Despite being endorsed by former President Donald Trump, Senator-elect J.D. Vance (R-OH) seemed to snub him in his victory speech on the night of midterm election results on Tuesday, November 8. 

Delivering a huge blow to the Democrats, the ‘Hillbilly Elegy’ author defeated his opponent, Rep. Tim Ryan in an open U.S. Senate seat in Ohio. 

Although the venture capitalist was a newcomer in the world of politics, his campaign received a last-minute push by Trump in a crowded Republican primary. This, in spite of the fact that Vance had once declared he was a “never-Trumper.”

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Vance is among a number of high-profile Senate candidates in tight races who Trump endorsed. 

Other prominent Republicans like Senator Ted Cruz and Lindsey Graham and Donald Trump Jr. had also gotten behind Vance to show off the GOP coalition. 

Vance’s speech

Although Vance thanked a number of people, either directly in his campaign or in assisting his win, during his victory speech on election night, he did not mention Trump. 

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The midterms which were meant to be a landslide win for Republicans competing all across the country, with them projected to take back control of the House and possibly the Senate, did not go as planned for the conservatives. 

The upsetting statistics seemed to signal that it was time for the GOP to move on from Trump. Conservative pundits argued that  Trump had endorsed outlandish candidates who had been unable to pull straight wins. 

There were also those who mocked Trump for picking a beef with Gov. Ron DeSantis, who secured a clear win in Florida and a huge wave of support from his fellow Republicans. 

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“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 sh***ing the bed.'”

“GOP Source tells me after tonight, with Trump candidates underperforming and DeSantis winning by double digits, 2024 is a “free for all,” wrote Phil Wegmann, a RealClearPolitics reporter. “‘Everybody in the water. If you want to take on Trump, he’s never been weaker.'”