The final results in the two houses of Congress are not yet known. But a huge triumph is no longer possible for the Republicans. The Democrats could even defend their majority in the Senate. Political scientist Reinhard Heinisch sees ex-president Donald Trump as the loser in the midterm elections. “It was an extremely bad night for Donald Trump,” Heinisch said.
By supporting extreme candidates, Trump is partly responsible for the Republicans’ failure to win the Senate. At the same time, his opponent Ron DeSantis had surprisingly clear upper hand in the Florida gubernatorial election. “This shows that the future belongs to these kind of Republicans and not to Trumpism,” said the American expert from the University of Salzburg, who had spent years researching and teaching at the University of Pittsburgh in the main US state of Pennsylvania.
Top Republicans: ‘If we lose, it’s Trump’s fault’
Trump defied his party’s faction leader in the more powerful US House of Representatives, Mitch McConnell, when he nominated Republican candidates for the Senate. In the run-up to the election, he criticized candidates like Herschel Walker in Georgia, saying, “If we lose, it’s Donald Trump’s fault.” That has now happened.
For the Democrats of US President Joe Biden, Heinisch sees “the glass half full and half empty” in an interview with the APA. They would see the result as confirmation that the midterm elections were about fundamental issues, such as defending democracy. “In this environment, Republicans should have suffered a landslide,” Heinisch said, referring to Biden’s poor economic data and low popularity ratings. In addition, the president’s party lost an average of 26 seats in previous midterm elections. However, the Republicans won only a few seats and would have a “very thin majority” in the House of Representatives in the future.
Concerns about the future of democracy
The Austrian political scientist expressed his concern about the future of American democracy. Their problem is that one of the two parties is “so borderline democratic and the other always has to win”. In addition, the far-right camp within Republican MPs has grown from 60 to an estimated 100. At the same time, Heinisch referred to a New York Times calculation according to which 300 people were elected at various levels in Tuesday’s election, linking conspiracy theories to the Trump lost in 2020 election.
Further political developments depend on what lessons Republicans draw from the election results and whether the moderate or more radical camp prevails. Trump himself is likely to rely on a “now-right strategy” and “see how far he can get with it.” However, given the narrow majority in the House of Representatives, moderate Republicans may not support this course and drop out.
Source: Krone
I’m Wayne Wickman, a professional journalist and author for Today Times Live. My specialty is covering global news and current events, offering readers a unique perspective on the world’s most pressing issues. I’m passionate about storytelling and helping people stay informed on the goings-on of our planet.
