Trump is a ‘900lb gorilla’ whose legacy will linger
Mitt Romney acknowledges the ‘enormous impact’ the president’s views will still have on Republicans
DONALD TRUMP will remain a “900lb gorilla” in the Republican Party and there will be no renunciation of his political ideology after he ceases to be president, according to senior party figures.
Mitt Romney, one of Mr Trump’s most vocal Republican critics, accepted that the president’s world view would have “an enormous impact on our party going forward”.
Party mandarins have been poring over results from congressional races last week, which showed Republicans fared significantly better than expected, particularly where local candidates allied themselves with “Trumpism”.
Mr Romney said: “I believe the great majority of people who voted for Donald Trump want to make sure that his principles and his policies are pursued. So he’s not disappearing by any means. He’s the 900lb gorilla when it comes to the Republican party.
“The presidential race was more a matter of a referendum on a person. And when it came to policy we did pretty well. Republicans overall did better than Democrats overall in this election.”
Unlike when Mr Romney lost to Barack Obama as the Republican presidential candidate in 2012, there will be no soul-searching inquest into what went wrong this time.
Mr Trump secured 71 million votes, more than any Republican nominee in history, over 10 million more than Mr Romney, and expanding significantly from four years ago.
The party remained in control of the Senate, pending two run-offs in Georgia in January, amid widespread predictions it would fall to the Democrats.
And it was celebrating gaining seats in the House of Representatives, putting Democrat Speaker Nancy Pelosi on the back foot.
Some Democrats compared their own anaemic showing in House races to a “dumpster fire”, while moderates and Left-wingers in the party hurled allegations at each other over who was to blame.
Republicans also fared well in elections to state legislatures, meaning they will control much of the next redistricting process set to be undertaken.
They will be able to draw the boundary maps favourably for congressional and local elections taking place over the next 10 years, including many in the states of Texas, North Carolina and Florida.
Republicans said they were now in a position to “secure a decade of power across the country”.
Democrats involved in races at the local level said Mr Trump had proved a “buoy” rather than an “anchor” for their Republican opponents.
As the political complexion of state legislatures crystallised – for example, Democrats failed in their bid to gain control of the Texas House of Representatives – it became apparent there had been no widespread rejection of “Trumpism” by Republicans.
Across the nation it is apparent that Republican voters backed the policies on offer but criticised the president’s often aggressive personality, his tendency to disparage people, and his constant use of Twitter.
Mike Murphy, a former Republican strategist, said: “It’s clear there was more voter frustration with Trump than with the ideology of the Republican Party.
“Clearly the presidential race was operating in its own world from the congressional race.”
Results from some counties where Mr Trump lost narrowly to Mr Biden showed that congressional candidates he backed finished slightly ahead of their Democrat opponents.
“This defied everyone’s expectations,” said Rahm Emanuel, former chief of staff to Barack Obama. “Everyone said if Joe Biden wins, Democrats win the Senate. If Trump wins, Republicans win the Senate. That’s not what happened. Clearly there was an undertow.”
The remaining i nfluence of Mr Trump’s ideology over the party was made clear as all potential candidates for the 2024 nomination avoided criticising him.
Instead, they thanked him and offered, sometimes qualified, public backing for his desire to pursue legal options over the recounting of votes.