, had
put his weight behind several candidates in the midterm elections. The results,
while encouraging, are not a win of the scale that he had envisioned.

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In gubernatorial
elections, 8 out of 18 Trump-backed candidates won the polls.

In the Senate, 17
out of 23 Trump-backed candidates won the midterm elections.

The House of
Representatives saw 127 of 142 Donald Trump-backed candidates won the polls.

Donald Trump,
however, does not take responsibility for the candidates’ losses. He said on TRUTH
Social that candidates backed by him had a great evening. He also said Trump
should get all the credit for victories but should not be blamed for the
losses.

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Meanwhile, the
midterm results brought Donald Trump another headache – in the form of Ron
DeSantis. The Florida governor, who won comfortably, seems to be in the race
for the Republican presidential nomination. Mike Cernovich, a right-wing
commentator and once a Trump-loyalist, said, “Trump has zero shot in 2024 in
general. After tonight, DeSantis in 2024 or accept total defeat.”

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Virginia
Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earle-Sears, a Republican Trump-loyalist, said the
poor performance of candidates he endorsed is a sign that he should step aside.
“It turns out that those he did not endorse on the same ticket did better than
the ones he did endorse,” she said.