Fox News host Laura Ingraham expressed outrage at the Republican Party after Herschel Walker’s loss in Tuesday’s Georgia Senate runoff election, which cemented firm control of the Senate for Democrats and served as a final rebuke of former President Trump during this year’s midterm elections.
“We felt this coming. To me, it never felt like the Senate Republicans wanted this guy in office. He was a Trump pick, they didn’t like that … but there wasn’t the intensity on the part of the Republicans as there was on the part of Democrats,” Ingraham said on her show shortly after Tuesday’s runoff had been called for incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock (D). “We have the same people in place in leadership. The same people in place, apparently, at the RNC [Republican National Committee], perhaps that’s not changing. We just keep doing the same thing over and over again. I’m pissed tonight, frankly. I’m mad.”
Walker’s loss was the final one by a number of candidates who had Trump’s midterm election backing but either underperformed — winning by less than expected — or lost outright to Democrats.
Leading Senate Republicans, most notably Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Ky.), did not embrace Walker as a candidate and spoke openly about “candidate quality” problems facing the GOP in this year’s cycle.
Trump’s endorsement also hung over House races this year, with the GOP netting only a slim majority in the lower chamber despite prognostications from many that a “red wave” was forthcoming.
Ingraham’s comments come as a number of conservative media pundits, including some on Fox News, have either blamed Trump for this year’s GOP midterm performance or suggested the party seek new leadership. Trump has announced his intention to seek the Republican nomination for president in 2024.
Last month, during an interview with The Hill, Ingraham did not answer a question about whether Trump should be the leader of the Republican Party, but said the conservative movement moving forward should be focused on populism more generally.
