Tucker Carlson Casts Doubt on Trump’s Role in GOP Midterm Struggles: Lost Races That ‘Had Nothing to Do with Trump’
Tucker Carlson said the question of whether former President Donald Trump cost Republicans seats in Tuesday’s election is “complicated.”
In the wake of the GOP’s underwhelming performance, which will likely give the party a small House majority while Democrats may hold the Senate, Carlson addressed Republicans’ concerns about Trump’s role.
The ex-president endorsed several candidates who raised eyebrows among party leaders. Trump tended to gravitate toward politicians who repeated his false claim the 2020 election was stolen from him. He also appeared to have an affinity for celebrities and TV personalities, as he endorsed former news anchor Kari Lake, former TV doctor Mehmet Oz, and former football star Herschel Walker.
Oz lost his Pennsylvania Senate race, while Walker is headed for a runoff next month in Georgia. Lake is currently trailing her gubernatorial race in Arizona
“The question is why did Republicans underperform last night?” Carlson asked on Wednesday night. “People are saying it’s about abortion. Suburban ladies are mad about Roe. That’s certainly plausible in some places, probably true. On the other hand, a number of resolutely pro-life Republicans thrived statewide.”
He then turned to the possibility that Trump is to blame.
“Many others are saying that Donald Trump is the reason why Republicans didn’t do as well as they thought they would,” Carlson continued. “That’s a more complicated question. The truth is we can’t really see the entire picture this early. The truth is Trump has always been a mixed blessing politically. The downsides are marbled in with the upsides. But in this case, he’s certainly not the single cause of anything. Republicans last night suffered a fair amount of down-ballot losses in races that had nothing to do with Trump.”
Carlson went on to emphasize the importance of “candidate quality,” but he said this matters only to an extent. He pointed to Lt. Gov. John Fetterman’s victory over Oz. Fetterman suffered a stroke in May and has been slowly recovering. The Fox News host has repeatedly called him “brain-damaged.”
“Did the voters of Pennsylvania really want a brain-damaged candidate who’s never had a real job?” Carlson added. “Probably not. You’ve gotta give them credit for at least knowing who they were voting for. And they voted for John Fetterman.”
Watch above via Fox News.
