Former President Donald Trump said it “wasn’t my fault” Republicans underperformed in the midterms because the “abortion issue” was “poorly handed.”
Trump posted on his Truth Social platform Sunday about why “Republicans didn’t live up to expectations in the MidTerms.”
“It was the ‘abortion issue,’ poorly handled by many Republicans, especially those that firmly insisted on No Exceptions, even in the case of Rape, Incest, or Life of the Mother, that lost large numbers of voters,” Trump stated in the post
“Also, the people that pushed so hard, for decades, against abortion, got their wish from the U.S. Supreme Court, & just plain disappeared, not to be seen again. Plus, Mitch stupid $’s!” Trump added. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: ‘Con Job And A Disgrace’: Donald Trump Issues Video Response To Jan. 6 Report)
The former president has received intense criticism within the GOP for the party’s 2022 midterm performance. His critics have focused on the GOP candidates Trump endorsed in battleground senate primaries and other contested races who went on to lose the general election.
The New York Times midterms analysis found Trump’s preferred candidates performed five points worse than generic Republicans in U.S. House races. Republicans won the national popular vote in House elections and outpaced Trump’s 2020 vote share in many safe GOP House seats.
Republicans were expecting a “red wave” election to give them control of the Senate and a strong U.S. House majority. Instead, Republicans ended up winning the narrowest House majority in U.S. history and Democrats added an extra senate seat.
The GOP underperformed because it lost independents, did not offer voters a clear agenda, failed to combat Democrats’ abortion messaging and lacked financial resources, according to a Heritage Action report after the midterm elections.