The national environment was toxic. In the NBC News exit poll, nearly half of voters said the cost of living was a “crucial” consideration in their vote, making the national environment toxic. Another 40% said it was a “major” factor. Nearly two-thirds said Mr. Trump’s policies made the economy worse, while 62% said they raised prices.

A Real Mess

With numbers like that, Republicans were going to have a tough night, even without the president making things worse.

Nearly 2 of 3 voters said he had the wrong priorities. Sixty-two percent said he put his personal interests above the country’s while 90% said government corruption was a “crucial” or “major” factor in their vote.

During his frequent rallies, Trump dominated with wild accusations, sloppy insults, and over-the-top bragging. His focus on the physiques of male candidates was bizarre. There was no discipline, no forward-looking message, no substantive line of attack. Just whatever came to his mind as he rhetorically meandered for more than an hour at each rally. He called it “the weave.” It was really a mess, writes Karl Rove in the Journal.

Trump’s bragging that voters were experiencing “the most successful economy” in a “Golden age of America” not only angered voters, it enraged them as they watched their paychecks grow slower than prices.

Trump’s promising bribe to every adult who voted Republican backfired badly.

Most Americans took it as a thinly veiled bribe they knew he couldn’t deliver.

Karl Rove writes in the Journal that the outcome would have been better if Trump had spent less time being campaigner-in-chief and more time being president. Trump’s poorly staged and strangely disconnected remarks at the Lincoln Memorial reflecting pool mirrored his unconcern.

(Trump) focused on the pool’s renovations, how he changed the White House lawn with a better quality of grass and other physical upgrades in Washington. He had charts and photos of his handiwork. No wonder voters believe the GOP is unconcerned about the cost of living and the economy.

No Escaping Blame

Trump proclaimed on X, “I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE.” Not true, writes Karl Rove.

(Trump) and his policies and candidate choices burned the Republican Party to the ground.