Republican strategists were licking their wounds on Wednesday as the post-mortem following the midterms began – with senior figures in the party branding Donald Trump a ‘disaster’ and accusing him of ‘sabotaging’ their expected cruise to victory.

Many Democrats went into election night dreading how bad their losses could be and pondering how to explain them.

By Wednesday, they had quickly shifted into day-after hoping that they could actually maintain a voting majority in the Senate, celebrating victories in key governors’ races, and aware that control of the House was still not declared.

Trump has promised to make a ‘major announcement’ on November 15, but many are trying to convince him to reconsider the expected launch of his 2024 campaign, given how well his rival Ron DeSantis, re-elected as governor of Florida, performed.

‘Between being Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis tonight, you want to be Ron DeSantis,’ said Mick Mulvaney, Trump’s former chief of staff.

‘DeSantis wins tonight and Trump is not doing very well.’

Republicans were left grumbling about ‘candidate quality,’ with many pointing the finger at the 76-year-old former president.

‘Never forget. Trump picked sure losers in winnable races,’ said Gregg Nunziata, a former member of Marco Rubio’s team in the Senate.

‘He picked weak candidates in otherwise slam dunk races requiring the party to spend tons of money we’d rather spend elsewhere.

‘Of, and speaking of money, he hoovered up tens of millions and barely spent a dime to help Rs.’

Scott Reed, a veteran Republican strategist, said: ‘I mean, we had a historic opportunity and Trump’s recruitment of unelectable candidates blew it for us. 

‘Trump’s now lost three elections in a row for the Republican Party and it’s time to snap out of this foolishness.’ 

Fox News’ White House correspondent, Jacqui Heinrich, tweeted: ‘GOP source tells me ‘if it wasn’t clear before it should be now. We have a Trump problem’.’

Chris Christie, the former New Jersey governor and Trump ally, accused the former president of selfishly pursuing his own interests.

He blamed Trump for elevating deeply flawed candidates, who won their primaries but struggled in the general election.

‘The only animating factor (for him) in determining an endorsement is, ‘Do you believe the 2020 election was stolen or don’t you?’ Christie said. 

‘It’s not, ‘Can you raise money?’ 

‘It’s not, ‘Do you have an articulatable vision for the future of your state or your district?’ 

‘It’s not evidence of past success in communicating to voters. 

‘It is a completely self-centered determination.’

Trump on Wednesday was forced to deny reports that he had erupted in anger at all those around him – including his wife Melania – over the losses.

Many of his high-profile endorsements lost their races – among them Dr Mehmet Oz, the television doctor running for the Senate in Pennsylvania, whose candidacy Melania Trump reportedly backed.

‘I’m very disappointed,’ said Senator Pat Toomey, a Republican who is retiring, and whose seat was won by Democrat John Fetterman.

‘I think a huge factor in all of this was the disastrous role of Donald Trump in this whole process.’

Doug Mastriano, one of the most hard-line Trump candidates, lost his race to be governor of Pennsylvania.

In New Hampshire, Karoline Leavitt, a 25-year-old hard-right Republican who served as an assistant in Trump’s White House press office, lost her race. Incumbent Chris Pappas, a two-term Democratic congressman, was re-elected in a hard-fought race.

Also in the state, Don Bolduc, an election-denying proud MAGA candidate, lost the Senate race to Maggie Hassan – giving Democrats a sigh of relief.

Hassan was considered among the most vulnerable Democrats.

In Maryland, Dan Cox lost the gubernatorial contest to Wes Moore, who became the first black person to govern Maryland and only the third black governor in U.S. history.

Cox, who has described the 2020 presidential election as ‘stolen’ and volunteered as a lawyer to block the certification of the results in Pennsylvania, attacked the incumbent Republican governor, Larry Hogan, for harming his chances.

Hogan called Cox a ‘whack job’.

‘As it turns out, candidates and campaigns matter,’ said Kevin McLaughlin, an ally of Senate Leader Mitch McConnell and a former executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee.

McConnell attempted to steer the Republicans away from some of the more extreme MAGA candidates, arguing that they were not electable.

He was overruled by Kevin McCarthy, the House Minority Leader, and by Rick Scott, Florida Senator and chair of the National Republican Senatorial Committee (NRSC).

McCarthy himself on Wednesday launched his campaign to be Speaker of the House come January, when all the votes are counted – assuming the Republicans do win the majority.

But even that was hanging in the balance, with some Republicans saying they no longer trusted McCarthy, given the lackluster performance in Tuesday’s vote.

‘Kevin McCarthy has not done anything to earn my vote for speaker,’ said Bob Good, a member of the House representing Virginia.

He told Axios: ‘I believe there’s a number of members who feel as I do and who will support a challenge to him as the speaker when we convene next week.’

Andy Biggs, a congressman for Arizona, said the issue needed to be debated, saying ‘Speaker McCarthy’ was not a foregone conclusion.

Questions were being asked as to whether McCarthy had the necessary political skills to keep the party in line, if they only win a small majority.

One House Republican source told Fox News that the Freedom Caucus – the most conservative and hard right grouping in the House – would wield substantial power in a narrowly-held House.

‘The Freedom Caucus is more powerful in a smaller majority,’ said one House Republican source. ‘The knives are out. I hope Kevin can pull it out.’

