Dem
54
Ties
1
GOP
45
Donald Trump increasingly understands the Republicans will lose the House and possibly also the Senate. He has also been campaigning like crazy all over the country, as shown below:
Some people are going to put 1 plus 1 together and get 2 (or 10 in binary). Hmm, Trump made the midterms about himself and Republicans lost. Time to start warming up for the blame game. Trump never accepts blame for anything. He blamed his 2020 loss on (imaginary) voter fraud. Ahead of the 2022 midterms, he said that if Republicans won, he should get all the credit but if they lost, he should get none of the blame.
Trump is a true master at the game of blaming someone else and he is just itching for it to start. One of his targets will be James Blair, who runs his most important super PAC, MAGA Inc. Trump hates spending money and getting nothing in return. Blair has been spending millions of dollars from MAGA Inc. and Ken Paxton is still behind in Texas, Sen. Jon Husted is still behind in Ohio, both Dan Sullivans are still behind in Alaska, and Ashley Hinson is roughly even in Iowa. To Trump, this is a sign of incompetence (rather than a sign that yelling LEFT-WING-RADICAL-SOCIALIST-PINKO-MARXIST-COMMIE day and night doesn't actually work anymore, especially with younger voters who rather like the idea). Trump especially doesn't like the fact that Blair traveled this month to Republika Srpska, a self-governing region in Bosnia, for a very lucrative deal advising the regional government ahead of local elections. What was Blair doing moonlighting in some place whose name he can't even pronounce instead of spending every waking hour winning House and Senate races?
Another target will be Chris LaCivita, Trump's 2024 campaign co-manager, who was also off in that unpronounceable place with Blair making big bucks trying to defeat God-only-knows-who instead of working to defeat Democrats from Texas to Alaska. Trump has abruptly distanced himself from both men, calling them "outside consultants," to try to hide the fact that they are among his closest political henchmen.
Sources say that Blair and LaCivita asked chief of staff Susie Wiles for permission to take on the [unpronounceable] gig and she approved. Other people in Trump's orbit are starting to eye Wiles as a target, especially people who are eyeing her job. These include Stephen Miller, Bill Pulte and Steve Witkoff. If things go south on Nov. 3, by Nov. 4, they will be howling at the moon for her head on a pike. There are rumors that she may quit in January, no matter what, because she is simply burned out by the very high pressure job, especially managing all the infighting. This will simply make her an easier target since her departure will look like a smart power play by her rivals, even if it really isn't.
Sources say that it was Wiles who set up Katie Zacharia's fatal interview on Fox that was the last straw for Trump and got her canned before making even half a Scaramucci. Her appointment made Trump look incompetent for picking someone so incompetent. If Wiles played a key role in this whole debacle, that won't endear her to Trump and could make her a scapegoat for a possible election disaster. Trump is now defending Wiles, but that could change quickly if there is a blue tsunami.
Another possible target after the midterms is Project Redistricting. At its core, it was a decision to spread Republican voters thinly and create many Republican districts with narrow majorities instead of fewer districts with solid Republican majorities. In Texas, the new map was based on the 2024 election results, which assumed Latinos will vote Republican in droves. If they don't—and polls show they won't—someone has to be blamed for the incredibly stupid idea of redrawing the maps mid-cycle. Who can be blamed? Maybe Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX)? Maybe Ken Paxton? Maybe the Redistricting Fairy? It is a puzzle, but Trump is surely working on it. (V)