In recent weeks, control of the U.S. Senate looked achievable for the first time in months. Yet, thanks to the underperformance of some of Donald Trump’s hand-picked candidates, that path to a majority is exceptionally slim — things look good for Laxalt in Nevada, which means that control of the Senate will come down to a runoff election in Georgia.
Winning control of the U.S. Senate would allow the GOP to block Biden from filling the judiciary with leftist judges, yet, on Tuesday night, when Colorado Republican candidate Joe O’Dea’s lost to incumbent Democrat Sen. Michael Bennet, Trump’s reaction was, to say the least, shocking.
“Joe O’Dea lost BIG! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!” Trump posted to Truth Social, his social media platform.
Celebrating losing what would have been a crucial senate seat pick up even as odds the GOP takes a majority fade away. 🧢 pic.twitter.com/9HUSf1xnHM
— Cernovich (@Cernovich) November 9, 2022
Why would Trump cheer the defeat of a Republican? The reason is that O’Dea has publicly distanced himself from Trump and recently said he would campaign against Trump if he ran for president again. O’Dea’s chances of unseating Bennet were slim, as Bennet maintained a steady lead over O’Dea throughout the campaign. Nevertheless, the polling gap between the candidates did tighten, and Republicans were hoping for a potential upset.
Trump’s attacks on O’Dea during the campaign and following his defeat are symptomatic of the problem that Trump presents for the GOP. Trump’s influence over the party is strong, but Trump continually proves he’s more motivated by his ego than by helping the party. That will always be a problem as Trump remains active in the party. He seems intent on announcing his 2024 campaign next week, and, unfortunately, that decision looks increasingly like a mistake.
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