Defeated Trump-backed candidate had 'the worst focus group results of any candidate' ever

According to a report from the New York Times, the GOP leadership decided to pull the financing on one of Donald Trump's favorite U.S. Senate candidates after seeing the results from a focus group on his chances of winning over voters.

As part of the deep dive Shane Goldmacher did on the run-up to the midterm election, he claims a chief adviser to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) waved the red flag about Blake Masters, who was being pushed on the GOP by billionaire Peter Thiel despite his lack of qualifications.

Masters, who lost his bid to unseat Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) with the results announced late Friday, was Trump's top pick for the Republican Party nomination.

However, he was low on the list for the Republican leadership, which subsequently forced Theil to invest more money in his handpicked candidate's campaign.

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According to the Times, concerns about Masters reached a fever pitch after Steve Law reported back on Masters.

"During the summer, Steven Law, the head of a McConnell-aligned super PAC, told the financier Peter Thiel, who had spent millions supporting Mr. Masters, that Mr. Masters had scored the worst focus group results of any candidate he had ever seen, according to people familiar with the conversation," Goldmacher reported.

He added, "Mr. Theil's group later canceled all of its Arizona television reservations."

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