True to form, the ex-president had wanted this election to be all about him. His rallies, nominally staged to boost support for Republican candidates in whichever state he had landed in, were intensely focused on himself.
At an event in Latrobe, Pennsylvania, on Saturday he spoke only fleetingly of the men running for governor or senator, devoting most of his two-hour speech either to relitigating the past - insisting, against all evidence, that the 2020 election was stolen - or hinting at a glorious future, talking up his prospects for retaking the presidency in 2024.
When he projected charts onto the giant screens, the graphics did not make a case for why Democrats deserved to lose their majorities in Congress, still less offer policy remedies for how the Republicans would combat inflation or crime. No, they showed a series of opinion polls, each one confirming how Trump remained the Republican faithful's favourite, miles in front of any would-be rival.
As things turned out, the expresident's trademark narcissism was not so wide of the mark. In a way, the 2022 midterms were indeed all about him - just not in the way he had hoped.
Trump, like so many others, had assumed Tuesday would see a red wave rolling across America. But even if his party does eke out an eventual congressional win, there was no Republican tsunami. "Definitely not a Republican wave, that's for darn sure," admitted the senator and tireless Trump sycophant Lindsey Graham.
This story is from the November 10, 2022 edition of The Guardian.
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This story is from the November 10, 2022 edition of The Guardian.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
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