(NewsNation) — After an expected “red wave” in the midterm elections fizzled out for the GOP, some Republicans are calling on former President Donald Trump to postpone an announcement he has planned for next week.
Political analysts anticipated many wins for Republicans in the 2022 midterms, but this didn’t end up being the case. Even candidates endorsed by Trump didn’t do as well as expected.
In light of this, some of Trump’s advisers are advising the former president to push back what he teased as a “big announcement” on Nov. 15 at Mar-a-Lago. Previous reports have indicated he could announce a 2024 run for president sometime that week.
The Washington Post reports that the reason Trump’s advisers are asking him to reschedule is the Senate runoff election in Georgia, where “Trump’s handpicked Senate candidate” Herschel Walker is facing incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, as neither candidate got the 50% threshold of votes required in the midterms. The runoff will be Dec. 6.
“Everything is about Herschel. I’ll be advising him to put it off until after the runoff,” Jason Miller, a longtime adviser and sometime spokesman for Trump, said, according to the Post. “I’m not alone when I say President Trump’s best moves are to put all his efforts to get Herschel Walker elected.”
One Republican strategist, John Feehery, who spoke to NewsNation on Wednesday, said Trump’s involvement in the midterms brought extra challenges for the party.
“Everyone’s going to turn to him and say — ‘Why the hell did you open your mouth?'” Feehery said. “You hurt your own cause and you hurt the Republican cause.”
On Truth Social, Trump hit back at criticism that he is to blame for Democrats faring better in the midterms.
“The Fake News writes only unrecognizable junk,” he said. “No wonder they are all doing sooo badly!”
During an interview with NewsNation before the election, Trump said he should “get all the credit” if Republicans do well.
“If they lose, I should not be blamed at all,” he said. “But it’ll probably be just the opposite.”