Donald Trump and the GOP in 2024: The Postmortem on the epoch of democracy and the defeat of the Republicans in Nevada

In interviews following the midterm elections, some former and current Republican members of Congress wouldn’t commit to a Donald Trump bid for the presidency in 2024.

With the results still being counted in some states, numerous sitting members and former lawmakers took aim at the former president for the party’s subpar results:

Troy Nehls said there was a lot of negative attitudes towards Trump on the Houston Morning News. The Texas conservative once called Trump one of America’s greatest presidents after winning his endorsement in spring 2022.

Former Sen. Rick Santorum: On the Dom Giordano program, a conservative talk radio station in Pennsylvania, Santorum compared Trump to Moses in the Bible — but said it was time to move on.

Santorum said that he didn’t think it was the right guy to lead the party in an era of governance and prosperity.

Walker, who was the vice chair of the Republican Conference, criticized Trump for backing Mehmet Oz and others on the North Carolina radio station. Trump backed Walker’s opponent in the Republican primary for North Carolina’s Senate seat, Ted Budd — who went on to win the race this week.

“I hope that President Trump, as he moves forward, really does a postmortem and thinks what this means to his message,” said Walberg, who Trump endorsed this cycle.

The divisions were certain to consume the House as well, as Representative Kevin McCarthy is trying to rally support behind his bid to be speaker of the House. Jason Miller, a strategist assisting Mr. Trump with his campaign announcement, warned Friday, speaking on Steve Bannon’s internet radio show, that Mr. McCarthy “must be much more declarative that he supports President Trump” in 2024.

The Republicans speaking out have previously supported Mr. Trump and his policies. While they long privately claimed to disdain Mr. Trump’s politics, they were fearful of crossing the party’s base.

The party is reaping political consequences. Trump-backed candidates lost key Senate races in Pennsylvania and Arizona, as well as several House races from Alaska to North Carolina. On Saturday, the Democrats won control of the Senate with a hard-fought re- election victory in Nevada. Both parties did not obtain a majority in the House despite predictions.

The editorial page of The Wall Street Journal, which is owned by the conservative media baron Murdoch, called for Mr. Trump to be thrown away after the election. Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears of Virginia and Robin Vos, the powerful Assembly speaker in Wisconsin — both major Trump allies during and after his presidency — said Mr. Trump shouldn’t be the party’s presidential nominee in 2024.

Moderate Republicans used the moment to slam the party’s plunge into conspiracy theories and divisive issues. Romney called for a return to fiscal conservativism. Chris Sununu said in the radio interview that Mr. Trump risked making the Republicans look bad in Georgia.

And Senator Charles E. Grassley of Iowa, who spoke at a Trump rally in Sioux City days before the election, said on Twitter that it was time to move on from Mr. Trump’s pet issue. He said to stop talking in 2020.