MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough said Tuesday morning that Republicans had several winning issues on their side but nonetheless still lost several key races.
Scarborough was joined by Politico’s White House editor Sam Stein and was discussing Kari Lake’s loss. Lake, the Arizona Republican gubernatorial candidate, lost her race to Democrat Katie Hobbs. Lake was endorsed by former President Donald Trump and had previously stated that President Joe Biden actually “lost the election and shouldn’t be in the White House,” saying the 2020 election was “corrupt.”
“It’s hard to believe that any politician that wants a future in the Republican Party or any party would embrace election denying when you look how this is the most fertile grounds politically Republicans were going to have,” Scarborough said. “If you look at inflation, you look at the economy, you look at Biden’s approval ratings, you look at gas prices and yet the election deniers all rejected outright.”
Stein said it was a “remarkable slate of defeats in a cycle that should have been theirs by historical standards.” (RELATED: Kari Lake Spends Two Straight Minutes Berating The Media About ‘Election Deniers’)
The question of the Trump endorsement has loomed over several races. Trump endorsed more than 400 candidates throughout the midterm cycle, with a heavy emphasis on races in Arizona, Georgia and Pennsylvania. Despite the endorsements, Pennsylvania went blue, Georgia’s Senate race is headed to a run off and Blake Masters, who was challenging Democratic Sen. Mark Kelly, lost his race.
Democrats captured several key races contrary to the expectations of polls, even amid high inflation, illegal immigration, and rising gas prices.