Emerging from the coverage of the midterm election last night, Newell Normand described what was expected to be a “red wave” of Republicans as more of a red trickle. On Wednesday’s edition of the Newell Normand Show, he digested some of major the Senate races that have been settled (Democrat Fetterman defeats Republican Oz in PA) and others that will be settled in December runoffs (Republican Walker vs Democrat Warnock in GA). Newell, a long-time Republican, also took time to process what approach the GOP should take with former President Donald Trump, as speculation grows around the question of whether Trump will run in the 2024 presidential elections.
“Now, I took a lot of heat in the immediate aftermath of January 6 th , for saying we need to put Donald Trump in the rearview mirror. And a lot of Republicans disagreed with me. And I said then, and I’ll say again now, this should be all about cultivating new leadership in this party, the next generation in this party, those that will carry the Republican mission out to much younger aged folks so that we can continue to cultivate leaders at all levels in the Republican Party,” Newell said.
Newell questions what the “Trump effect” and the endorsements that came along with it may have had on the midterms which most pundits, GOP or otherwise, expected to set off that red wave in Congress. With Trump touting what he described as a major announcement next week, Newell says it’s time the GOP leadership asks itself some important questions.
“I think this kind of sums it up as it relates to Trump. He believes himself to be a kingmaker. Or in reality, is he a GOP destroyer? I have been waiting for the adult to stand up in the room to pound the chest and to talk him down. Now, he will not allow that to happen but there’s nobody really challenging him. Maybe in the aftermath of what happened yesterday folks will begin to read the tealeaves of what this means. It’s the battle for the independents! The independents have turned their backs on Donald Trump once, do we not really believe that they will do it again? Of course, they will,” Newell said.
Newell is eager to see the analytics of the 300 or so races that Trump had an endorsement in. Newell believes the numbers will reveal what he has known for quite some time: that Donald Trump’s interests are about him, not the party.