A gander through the channels of establishment conservative media displays a common thread in the wake of the midterm elections: “Republicans underperformed. The Red Wave failed to materialize. And the #1 culprit is Donald Trump.”
The criticism of Trump has been heavy in one unexpected sphere: The outlets comprising the media empire of Rupert Murdoch.
As the Associated Press notes, one of the most excoriating critiques of Trump’s supposed hand in the Republicans’ failure was at the New York Post, which on Thursday published a front cover of Trump caricatured as the famous nursery rhyme character “Humpty Dumpty,” along with the headline “Trumpty Dumpty.”
“Don (who couldn’t build a wall) had a great fall — can all of the GOP’s men put the party back together again?” wrote the paper.
Taking the attacks further, the Post’s website ran a piece by columnist John Podhoretz in which he wrote of “Toxic Trump,” calling the leader of the MAGA movement “the political equivalent of a can of Raid” and “perhaps the most profound vote repellent in modern American history.”
Notably, the Post published an editorial calling on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to run for president, as well as a newspaper cover of DeSantis accompanied by a headline that read “DeFuture.”
Another Murdoch fixture, The Wall Street Journal, put out an editorial titled “Trump is the Republican Party’s Biggest Loser.”
And, without naming names, Fox News Host Laura Ingraham said on her program that the populist movement is about ideas, not about one specific person. “If the voters conclude that you’re putting your own ego or your own grudges ahead of what’s good for the country, they’re going to look elsewhere,” she told viewers.
“Does Trump win?” Fox News host Jesse Watters said Wednesday of a potential rematch between Trump and Biden. “I hope so. I love the guy. A week ago, I would have said slam dunk. But after how last night shook out, I don’t know now. Democrats will walk over hot coals to vote against Trump, but will Republicans do that to vote against Joe Biden?”
In general, the talking point from the mainstream talking heads has been that Trump handpicked and endorsed far-right candidates who proved to be unelectable, while also bringing down otherwise electable Republicans with his supposedly damaged brand.
In particular, the 45th president has been blamed for the losses of U.S. Senate candidates Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania, Don Bolduc in New Hampshire, and Blake Masters in Arizona, along with the GOP’s lackluster performance in picking up seats in the House.
Pointing to these specific losses, the Journal blasted Trump for his “perfect record of electoral defeat.”
“Democrats succeeded again in making Trump a central campaign issue, and Mr. Trump helped them do it,” the paper wrote.
But should Americans be so quick to buy in to this latest narrative when the mainstream media has so often given us reason to doubt what it’s selling?
Dr. Gina Loudon, media personality and former official in the Trump campaign, cautioned the public against believing the media spin that Trump is to blame for the GOP’s recent travails.
In an article at The National Pulse, Loudon stressed that Trump has won 219 out of 239 endorsements, and wrote:
MAGA Republicans should also remember that they also do not simply fight the corporate media, the left, and the far left all at the same time. They also fight the same Republican moderates who are now whipping up division inside the party. Think about it. In the week Republicans retake the House, and probably the Senate, win a host of victories around the country and with more to come — the corporate Republican class wants to pick a fight with the man and the movement that got us here.
For example, the establishment GOP in Pennsylvania was dead set against Colonel Doug Mastriano, and they worked hand-in-hand with Democrats to defeat him. When your gubernatorial candidate is being attacked from all sides, including your own, your Senate candidate will also be dragged down, along with congressional candidates on the ballot.
If the GOP had actually rallied around the top of the ticket — Mastriano and Oz — they could have won together and delivered a down-ticket boost. But not only did the GOP establishment in that state lose the governor and the U.S. Senate race, they lost congressional races that should have been pickups. The blame lies with them, and they know it. Hence their projection — as always — onto Trump.
During an appearance on Breitbart News Daily, Washington Times editor Charlie Hurt similarly defended Trump and rebuked the Republican establishment.
Bringing up several establishment candidates who lost their races, such as Republican senatorial candidate Joe O’Dea, Hurt asked, “If you’re the establishment Republican Party, and you’re so … good at all this stuff, then why [do] you pick candidates that even your own voters don’t support?”
