Republicans have become ‘year-in, year-out losers’ under Trump: conservative wonders if GOP will reform

After Donald Trump had his hat handed to him in the 2022 midterm elections, one conservative writer is wondering if Republicans will continue to prioritize loyalty to the former president over political success.

Writing for the Washington Examiner, Zachary Faria examined the dynamics under the headline, "Some Republicans love losing as much as they love Trump."

"After the GOP’s underperformance in the midterm elections, the question remains whether Republicans will learn their lesson or be content as year-in, year-out losers," Faria wrote. "Former President Donald Trump showed in 2020 and 2018 — and probably also in 2016 — that he is a drag on GOP candidates down the ballot. He oversaw a loss of 40 House seats in the 2018 midterm elections, and he went on to lose to bumbling old 'Sleepy Joe' Biden in 2020 even as Republicans outperformed him. In both his 2020 loss and his 2016 win, Trump was a drag on GOP candidates in tight races, who consistently finished with higher vote totals. He probably only won the presidency because Hillary Clinton managed to be more unlikable and incompetent than he was."

Trump's losing streak was also noted by a Wednesday Wall Street Journal editorial that noted Trump "has now flopped in 2018, 2020, 2021 and 2022."

IN OTHER NEWS: 'Take some ownership': AOC hits back after defeated DCCC chair lashes out

Faria explained how Trump's losing streak extended into the midterms.

"Trump showed that he was a loser once again on Tuesday, costing Republicans several races thanks to the terrible candidates he backed in party primaries or candidates who crafted their campaigns in his image," he wrote. "Trump’s terrible candidates in Pennsylvania and New Hampshire cost Republicans down-ballot House races as well as definitive control of the Senate. In fact, Republicans may lose the Senate outright thanks to Trump’s picks in Arizona and Georgia."

Faria named Republicans he labeled as "content to just keep losing," listing Reps. Jim Banks (R-IN), Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and Elise Stefanik (R-NY).

"It is an utterly embarrassing commentary on the Republican Party that Stefanik is 'proud' to endorse this level of mediocrity," Faria wrote. "Republicans such as Stefanik seem content with losing the House, Senate, and White House in a span of three years while falling on their face time and time again trying to win them back. Trump gave away the Senate in 2021, gleefully, and was cheerleading the demise of some Republican candidates who were trying to win it back. Trump enjoys losing. Stefanik, Banks, and Gaetz apparently do, too."

Read the full analysis.