More Ketchup? And, Seatbelts Please!

A number of high-profile, Trump-backed candidates lost Tuesday. Does that foretell the end of Donald Trump’s political career?

…[T]here was ketchup dripping down the wall…. Testimony of Cassidy Hutchinson, a former White House staffer, before the January 6 Committee, June 28, 2022.

More ketchup on the wall, this time at Donald Trump’s Florida home, Mar-a-Lago, rather than at the White House? The former president may well have been angry enough to hurl food as he followed the returns from Tuesday’s election. While the results are not final yet, one thing is clear: Donald Trump was the night’s big loser.

“Republicans have followed Donald Trump off the side of a cliff,” said David Urban, a longtime Trump adviser. Peter King, a Long Island Republican who served in the House, expressed a similar view: “I strongly believe he should no longer be the face of the Republican Party.” Fox News, the Trump-friendly, Rupert Murdoch-owned TV network, ran stories quoting politicians and pundits calling Trump the “biggest loser,” which is, of course, the worst epithet in Trump’s lexicon, a description echoed by the Murdoch-run Wall Street Journal in an editorial. The New York Post, also part of the Murdoch media empire, ran a full-page front cover image of Trump precariously perched on a brick wall with a screaming headline, “Trumpty Dumpty."

Never a gracious loser (nor a gracious winner, for that matter), the narcissistic, ego-maniacal Trump telegraphed before the votes were tabulated how he would interpret the results. “I think if they [candidates he endorsed] win, I should get all of the credit, and if they lose, I should not be blamed at all,” he said, with a straight face. He was quick to point his finger at others, including his wife. Reportedly, a “furious” Trump lashed out at Melania for urging him to support Dr. Mehmet Oz’s losing Senate run in Pennsylvania. According to Maggie Haberman of The New York Times, Trump described Melania Trump’s championing Oz “as not her best decision.”

Trump’s backing severely flawed candidates pushing absurd election-denying conspiracy theories is not the only reason the oft-predicted “Red Wave” never materialized. We will not know for weeks whether there was a “Red Ripple,” a “Purple Rain,” or even a “Blue Trickle.” Certainly, other factors influenced the outcome, especially voter anger over the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Many voters expressed concern over Republican extremism on abortion, and many of those voters appeared perfectly willing to vote in referenda enshrining the right to abortion in their state’s constitution while voting for candidates pledged to ban abortion, sometimes in all instances, which leaves me scratching my head a bit.

Voters may have been worried about the threats to democracy posed by some of the more extreme Trump-endorsed candidates who went down to defeat. Doug Mastriano, a Christian nationalist running for governor of Pennsylvania, was soundly trounced, running even behind the aforementioned Dr. Oz. Of course, it was not a total washout for Trump, as a number of his favorites won, including senatorial candidates J.D. Vance in Ohio, Ted Budd in North Carolina, and Katie Britt in Alabama. It will be days before the outcome is known in Arizona, where high-profile Trumpistas Kari Lake ran for governor and Blake Masters for the Senate. And, it will be a month before the Georgia senatorial race is decided in a runoff between the incumbent Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker, a Trump-backed, deeply flawed candidate.

Bad as the night was for Trump, it still may be premature to write his political obituary. Pundits and politicians (both those in the opposing party and Republicans scared to challenge him) have declared Trump finished before, only to see him rise from the ashes. He plans to announce his candidacy for the presidency in 2024 soon (though former Trump press secretary Kayleigh McEnany says he should delay his announcement so that everyone can concentrate on the Georgia runoff). He remains a formidable candidate as he has a solid grip on the radical (dare I add crazed) right-wing core. Even if he does not run again or loses if he does, he has succeeded in radicalizing the Republican Party. Few Republicans have dared defy Trump, and most of those who did have been read out of the Republican Party. Trump remains a potent force in Republican primaries but often a liability in general elections. While he succeeded in propelling Walker through the GOP primary in Georgia, how many in his party will tell him, at least publicly, to stay out of the state in the weeks before the runoff? A wounded Donald Trump may be more dangerous than ever.

Trump has long demonstrated his willingness to undermine American democracy and shred constitutional norms in pursuit of personal power and glory. If he is willing to take down America in his narcissistic fury, it should not be surprising that he would be willing to sacrifice some Republicans as he pursues his own selfish ends. “While in certain ways yesterday’s election was somewhat disappointing, from my personal standpoint it was a big victory,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. After all, it is always about Trump!

Trump would not hesitate to carpet bomb the Republican Party, igniting an intra-party civil war. The possibility of an internecine struggle for control of the party — and its presidential nomination — has been presaged by the emerging conflict between Trump and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who emerged as Tuesday’s big winner. DeSantis won reelection by nearly 20 points, confirming that Florida has turned from purple to deep red on his watch (aided by his strong-arming a severely gerrymandered electoral map through the state legislature).

DeSantis has not denied his interest in a 2024 presidential run. When asked last month if he would serve a full four-year term if reelected, De Santis refused to answer. In a campaign ad released last week, DeSantis portrayed himself on a holy mission. In the two-minute ad, a voiceover says, “And on the eighth day, God looked down at his planned paradise and said, I need a protector.” Images of DeSantis flash on the screen. “So God made a fighter.” (You cannot make this stuff up!)

The pooh-bah of Mar-a-Lago took notice, calling the Florida Governor "Ron DeSantimonious." The insulting nickname was followed quickly by a threat from Trump: “If he did run, I will tell you things abut him that won’t be very flattering. I know more about him than anybody other than perhaps his wife, who is really running his campaign.”

And, this is just the politics! We have not heard from the Department of Justice yet! Fasten your seatbelt, the ride could get very bumpy over the next two years.

Posted November 11, 2022