DONALD Trump is “livid” and “screaming at everyone” over the Republican party’s poor mid-term election results, it has been reported.
The Republicans have not seen the red wave they’d anticipated, as they’ve been defeated by Democrats in several key races.
One of those was Pennsylvania, where John Fetterman flipped the red Senate state in the Democrats’ favour. The seat is key to their hopes of maintaining control of the chamber.
Pollsters had expected to see a bad night for the Democrats amid high inflation and poor personal approval ratings for Joe Biden.
The main headline for Republicans came in Florida, where Governor Ron DeSantis – who is considered the most likely candidate to take on Trump as the 2024 Republican candidate – was one of the biggest winners.
According to CNN, a Trump adviser said the former president was not handling the results well.
Publicly on Wednesday Trump, who is expected to announce a presidential run in the coming days, told Fox News that DeSantis shouldn’t join the race against him.
"I don't know if he is running. I think if he runs, he could hurt himself very badly. I really believe he could hurt himself badly," Trump told the network.
"I don't think it would be good for the party."
Here are some key points from this year’s US midterm elections:
Republicans had hoped for a wipeout. They did not get it.
After Democrats racked up several hard-fought wins in swing districts, such as Abigail Spanberger’s Virginia seat, the sweeping wins many Republicans predicted had yet to materialise. Meanwhile, the fate of the Democrats’ narrow hold on the US senate is unclear.
Fetterman defeated Republican Dr Mehmet Oz for a crucial Pennsylvania senate seat vacated by retiring Republican senator Pat Toomey.
Democratic senator Raphael Warnock and former NFL star Herschel Walker, a Republican, are locked in a close contest in Georgia.
Meanwhile, the Wisconsin race between Republican senator Ron Johnson and Democrat Mandela Barnes hangs in the balance.
The outcome of the remaining two seats that will determine which party will hold a Senate majority – Arizona and Nevada – may not be known for days, because both states conduct elections in part by mail ballots, which take a long time to count.
