Republicans turn on Trump after midterm defeat, call results ‘disaster of first magnitude’

Republicans have turned against US President Donald Trump following the party's midterm election defeat, with one senior party figure calling the outcome a "total, complete rejection" of the president and describing it as a "disaster of the first magnitude".US President Donald Trump remained largely silent as the results came in before responding on Truth Social after Democrats secured both chambers of Congress. (Bloomberg File)Democrats won control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate in Tuesday's elections, making significant gains in traditionally Republican strongholds, including Texas, Kansas and South Carolina.Within the Republican Party, the initial shock over the results soon turned into anger directed at Trump, with several party members arguing that his leadership and focus on personal projects had contributed to the losses, the BBC reported.Track US midterm elections results LIVE updates here.‘Complete rejection of President Trump’"It's on him. It's not on anybody else.

It's a total, complete rejection of President Trump," Bill Miller, a top Republican lobbyist in Texas, told the BBC. “This is a disaster of the first magnitude. Nobody saw it coming like this.”However, some party strategists said Trump's low approval ratings, controversial policies, and focus on construction projects in Washington had further damaged their prospects, the report added.Gregg Peppin, a Republican strategist in Minnesota, said the party’s campaign was marked by repeated missteps and that voters across several states had rejected the president’s policies.A White House ally attributed the losses to growing public dissatisfaction over the Iran war, tariffs and the administration's immigration crackdown, describing the combination as a "perfect storm".The person said there was "palpable frustration [within] the party about how this has all played out", adding that much of the anger was directed at Trump and that dissatisfaction with him was "extremely high".Steve Scheffler, the Republican National Committeeman in Iowa, had defended Trump's influence ahead of the election, saying he did not believe it was weakening.

However, he acknowledged that "there were things you wish he said differently" when it came to the midterms.Republicans blame candidate qualityTrump's allies argued that it was unfair to hold the president solely responsible for the Republican losses. They pointed to the historical trend of the ruling party losing ground in midterm elections and blamed weak Republican candidates in competitive states such as Georgia, Michigan and Texas, BBC reported.However, some Republicans rejected the argument that candidate quality was responsible for the setback.

A senior Senate Republican official told POLITICO that the scale of the defeat went beyond individual candidates.“We are beyond candidate quality. It’s a bloodbath,” the official said. “Trump did this.”Bobby Charles, a former Republican candidate for governor in Maine, meanwhile, expressed optimism about the party's future, pointing to Trump's departure from office in two years.“It sounds a little ironic,” he told POLITICO. “but I am nevertheless optimistic for the future because Trump’s going to be gone in two years.”A Republican operative involved in campaigns in swing states also described the election outcome as a "perfect storm" of “just incompetence”.Trump reacts to defeatTrump remained largely silent as the results came in before responding on Truth Social after Democrats secured both chambers of Congress."I wasn't on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!

Thank you for your attention to this matter," he wrote.In subsequent interviews with The New York Times and Fox News, Trump said he would accept the election results. He also said he was "a little bit surprised" by the outcome but pointed out that the president's party typically performs poorly in midterm elections.On the other hand, the White House reminded Americans that Donald Trump remains president with a social media post on X featuring his photograph and the message, “PSA: Trump is still your president.”The post ended with the phrase, “Thank you for your attention to this matter".