Donald Trump is playing defence the only way he knows how after the Republican Party failed to present a strong showing in Tuesday’s midterm elections and left both the Senate and House Democratic majorities still potentially intact.
The ex-president went on his Truth Social platform Thursday morning to denounce media reports that he was furious at his own allies for the inability of the GOP to conclusively capture the House and Senate.
He specifically denied a piece of reporting claiming that he blamed his wife, Melania Trump, for convincing him to endorse Dr Mehmet Oz, the GOP candidate who was defeated in the race for Pennsylvania’s open Senate seat.
“For those many people that are being fed the fake narrative from the corrupt media that I am Angry about the Midterms, don’t believe it. I am not at all angry, did a great job (I wasn’t the one running!), and am very busy looking into the future. Remember, I am a ’Stable Genius,’” he posted.
In another post, he wrote: “There is a Fake Story being promulgated by third rate reporter Maggie Hagaman of the Failing New York Times, that I am blaming our great former First Lady, Melania, and Sean Hannity, that I was angry with their pushing me to Endorse Dr. Oz. First of all Oz is a wonderful guy who really worked hard and was a very good candidate, but he WAS LONG IN THE RACE before I ever Endorsed him, they had NOTHING to do with it, he was not a “denier” (his mistake!), & I was not at all ANGRY. Fake News!”
The claim was made by Maggie Haberman, a well-sourced reporter on the Trumpworld beat for the New York Times. Haberman tweeted on Wednesday: "Trump is indeed furious this morning, particularly about Mehmet Oz, and is blaming everyone who advised him to back Oz – including his wife, describing it as not her best decision, according to people close to him."
Dr Oz narrowly won the GOP Senate primary in Pennsylvania earlier this year after securing Mr Trump’s endorsement, defeating two conservative rivals who had both competed for the Trump-aligned electorate in the race. At the time of Mr Trump’s decision, his endorsement of Dr Oz was unpopular with many conservative and far-right pundits given Dr Oz’s lackluster conservative bonafides.
Those concerns would be borne out over the summer as Dr Oz was relentlessly pilloried by his now-victorious opponent, John Fetterman, for his history of living in New Jersey and thin connections to the state which he hoped to represent. Republicans saw a resurgence in the early fall as a wave of national ad spending swamped the Democratic ticket, but in the end it proved unable to overcome the lieutenant governor’s campaign as he forced the GOP nominee to compete even in deep-red areas.
The midterms in general were a blow to Donald Trump as many GOP primaries around the country were decided on the basis of his endorsement and thus many have blamed the former president for the GOP’s poor showing. A wave of editorials in right-leaning media outlets followed the GOP’s lackluster performance, triggering the ex-president’s reaction.
