Trump says ‘abortion issue’ responsible for GOP underperforming expectations in midterms

Former President Trump blamed the “abortion issue” for Republicans underperforming expectations in the 2022 midterm elections. 

Trump said in a post on Truth Social on Sunday that many in the GOP handled the issue poorly, especially those who “firmly” insisted on no exceptions to bans on the procedure, including in instances of rape and incest. 

He also said he is not to blame for the party’s performance, responding to many in the GOP who have pointed to him as a reason for its losses. 

Republicans had hoped to make sweeping gains in both houses of Congress, but the party failed to win control of the Senate and only won a narrow majority in the House. Many Trump-backed candidates who were viewed as weaker general election choices than their primary opponents but more loyal to the former president lost in key congressional and gubernatorial races. 

Trump said Republican voters who pushed against abortion for decades “got their wish” from the Supreme Court in overturning Roe v. Wade and “just plain disappeared.” 

Trump ran on appointing justices to the court who would oppose abortion rights during his presidential campaign in 2016. He went on to appoint three justices to the court as president, all of whom were key votes in the court’s 5-4 decision in June to overturn Roe v. Wade.

More than a dozen states moved to ban abortion, in many of them without exceptions for rape or incest, following the ruling.

Exit polls showed abortion placed second among the most important issues for voters in the midterms, closely behind inflation. Additionally, though Democrats trailed in the generic congressional ballot by a few points earlier in 2022, they began to close the gap after Roe was overturned. 

Trump also blamed Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) for a super PAC he is aligned with pulling money out of key Senate races like New Hampshire and Arizona for candidates that the former president endorsed. Polls at the time showed the Republican candidates in these races trailing by wider margins than other key races. 

McConnell’s super PAC did return funding to the New Hampshire race shortly before Election Day as the margin tightened.