The GOP’s underwhelming midterm performance was attributed by former White House adviser Stephen Miller on Sunday to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), the GOP’s messaging, and funding choices.
Miller claimed during an appearance on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures” that McConnell erred by choosing to support longstanding Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Ariz.) in her run against a Trump-backed Republican rather than investing more money on Arizona Republican Senate challenger Blake Masters’ campaign.
By the end of September, incumbent Sen. Mark Kelly (D) had raised almost $75 million. He used a large portion of that sum to attack Masters, who had only raised about $10 million by the end of September.
Arizona is the only state, according to Miller, where an additional $6 to $9 million would have made a significant difference. “Our candidates were crushed by the gap at the top of the ticket.”
Miller, a former Trump administration official, claimed that although Democrats consistently pushed their abortion rights message throughout the campaign, the GOP struggled to properly target independent voters on topics like crime.
In particular, the Senate campaign, in which Trump-backed candidates failed in the crucial swing states of Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Nevada, has drawn criticism from many in the GOP.
No matter what happens in Georgia, where Trump-backed Herschel Walker is set to face Sen. Raphael Warnock in a runoff, Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto’s (D-Nev.) victory gives Democrats the 50 Senate seats they need to retain control of the body (D).
Miller’s comments resemble those of Trump.
“Mitch McConnell is to blame. It was a grave error to support Blake Masters and others instead of spending money to defeat outstanding Republican candidates, Trump said on Truth Social on Sunday.
On Friday, Masters criticized McConnell for his campaign’s lack of finance.
“So let’s not vote Mitch McConnell into leadership, my message to the people of America, and my message to actually my, the Republican senators, hopefully my future colleagues. He isn’t deserving of either the minority or majority leadership, Masters told Tucker Carlson on Fox News.
McConnell projected a close contest for the Senate going into November, saying that “candidate quality” will be a deciding factor. These remarks were widely seen as a jab at Trump, who recruited many of the top GOP candidates.
