With Democrats performing far above expectations in this year’s midterm elections, and an expected “red wave” of Republican victories failing to materialize, conservative media has started the hunt for who on their side should take the blame. Many conservatives, including some within the Murdoch media empire of Fox News and the New York Post, seem to have soured (for now) on disgraced ex-president Donald Trump and existing Republican leadership. Some others have gone as far as to anoint Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) as the future of their party following his easy re-election on an otherwise uninspiring night for Republican candidates nationwide.

Many Trump-endorsed candidates lost as Democrats held several competitive congressional seats, and flipped a Senate seat

Politico’s election tracker, which described Tuesday’s elections as a “history-defying midterm,” noted that “Democrats flipped GOP seats in Ohio and Michigan while helping almost all of their high-priority incumbents hang on,” and that “the sheer number of Democratic victories stunned top party operatives.” While many races are still undecided, multiple news organizations have highlighted the poor showing from Republican candidates in competitive races who were endorsed by the insurrectionist former president. Trump was reportedly “fuming,” “livid,” and “screaming at everyone” at the lackluster performance of his candidates. And following the defeat of Dr. Mehmet Oz in Pennsylvania, which flipped a U.S. Senate seat for the Democrats, Trump was reportedly “furious … particularly about Mehmet Oz, and is blaming everyone who advised him to back Oz -- including his wife.”

Some in conservative media blame Trump for midterms performance

As furious as Trump may be at others, some Republicans and many right-wing media figures are furious at him and even openly criticizing his leadership. Even Fox News, which has had Trump’s back throughout the years, is highlighting conservatives who have seemingly had enough of him.

• FoxNews.com: “Conservatives point finger at Trump after GOP’s underwhelming election results: ‘He's never been weaker.’” [FoxNews.com, 11/9/22]
• Fox contributor Marc Thiessen: If Trump “cost us … the Senate twice in a row. … I ask people watching the show, how do you feel this morning? Are you disappointed? Are you upset? Do you want to feel that way two years from now on the day after the election? Because that's where we're headed now if we don't change course." [Fox News, America’s Newsroom, 11/9/22]
• Daily Wire founder Ben Shapiro: “Donald Trump certainly is not the leader of the Republican Party. … His priority is not the Republican Party.” [The Daily Wire, The Ben Shapiro Show, 11/9/22]
• The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board: “Trump is the Republican party’s biggest loser.” [The Wall Street Journal, 11/9/22]
• NY Post columnist John Podhoretz: “Here’s how Donald Trump sabotaged the Republican midterms.” [New York Post, 11/9/22]
• Fox guest Dov Hikind pleaded with Trump to “move on” from running for president again: “There’s no question that he hurt candidates all over the country.” [Fox News, Fox & Friends, 11/9/22]
• Talk radio show host Erick Erickson: “Of the $100 million Trump had, he only spent $15 million and saddled the GOP with a lot of clunker candidates. Part of the base, however, would rather blame conspiracies than ever cast doubt on Trump.” [Twitter, 11/9/22]
• National Review’s Charles C.W. Cooke: “Trump is the Republican establishment now. He’s the default, the Man, the swamp. And he’s a loser. Republican voters must respond to last night’s profoundly disappointing midterm-election result by telling the new establishment to pound sand.” [Twitter, 11/9/22]
• Far-right troll Mike Cernovich: “Trumps chosen candidates were on ballot. Tonight was a complete repudiation of him and his obsession with the ‘stolen election’ talking point, which DeSantis and Kemp didn’t push. 2020 was close, so there was an argument for Trump 2024. Tonight wasn’t. There’s no debate now.” [Twitter, 11/9/22]
• NY Post’s November 10, 2022, cover: “Trumpty Dumpty: Don (who couldn’t build a wall) had a great fall – can all the GOP’s men put the party back together again?”

Conservatives also demand a change in GOP leadership

Trump wasn’t the only target of conservatives’ ire. Some commentators also called for House Minority Leader Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), and Republican National Committee Chair Ronna McDaniel to be ousted from their leadership positions or prevented from taking any new ones. National Republican Senatorial Committee Chair Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) also received a dishonorable mention for being “on vacation in Italy while the NRSC was running out of money.”