And many of Trump’s allies were encouraging him to reconsider his November 15 announcement. 

Former Trump press secretary Kayleigh McEnany, who now works for Fox News, advised on air that Trump should hold off on an announcement until after the Georgia Senate runoff.

‘I think he needs to put it on pause,’ she said. 

Asked whether Trump should campaign in the state, she said: ‘I think we’ve got to make strategic calculations. 

‘Governor DeSantis, I think he should be welcomed to the state, given what happened last night. You’ve got to look at the realities on the ground.’

Judd Gregg, a former Republican senator for New Hampshire, said the results were shocking.

‘Most people thought the economy being not very good, and with the vote being extremely heavy that more Republicans would do well,’ he said.

People voted on three things, he said: ‘Trump, abortion, and rejection of Republicans who bought into this cult theory of conspiracy.’

Senior doubles dividend but logistics woes weigh on aircraft parts maker

• Senior supplies aircraft parts to companies including Boeing and Rolls-Royce 
• It saw sales grow by around £80m to £482.3m for the first six months of 2023
• The firm benefited from higher energy prices and sustained growth in air travel

By Harry Wise For This Is Money

Updated: 09:25 EDT, 31 July 2023

Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money, and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence.

POPULAR MONEY SECTIONS
Take me to…

Nurses will be given paid time away from the frontline so they can attend management courses and boost their chances of landing senior NHS roles.

Steve Barclay has promised to ‘improve the lives’ of nurses by giving them more chance to progress their career and protecting them from violence.

The health secretary’s olive branch comes as more than 300,000 Royal College of Nursing members are being balloted over industrial action with polls closing tomorrow.

Writing for the Daily Mail, he said he ‘deeply regrets’ recent strikes and wants nurses to be properly represented at the top of the health service, so they have more of a say in how it is run and make it a better place to work.

It is hoped the move will prevent more nurses leaving the profession and improve patient care.

Women fill nine in ten nursing roles but fewer than half of ‘very senior’ NHS manager posts, such as chief executives and directors.

Ministers have offered NHS staff – excluding doctors, dentists and very senior managers – a pay rise of 5 per cent for 2023/24, an average rise of 4.75 per cent for 2022/23 and a one-off bonus payment of up to £3,789.

They also promised to make improvements to non-pay issues.

However, while the deal was accepted by most health unions, the RCN rejected the offer and threatened further strikes in pursuit of a double-digit rise.

Pat Cullen, the RCN’s chief executive, has accused Mr Barclay of being sexist and denying her members a larger rise because they are predominantly female.

More than 650,000 appointments and operations have been cancelled as a result of NHS strikes by the likes of junior doctors, nurses and physiotherapists since December, causing waiting lists to surge to a record 7.4million.

Mr Barclay said: ‘Nurses do an outstanding job at keeping patients safe and went above and beyond the call of duty during the pandemic to care for our loved ones.

‘I deeply regret the strike action we have seen in recent months, which has been disruptive for both staff and patients, and I want to work constructively with unions to improve the lives of staff, starting with delivering the pay deal agreed in May.

‘This week I held a meeting with a group of frontline nurses working across the NHS, from intensive care to mental health, to hear directly from them what matters most.

‘The health and wellbeing of nurses is paramount to making the NHS a better place to work.

‘I want nurses to be given more chances to progress their career by better protecting their training time so they can rise to management levels, mentor newly qualified staff, and have a say in how the NHS is run.’

Mr Barclay said he plans to trial body-worn cameras in the health service and use AI to try to reduce violence against staff after figures showed there have been 6,500 sex attacks in hospitals in three years.

He said: ‘Any kind of violence against staff is unacceptable and should never be allowed to happen in the NHS.

‘I want to create a safe environment for staff, through body-worn camera trials and a national violence prevention.

‘I’ve heard first-hand about some of the vile behaviour staff are subject to and have asked the NHS to explore how to improve the quality of the data available on these incidents, including potentially using artificial intelligence to better identify trends, and working with the police to ensure appropriate action is taken, including prosecution to ensure the NHS is always safe for staff and patients.’

The cabinet minister said NHS staff are receiving the pay rise in their pay packets from this month, meaning a newly qualified nurse will see their salary go up by more than £2,750 over two years up to 2024.

He added: ‘This deal is not just about money though and I understand staffing pressures, professional development and workload are all reasons why nurses can feel undervalued.

‘The NHS will soon publish a long-term workforce plan to grow the number of nurses and improve retention.

‘We’re making progress with 44,000 more nurses working in the NHS compared to September 2019 – but I know there’s further to go.

‘I hope RCN members recognise this is a fair deal and decide it is time to bring industrial action to an end.

‘Whatever the outcome of their ballot I will continue to deliver changes and work with the NHS Staff Council to make the NHS a better place to work so staff can provide the best possible care to patients.’

An RCN spokesperson said: ‘The commitment from the government to improve career development – as well as tackling violence and safer staffing – is positive but nursing staff are eager to see clear progress and not more promises.

‘The simplest way to raise standards is with more nurses and yet there are record unfilled jobs – our professionals are concerned over the impact of low pay and stress driving more people out.

‘The RCN will continue this year to campaign for nursing staff and to hold government to its pledges on valuing our professionals, making the NHS safer and improving cafe for patients.’