Former President Donald Trump’s persistent false claims about the 2020 election were an obstacle for GOP candidates and a leading reason the party performed poorly in the midterms, two prominent Republicans said a day after the party suffered another stinging midterm defeat.
“I think his obsession with the 2020 election became an albatross and a real liability for people who were running, especially in swing states,” Senator John Thune, the No. 2 Senate Republican, told reporters in the wake of Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock’s victory Tuesday in a Georgia run-off with Trump-backed Herschel Walker.
Warnock’s win cemented a 51-49 majority next year for Democrats, despite earlier predictions that the GOP would take power in the Senate. Republicans did win control of the House, but will have a much smaller majority than expected.
Utah Republican Senator Mitt Romney, who has frequently sparred with Trump, said winning the backing of the former president has meant a candidate’s likely to win a party primary but lose a general election.
“For someone who actually wants to win an election, getting endorsed by President Trump is the kiss of death,” Romney said.
The remarks by Thune and Romney are the latest signal that many congressional Republicans are seeking to distance themselves from the former president. Thune said Trump’s insistence that candidates he endorsed back his claim that he won and Joe Biden lost in 2020 was a significant setback for the party.
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