The MAGA blame game began in earnest after Republicans suffered a midterm shellacking, with a growing chorus of prominent right-wing voices pointing the finger at President Donald Trump. While some of his closest allies stayed silent, the recriminations flowed freely across social media and podcasts, targeting everything from the president’s foreign policy to his personal focus.
Trump Lashes Out at Fox News
As results rolled in Tuesday night, Trump took to Truth Social to attack Fox News for giving airtime to Democratic victors who won in deep red states and captured both the House and Senate. He later called into the network to congratulate the Democrats on their wins. The president also rejected any suggestion that the outcome reflected his own standing, writing that he was not on the ballot and claiming a landslide victory if he had been. He followed that with an of a red hat bearing the word VETO.
But the president’s defiance did little to calm his base.
Podcasters and Pundits Sound Off
Right-wing podcaster Matt Walsh described the results as a political catastrophe of historic proportions and labeled Trump an 80-year-old lame-duck president. Walsh blamed the president’s decision to start a war with Iran and his attention to trivial matters, including attempts to rename artificial intelligence and the White House ballroom.
Commentator Mike Cernovich faulted Trump for ostracizing libertarian voters. Mike Flynn, the disgraced former national security adviser, wrote on X that someone needed to look in a mirror, also blaming Christians for not turning out.
Conspiracy theorist Alex Jones offered perhaps the most dramatic break. On his show Tuesday night, Jones declared that he now believes Trump is a Democrat, calling him the ultimate Democrat sleeper cell. Jones said he had tried to salvage Trump but was now fully at war with him.
Others, such as Jack Posobiec and Nick Sortor, blamed the Iran war for the losses without directly naming Trump. Former congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, who broke with Trump earlier this year, called the night a total referendum on the president, noting that he had told people to vote as if he were on the ballot.
Silence From Key Allies
Notably, some of Trump’s biggest supporters have said little. Elon Musk, who spent hundreds of millions supporting losing Republican candidates, did not assign blame. He joked that his election-interfering space lasers did not work this time and commented that an exit poll showing the Iran war as a massive losing issue was interesting.
Influencer Rogan O’Handley, known as DC Draino, has not publicly reacted. House Speaker Mike Johnson, who was reelected, called the results not what Republicans had hoped and fought for but did not say who was to blame. White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller has also remained silent, while his wife, Katie Miller, blamed the media, calling it a propaganda arm of the woke left.
A Few Defenders Remain
A handful of right-wing figures continued to back the president. MAGA influencer Laura Loomer praised Trump as a hero for stopping Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon and urged him to finish the job. Former Fox News host Lara Logan blamed an anonymous group of Republicans for conspiring to defeat the MAGA movement. Chaya Raichik of Libs of TikTok blamed a years-long Democratic plot to import millions of foreigners.
Kari Lake, Trump’s nominee for ambassador to Jamaica, refused to blame the president and continued to raise questions about election integrity. Harrison Smith, a host on Steve Bannon’s War Room, directed his anger at fellow right-wing influencers, blaming Loomer, Ben Shapiro, Mark Levin, Will Chamberlain, and AIPAC for the losses.
Former homeland security secretary Kristi Noem took a different tack, posting that the massive losses occurred because the administration was too successful in its first year.
