US midterms: After an average show, Trump might have to delay his 2024 announcement

Tuesday's midterm polls didn't give the Republicans a red wave they were hoping for and one that Donald Trump hoped to hop on in his lead up to announcing a presidential bid for 2024. The results were underwhelming for the GOP, which went into the polls extremely confident of turning the tables with a huge margin. But that didn't happen.

Trump, who was hoping to announce a rerun for president next week, in now in a weak spot, even though the Republicans look all set for a House majority, just not as big as they were hoping for. There are still a few races left that are too early to call, such as in Arizona and Nevada. Georgia is heading to a Senate runoff and the party now wants to concentrate all its energies on this crucial race where Trump-backed football great Herschel Walker will try to unseat Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock to determine who controls the Senate.

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Citing this as a reason, some of Trump's allies have urged him to delay his planned announcement. “I’ll be advising him that he move his announcement until after the Georgia runoff,” former Trump adviser Jason Miller was quoted as saying by Associated Press. “Georgia needs to be the focus of every Republican in the country right now,” he said.

Tuesday's results have raised a question mark over Trump's appeal and the party's future. While some of his chosen candidates for open Senate seats in Ohio and North Carolina notched up wins, he lost possibly the biggest one, in Pennsylvania. Democrat John Fetterman flipped this seat, defeating Mehmet Oz, whom Trump backed in the primary even though the other party members weren't sure of his electability.

“As powerful as Trump is in the Republican Party, we learned that he cannot anoint anyone a winner. You still need candidates who have the fundamentals,” Bryan Lanza, a longtime Trump adviser, was quoted as saying by CNN.

Texas Republican, Rep. Troy Nehls, who won reelection and was endorsed by Trump, said in a radio interview, “There’s just a lot of negative attitudes about Trump".

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Trump endorsed more than 330 candidates, a lot of them inexperienced and deeply flawed. When they won their primaries, Trump didn't miss any opportunity to laud himself. But these candidates went on to talk about fraud in the 2020 elections and took an overall rigid stance on matters like abortion. It all didn't sit too well with a lot of people. Trump backed Oz, a daytime talk show host who hadn't been in Pennsylvania long before launching his Senate campaign.

“I mean, we had a historic opportunity and Trump’s recruitment of unelectable candidates blew it for us,” said Scott Reed, a veteran Republican strategist. “Trump’s now lost three elections in a row for the Republican Party and it’s time to snap out of this foolishness.”

Meanwhile, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis scored a big win. He is one of the biggest rivals Trump faces for Republican nominee for the 2024 presidential elections. With Trump's chosen candidates not scoring expected wins, and his rival managing to do just the opposite, Trump comes out of these elections minus the lustre he once exuded.

Former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie said Republicans “have a fundamental decision to make.” He blamed Trump for elevating candidates who struggled in the elections.

(With inputs from agencies)