Amid Feud With DeSantis, Many Republicans Turn on Trump

Many conservative politicians and media figures were quick to blame former President Donald Trump after voters refused to give Republicans their expected “red wave” on Election Day. 

For Context: With record inflation and favorable poll numbers, Republicans expected to perform better than they did. However, many Trump-backed candidates failed to meet these expectations. Trump has also been feuding with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, whom he labeled “DeSanctimonious” at a recent event. DeSantis won reelection over challenger Charlie Crist (D) by nearly 20 percentage points on Tuesday. By comparison, Trump won Florida by about 3 points in 2020.

What the Right Said: AllSides could find no opinion from the right that fully defended Trump, but one writer in The Bulwark (Lean Right bias) argued it wasn’t all Trump’s fault. Coverage critical of Trump was common; the New York Post (Lean Right bias) published covers on “DeFUTURE” and “Trumpty Dumpty,” a National Review (Right bias) news headline said Trump was having a “Post-Midterm Tantrum,” a Newsmax (Right bias) columnist said Trump “shouldn’t run again,” a Fox News (Right bias) columnist said DeSantis was “the new Republican Party leader,” and one writer in The Federalist (Right bias) said Trump “increasingly seems like yesterday’s man.”

What the Left said: Voices from the left generally passively agreed with the right’s conclusions about Trump’s impact — but didn’t like DeSantis either. An MSNBC (Left bias) columnist said DeSantis’ “rise is because of his authoritarian sympathies and attitudes, not in spite of them.”