‘A Warning to Mr. Trump’: Wall Street Journal Declares Election Results a ‘Backlash’ to the ‘Trump-Musk Governing Style’
(Alex Brandon/AP Photo)
The Wall Street Journal called Tuesday night’s election results a “backlash” to the “Trump-Musk governing style” in a new editorial after Democrats made gains in two red Florida congressional districts and easily dispatched a Republican-backed opponent in a Wisconsin state Supreme Court race.
Under the headline “The MAGA Backlash Arrives,” the Journal called “the comfortable win” by Democratic Judge Susan Crawford “the second sign in two weeks of a political backlash against the Trump Presidency.”
“Democrats turned out in large numbers to defeat Republican Judge Brad Schimel in a race where the two sides may have spent as much as $100 million. Democrats sought to make the race a referendum on Elon Musk and Donald Trump, and Mr. Musk responded by trying to mobilize the Trump voters who tend to stay home in spring elections. The Democratic bet paid off,” observed the editorial. “That’s a warning to the GOP that the Trump-Musk governing style is stirring a backlash that could cost them control of Congress next year. All the more so given the results in two special House races in Florida Tuesday to replace a pair of Republicans.”
The right-of-center newspaper also submitted that the results “are a warning to Mr. Trump to focus on what got him re-elected — especially prices and growth in real incomes after inflation.”
“His willy-nilly tariff agenda undermining stock prices and consumer and business confidence isn’t helping,” it added before suggesting “the MAGA majority may have a shorter run than advertised.”
Musk’s role in Republican politics was being scrutinized even prior to Tuesday’s disappointing results for the GOP. One House Republican recently told Politico’s Jonathan Martin that an “April 1st massacre” would be “a beautiful thing,” before explaining that such an outcome might help his colleagues understand how much political damage the world’s richest man is inflicting on the party with his efforts at DOGE and “the shit he puts up on the internet.”
