Trump blames McConnell for GOP election losses: ‘He blew the midterms’

Former President Trump sought to pin blame on Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) Sunday after Republicans lost the battle for control of the Senate.

While the GOP is still favored to win the House, the party fell far short of its expectations heading into Tuesday, and many Republicans have blamed the former president and the candidates he backed in key swing states.

However, Trump took to his social media site on Sunday to make the case that the midterms were McConnell’s fault, due in part to the Senate GOP’s campaign arm not spending big on Blake Masters’s bid to unseat Sen. Mark Kelly (D) in Arizona.

“It’s Mitch McConnell’s fault. Spending money to defeat great Republican candidates instead of backing Blake Masters and others was a big mistake,” Trump wrote, referring to pouring money into Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s (R-Alaska) race against Trump-backed Kelly Tshibaka.

“He blew the Midterms, and everyone despises him and his otherwise lovely wife, Coco Chow!” Trump said.

McConnell has feuded with Trump since the Senate GOP leader denounced the former president on the Senate floor following the Capitol riot and Trump’s false claims the 2020 election was stolen.

Republicans lost the Senate on Saturday after Democrats clinched a key seat in Nevada. If Democrats win a Dec. 6 runoff in Georgia, the party may have a larger majority than it did in the last Congress.

McConnell has been tight-lipped since Tuesday, but predicted a close Senate race, in part due to the “quality” of the GOP’s Senate candidates, many of which were selected by Trump.

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.) on Sunday pinned the midterm blame on Republicans aligned with Trump, saying they had focused too much on past issues like the 2020 election, rather than crime and the economy.

Masters, who was endorsed by Trump, had backed the former president’s claims about the 2020 election even though he later tried to backtrack.

Other Senate candidates who lost, including Don Bolduc in New Hampshire, had espoused similar rhetoric about the 2020 election.

Before the Senate shifted to Democrats, Trump conceded last week the midterm elections were “somewhat disappointing,” but still a “very big victory.”