Trump midterm results-night party at Mar-a-Lago fell flat as candidates he endorsed fell short of victory

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Former President Donald Trump’s plans to claim credit for Republican Party wins in the midterms at triumphant party held at Mar-a-Lago party fell flat as an anticipated “red wave’ of GOP success never appeared. 

Trump had hoped to cement his place as the Republican Party’s king maker at a glitzy party in his resort in Palm Beach, Florida.

He invited influential supporters and members of the media to join him and watch on giant TVs as results flowed in, reports said.

But major GOP successes never came, and results as of Wednesday morning were mixed. A slew of candidates Trump had endorsed fell short, most prominently Mehmet Oz, who was beaten by Democrat John Fetterman in the Pennsylvania Senate race, damaging GOP hopes of winning control of the upper chamber. 

Trump’s remarks at the event were muted, as results early Wednesday suggested a bleak outlook.

“Interesting evening,” he said. “There are some races that are hot and heavy, and we’re all watching them here.”

The New York Times reported that Trump appeared uninterested in making any remarks to the crowd as results came in.  

He said nothing in his remarks to reporters of Ron DeSantis, who won a sweeping reelection victory as Florida governor. DeSantis is considered Trump’s leading rival for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination. 

Trump had hoped to use a wave of victories by his endorsed candidates to burnish his status as the frontrunner for the 2024 GOP nomination.

But apart from the Pennsylvania senate election, there was also disappointment for Trump in the state’s governor race, where Republican Doug Mastriano was defeated by Democrat Josh Shapiro. In Arizona, Kari Lake and Blake Masters ran on an ardently pro-Trump platform in the gubernatorial and senate races respectively, but as of early Wednesday both were trailing their Democratic rivals. 

In Georgia, Trump-endorsed Senate candidate Herschel Walker could be set for a runoff election against Democratic rival Raphael Warnock, with the race on a knife-edge.

There was better news for Trump in Ohio, where his endorsed candidate, JD Vance, held the state’s senate seat for the GOP.

Trump has endorsed around 300 candidates in the midterms, many of whom embrace his bogus election fraud claims.

As more data came in, some Republicans began blaming Trump directly for the poor midterm results.