Some of the most prominent figures in Donald Trump’s MAGA movement were left demoralized Tuesday night after Democrats made a dramatic comeback and reclaimed both chambers of Congress in the midterm elections.
Within hours of polls closing, Democrats had taken control of the House and Senate, potentially securing substantial majorities in both chambers.
Ben Shapiro led the reaction from the right, acknowledging on The Daily Wire: “We’re just getting wiped out.”
At the time, Shapiro was referring to states where Democrats appeared poised to deliver stunning upsets, including Texas, South Carolina and Kansas.
“I mean, these are deep red states,” he said, referring to states where Democratic candidates have since been declared the winners.
Shapiro described the results as a blue wave that could not be explained simply by the usual arguments about candidate quality. In his view, that was not the main reason Republicans lost the races.
Instead, he placed the blame squarely on Trump.
“This is happening because there is a generalized dyspepsia with the presidency, and I don’t know another way to see that,” Shapiro said.
Some of the most prominent figures in Donald Trump’s MAGA movement, including Ben Shapiro (pictured), were left despondent after Democrats retook the House and Senate in the midterm elections
Trump, for his part, blamed the candidates and emphasized that he had not been on the ballot, despite urging MAGA voters to view the results differently.
“I wasn’t on the ballot, and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!” he wrote.
Trump also spoke by phone with Fox News, maintaining his support for the Iran War while acknowledging that its economic consequences had hurt the Republican Party.
“People agree with what I’m doing on Iran, but they probably weren’t willing to deal with the short-term, early consequence of paying more for gasoline,” he said. “You know, I understand that. I don’t agree with it. Too bad.”
A White House official characterized the mood as “defiant” and echoed Trump’s argument that the election was not a referendum on his administration.
“Candidate quality matters, and President Trump did a better job promoting many of the candidates on the ballot than the candidates did themselves,” the official said.
The official added: “Also, anyone who voted Democrat today is going to have a serious case of buyers’ remorse when gas prices come down quickly when the Iran conflict is solved, but they’re still stuck with a list of liberal extremist Democrats.”
“And a final note here: Regardless of how today plays out, President Trump’s resolve to stop the Radical Left is only going to become stronger. Buckle up.”
Trump blamed the candidates while also stressing that he had not been on the ballot, despite urging MAGA voters to interpret the losses differently
“I hate to say it, but America is over,” declared Laura Loomer
Elon Musk, who is often credited with providing the financial backing and influence that helped Trump secure his 2024 victory, responded to Tuesday’s losses with a joke.
‘Guess my election-interfering space lasers didn’t work this time,’ he wrote on X.
‘Data centers in space looking pretty appealing right now,’ he wrote in a follow-up post.
Meanwhile, the rest of the President’s MAGA allies were everything from enraged to downright depressed.
‘I hate to say it, but America is over,’ declared Laura Loomer.
‘The communists and jihadists are going to open our borders and replace our votes with votes from illegals aliens. We now have reps who openly speak about their hatred of America, their love of communism and their support for sharia law.’
‘We won’t be able to undo the damage they cause on our country come 2028. America 250 was a funeral. The American Dream is dead.’
Chris Christie, an ex-Trump ally who became a critic of the President from the right, declared this the official end of the Trump era.
Chris Christie, an ex-Trump ally who became a critic of the President from the right, declared this the official end of the Trump era
Former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, once one of Trump’s closest allies, called it a deserved result for Trump’s first two years of his second term
‘When you put Darline Graham losing, Paxton losing, and now Abbott losing, the Trump era is over. It is over. You cannot lose at this level,’ he said on ABC News.
‘We’re looking at maybe 240 seats in the House. The Democrats appear to be headed to a majority in the Senate, and I think you’re gonna to wind up with near-27 Democratic governors. The Trump era is over, and when Greg Abbott, who was extraordinarily popular as a three-term governor, loses tonight in a state like Texas, I don’t care what the president says on Truth Social. The Trump era is over.’
Former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, once one of Trump’s closest allies, called it a deserved result for Trump’s first two years of his second term.
‘Trump’s biggest betrayal to the American people isn’t what he failed to do. It’s what he promised NOT to do… and did anyway,’ she wrote.
‘We gave President Trump our support, we gave him our money, we gave him our vote, we gave him our time and we got behind him publicly and he didn’t deliver. President Trump only delivered for his rich, powerful elite friends who are part of the Epstein class. He delivered for his high dollar donors, big tech friends, for foreign countries and foreign wars. Americans are fed up with it.’
Pundit Matt Walsh, a longtime Trump supporter, put the blame squarely on Trump’s adventures in Iran.
‘The Iran War is the greatest political blunder in the last two decades at least. A catastrophically stupid decision. An unforgivable betrayal of America First principles,’ he said.
Sean Hannity, as true an ally to Trump as any in conservative media, put the blame on the president’s decision to attack Iran.