• Fox host Tucker Carlson: “Republican leadership of the House, and the Senate, and of the RNC … should go do something else now” because they failed to conjure a sweeping Republican victory. [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 11/9/22]
• Fox contributor Katie Pavlich: “There are big questions about Kevin McCarthy. … In August, Rick Scott was on vacation in Italy while the NRSC was running out of money.” [Fox News, America’s Newsroom, 11/9/22]
• Shapiro: “Kevin McCarthy is not an inspiring figure in any way, shape or form. … I don’t see how you can underperform to this extent and still hope to be seen as sort of the durable leader of the Republican Party in the House.” [The Daily Wire Election Night 2022, 11/9/22]
• Media Research Center founder Brent Bozell: “McCarthy’s hot air agenda bombed. Watching the GOP limp over the finish line is an embarrassment. McCarthy.Must.Go.” [Twitter, 11/9/22]
• Bozell: “This summer Mitch McConnell publicly declared the GOP stood for nothing. Apparently voters believed him. Will the Senate GOP have the guts to replace him for once and for all?” [Twitter, 11/9/22]
• Newsmax host Chris Salcedo: “Mr. McConnell's PAC pulled vital dollars from key Senate races where conservatives very much needed his help, diverting those funds instead to defeat other conservatives.” [Newsmax, The Chris Salcedo Show, 11/9/22]
• Right-wing podcaster Mike Crispi: “Kevin McCarthy and @GOPChairwoman are an utter disgrace.” [Twitter, 11/9/22]
• Newsmax’s Jenna Ellis: “Kevin McCarthy absolutely should not be speaker if GOP gets control of the House.” [Twitter, 11/9/22]
• The National Pulse’s Raheem Kassam: “Getting texts from MAGA coattail riders who are now flipping on Trump. Same people who backed Cruz etc in 2016. They don’t get it. This poor performance reveals McCarthy, McConnell, and McDaniel need ousting. Trump didn’t run these campaigns. They did. Appallingly.” [Twitter, 11/9/22]

Conservatives endorse DeSantis — not Trump — as the Republicans’ future

Besides blaming Trump, conservative media figures gushed over DeSantis as the potential new leader of the GOP, notably in Murdoch media outlets such as Fox News and the New York Post, which had previously backed Trump to the hilt.

• NY Post columnist Michael Goodwin: “Ron DeSantis shows he’s future of the GOP.” [New York Post, 11/9/22]
• FoxNews.com: “Conservative Twitter ready to crown DeSantis 'head of the party' after decisive election win.” [FoxNews.com, 11/9/22]
• Fox News columnist Liz Peek: “Ron DeSantis is the new Republican Party leader.” [FoxNews.com, 11/9/22]
• Fox Business host Stuart Varney: “If there is a Trump-DeSantis contest, it will be between a forward-looking landslide winner, and a backward-looking former president who cannot accept his loss. Florida is the turning point for the Republican Party.” [Fox Business, Varney & Co., 11/9/22]
• Fox Business host Charles Payne: “I really believe that this is DeSantis’ party right now. And I really believe that Trump could play a great role if he would play a great role, and not try to mess things up.” (Varney replied to Payne, “Dream on, Charles.” Payne responded, “Yeah, I know, I know.”) [Fox Business, Varney & Co., 11/9/22]
• Anti-LGBTQ provocateur Christopher Rufo: “DeSantis knows how to fight the culture war as media combat, but more importantly, he knows how to fight the culture war as public policy. He lays out the agenda, passes the legislation, and governs the state. Substance is ultimately more important than style.” [Twitter, 11/9/22]
• National Review’s Jim Geraghty: “I don’t know if Ron DeSantis became the frontrunner for the 2024 GOP nomination last night. I do know that he should be the frontrunner now. He's the strongest candidate, and he has led a sweeping change in one of the country’s most consequential states.” [Twitter, 11/9/22]
• NY Post’s November 9, 2022, cover: “DeFuture: Young GOP star DeSantis romps to victory in Florida.”