Trump denounced by conservatives for saddling the GOP with 'trainwreck' candidates

In a scorching editorial at the conservative National Review, the editors expressed dismay and anger with Donald Trump -- and Republicans in general -- over the primary in Pennsylvania where control of a GOP seat in the U.S. Senate may flip to the Democrats due to Trump's meddling.

Combining the former president's endorsement of controversial lawmaker and Jan 6th attendee Doug Mastriano for the governorship -- all but assuring he'll win in Tuesday's primary -- with the floundering campaign of Trump-endorsed Dr. Mehmet Oz for the aforementioned Senate seat, the editors accused Trump of "Throwing away Pennsylvania ."

According to the editors, the Republican leadership is complicit with Trump in allowing this to happen.

"The conventional wisdom has been that Donald Trump might hurt Republican prospects in the midterms by endorsing and boosting flawed candidates. That’s a valid concern, but the Republican Senate primary in Pennsylvania is a showcase for a different dynamic — a flawed Trump-endorsed candidate potentially getting surpassed by a perhaps even more flawed non-endorsed MAGA Republican" they wrote of Oz and previously obscure challenger Kathy Barnette whose surge and candidacy has caught Republicans by surprise.

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Writing Barnette has , "... made statements over the years that will readily be used against her in a general-election campaign, and she’s been cagey about aspects of her past, including when she first moved to and voted in Pennsylvania. The party shouldn’t be putting itself in the position to find out more about all of this and fully vet Barnette after next Tuesday’s primary," the editors added, "It is perhaps understandable that primary voters have been interested in Barnette, given the alternatives. Dr. Oz is a shrewd man and talented communicator with a successful TV show under his belt to prove it, but he’s not a conservative."

That brought them to Mastriano whom they labeled "a full-blown conspiracy theorist about the 2020 election," who has also "demonstrated his unsuitability for major office."

Noting that Democrats are gleeful at the possibility of Mastriano being the GOP's nominee, the editors predicted, "Nominating train-wreck candidates at the state level could also be a drag on close House and state legislative races."

"It’s going to be a Republican year in the midterms, the kind of year that often sweeps in unlikely and unworthy candidates — and the Pennsylvania Republican Party is acting like it’s banking on it," they lamented.

You can read more here.