For Donald Trump, success is everything.
On the campaign trail in 2016, he proclaimed, “We’re going to win so much.” “You’ll become weary of succeeding. Please Mr. President, I have a headache, you’re going to say. Please try to win less often. It’s getting really bad. And I’ll respond, “No, we need to make America great once more.” You’re going to request something. “Nope, nope,” I said. We’re going to continue winning.
With all due respect to DJ Khaled, Trump’s entire brand is centred around the idea that all he does is win. He believes that being wealthy makes him the greatest winner in life. He is prosperous! He’s well-known! … the losers and the haters are the only ones who don’t recognise that.
Except that, at least in politics, Trump has much more losses than victories.
Yes, Trump prevailed in the 2016 presidential election. However, the following events have occurred since then:
* In 2018, the Republicans lost control of the House.
* Trump lost the 2020 presidential election.
* In 2021, Republicans lost their majority in the Senate.
* In the 2022 midterm elections, Republicans drastically underperformed despite strong expectations.
A recent opinion piece from the Wall Street Journal editorial board makes the point that it’s time for the Republican Party to move on from the former president by focusing on his rather shaky record.
The op-ed claims that “Mr. Trump has mishandled the 2022 elections, and it might give Democrats the Senate for two more years.” “Mr. Trump enjoyed policy victories as President, such as tax cuts and deregulation, but he has led Republicans into one electoral disaster after another.”
That’s right, exactly!
One of the more perplexing aspects of Trump’s continuous appeal to the Republican Party, at least to me, is his capacity to hold onto power in spite of manifestly subpar performance. According to nationwide exit polling, only 39% of the midterm voter had a favourable opinion of him.
Regarding Trump’s track record as the Republican Party’s leader, there is virtually no question. He has repeatedly presided over large defeats and underwhelming performances. He has supported candidates who have little support outside of the most fervent elements of the Republican base and who have fallen short of victory in races where they could have won. He has turned off moderates, independents, and even a sizable portion of Republicans.
It’s difficult for me to envision lawmakers continuing to bow down to ANY other leader if they had the kind of electoral record that Trump touts. To remove the stench of loss, there might even be some effort to push that politician aside.
Why hasn’t Trump experienced that? It’s due to the fact that Trump has never conceded a loss, whether it be in the 2020 presidential election or any of the other elections I mentioned above.
While the results of the election yesterday were mixed in some ways, from my perspective, they represented a significant victory (219 wins and 16 losses in the General). Who has ever performed better than that?, Trump questioned on Wednesday on his Truth Social website.
But the facts are the facts. Since his unexpected victory in 2016, Trump has lost on every occasion. The current question is whether Republican voters recognise that reality.