Sean Hannity, as true an ally to Trump as any in conservative media, put the blame on the President’s decision to attack Iran
‘I think 100 percent. I don’t think there’s any doubt about it,’ he said when asked if the Iran War was the driving factor in the crushing midterms result.
‘Americans are good people with a heart, and they didn’t like some of what they saw. I would argue on Iran, there was, unfortunately, it’s the best thing for our children and grandchildren, but higher gas prices, how people feel, I think is the more dominant feeling force right now,’ he added.
Kristi Noem, the former Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, had a different view of what went wrong.
‘Larry Kudlow is correct. We were too successful the first year of the Trump administration,’ she wrote. Noem was fired shortly into Trump’s second year.
Libertarian Congressman Thomas Massie, who was ousted in a primary against a Trump-endorsed challenger, placed the blame solely on his party.
‘Tonight’s outcome isn’t about placing faith in Democrats or socialist principles; it’s about holding Republicans accountable for betraying their promises. All Republicans had to do was: 1. put Americans First. 2. not start another war. 3. prosecute sex traffickers.’
Scott Jennings, the most prominent Republican voice on CNN and at one point a candidate to become White House Press Secretary, admitted it was a terrible night.
‘Well, look, I’m not going to sugarcoat it. There’s a political science term for what’s happening. It’s called a country a**-whooping. That’s what’s happening right now, across the board.’
Kristi Noem, the former Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, had a different view of what went wrong
‘There’s a lot, a lot, a lot of reasons for what’s happening right now. The most immediate issue is cost of living and gas prices. And that is the bottom line,’ he continued.
The president was staring down an election-night nightmare on Tuesday as Democrats surged toward taking control of the House of Representatives in a crushing blow that threatened to cripple the final two years of his presidency.
Republicans were bracing for a feared blowout as the Democrats also claimed the first major Senate battleground of the night, with former North Carolina governor Roy Cooper snatching a crucial seat from GOP hands.
The victory turned the Tar Heel state blue and delivered another ominous warning to Trump as his party fights to stave off a devastating midterm defeat.
In the Senate, Democrats must flip four Republican-held seats to gain control. In the House, they need to pick up just three seats.
Americans turned out in droves to make their voices heard on a slew of issues, including the cost of living and the war in Iran, while chaos erupted in several key battleground states.
Trump officials watching the event breathed a sigh of relief when top Republican candidates won narrow victories in Florida, offering some early hope in the evening.
But major losses for Republican candidates in Texas had the reverse effect.
Incumbent Governor Greg Abbott and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who ran for Senate, went down in blistering defeats.
Trump took to Truth Social to rage against Abbott, whom he blamed for flipping to a ‘RINO’ – Republican in name only.
‘If Greg Abbott, the Governor of Texas, hadn’t become a RINO in the last six months of his Political Life, he wouldn’t have lost,’ seethed Trump.
‘He went back to his original formula, and it wasn’t pretty!’
The president endorsed Republican candidates in important races, including in South Carolina where the late Senator Lindsey Graham’s sister Darline lost a bid for his Senate seat.
Democrat Annie Andrews, a pediatrician, defeated Graham, becoming the first Democrat to win a Senate seat in South Carolina since 1998.
Her defeat came despite Trump making three recent visits to the state to bolster her campaign. Andrews was ahead even in traditional Republican strongholds, including Greenville County.
In neighboring North Carolina, former Democratic governor Roy Cooper defeated Michael Whatley, the former Republican National Committee chairman, to capture the seat being vacated by retiring Republican Senator Thom Tillis.
Elon Musk, often credited with providing the money and influence necessary to carry Trump to his 2024 victory, cracked a joke about the losses Tuesday
Pundit Matt Walsh, a longtime Trump supporter, put the blame squarely on Trump’s adventures in Iran
It was the first Democratic Senate victory in the state since 2008, delivering a second Republican-held seat to the opposition.
Republicans also failed to dislodge Georgia Senator Jon Ossoff, who defeated Trump-backed Congressman Mike Collins to secure a second term.
Ossoff was the only incumbent Democratic senator defending a seat in a state Trump carried in 2024, making his victory a significant missed opportunity for Republicans.
GOP candidate Michael Whatley also lost his bid for the Senate in North Carolina.
The president spent much of Tuesday urging voters to support Republican candidates but failed to drive out the vote.
Another Trump advisor told the Daily Mail that Republicans failed to attract the same coalition that he rallied to victory in 2024.
‘Republicans have had ten years to figure out how to draw those low propensity Trump voters to the polls, if they can’t get it done, they deserved to lose.’
Trump spent the last 32 days holding 30 events in 20 states for Republican candidates. His MAGA Inc. PAC spent over $370 million for Republicans.
One Trump insider said the results were disappointing but that the president had always expressed doubt that Republican majorities could survive the midterms.
The White House legal team has been preparing for a slew of investigations launched by newly empowered Democrats in the next Congressional term.
‘I fully expect the president to dig in, and fight fight fight,’ the insider said. ‘He’s been through this before.’