Midterms Election a Repudiation of Trump: Republican Party’s Next Phase Can’t Come Soon Enough

President Trump wanted voters to behave like he was on the ballot in the , and he sure got his wish. Voters delivered a massive repudiation of Trump and Trumpism as they understand them, and the resulting wave washed away essentially every congressional Republican thought to occupy a competitive seat and many more besides.

Republicans certainly earned the rebuke: This second time around for has just been an awful presidency so far, significantly worse than his first, which is saying something. And the broader Republican Party has mostly enabled it all, or at least has behaved as though it has all been fine, and so has earned the rebuke it got, too.

About the Author

Yuval Levin

Yuval Levin is the director of social, cultural, and constitutional studies at the American Enterprise Institute and the editor of National Affairs. His most recent book is American Covenant: How the Constitution Unified Our Nation -- and Could Again.

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President Trump wanted voters to behave like he was on the ballot in the , and he sure got his wish. Voters delivered a massive repudiation of Trump and Trumpism as they understand them, and the resulting wave washed away essentially every congressional Republican thought to occupy a competitive seat and many more besides.

Republicans certainly earned the rebuke: This second time around for has just been an awful presidency so far, significantly worse than his first, which is saying something. And the broader Republican Party has mostly enabled it all, or at least has behaved as though it has all been fine, and so has earned the rebuke it got, too.

About the Author

Yuval Levin

Yuval Levin is the director of social, cultural, and constitutional studies at the American Enterprise Institute and the editor of National Affairs. His most recent book is American Covenant: How the Constitution Unified Our Nation -- and Could Again.