Former Trump aide Sarah Matthews says the way 2022 Election Night went indicates that Donald Trump is costing Republicans winnable seats. In the walkup to midterm elections, the Republicans had hoped that they would have clear majority in the House of Representatives on Election Night.
However, as of Wednesday morning, the results are still coming and the control of Congress still hangs in the balance.
“I think last night was the biggest indicator that Donald Trump should not be the Republican nominee in 2024. He cost Republicans winnable seats by boosting poor quality candidates,” said Matthews, former deputy White House press secretary under President Trump.
She added: “You have record inflation, increased fears over crime, the worst border crisis in history, an unpopular president and Republican performance was still underwhelming. And that was in large part due to the candidates that Trump backed. They weren’t up to quality. I think this is lessons learned for Republicans that a, Trump is not a national winner, and, b, candidate quality matters.”
CNN analyst Harry Enten explained this through the numbers.
“Donald Trump is not a well-liked politician,” he said Wednesday, pointing to Trump’s favorability standing at 39%.
People who held an unfavorable view of Trump voted overwhelmingly for Democrats in this election, Enten explained. “Basically, those people who said they voted for Biden two years ago, stuck by the Democratic candidates for the House. And this was despite the fact look how unpopular Joe Biden was.”
