Trump in danger of being at ‘end of road’ in midterms

An underwhelming Republican performance in the midterm elections could see ‘the end of Donald Trump’s influence over American politics’, an expert has told Express.co.uk. The former President, 76, has backed numerous Republican candidates, while clashing openly with others in his party over certain policies.Many suspect – and Mr Trump himself has indicated – that this is all part of preparation for a 2024 presidential run.But Dr James D.Boys believes a premature announcement may be unwise, saying “a lot will depend upon what will happen in the midterms”.He told Express.co.uk: ‘I think it’s fair to say that if the Democratic Party has a better night than expected, then all of a sudden the Republican Party will be looking around and saying ‘God why didn’t we have a better night?”I think there will be an attempt to blame Trump and the MAGA wing for being too extreme, which means the midterms could be the continuation of the long end of Donald Trump’s influence over American politics.’He has clearly gone out and endorsed many candidates during the primary season.”We’ve seen moderate Republicans forced out of office long before the midterms themselves because they’ve not succeeded or not entered into the primaries because they had been primaried by MAGA candidates.’ An underwhelming Republican midterms could be ‘the long end of Trump’s influence’ (Image: GETTY) Dr James D.Boys said poor results could see the GOP ask ‘why didn’t we have a better night’ (Image: GETTY)Dr Boys then noted Republican Governor Charlie Baker in Boston, Massachusetts, where the incumbent did not run in the Republican primaries, clearing the way for Geoff Diehl to win the nomination.Mr Baker, despite holding the seat since 2010, supported the impeachment inquiry into Mr Trump that began in September 2019. And, after January 6, 2021, he called for the President to be removed from office.In December 2021, after Mr Baker announced he would not seek a third term, Mr Trump said: ‘RINO Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker has announced that, because I didn’t endorse him and he is incapable of getting the Republican nomination, he will not be running for re-election.’He’s been very selfish, and is bad news for the Republican Party – actually, he shouldn’t even be considered a Republican. We wish him well!’READ MORE: Biden braced as midterms threaten to trigger a ‘political crisis’ He said poor results lead to ‘an attempt to blame Trump and the MAGA wing for being too extreme’ (Image: GETTY) Dr Boys noted incumbent Charlie Baker did not run for a third term in part over Trump’s influence (Image: GETTY)Dr Boys said: ‘(Mr Baker) decided he wasn’t going to even bother entering into the primaries because the MAGA wing of the Republican Party decided they were going to challenge him, because he was accused of being a RINO (a ‘Republican In Name Only’).’It just means basically that you’re a centre-right candidate in a left-leaning state, where there’s no point being an extremist candidate, [as] you won’t get anywhere.’The expert then continued: ‘So I think that if the Republicans fail to have a great night, the party will be forced to look around and go ‘have we gone too far? Do we need to dial this back?”If that falls flat, and the Democrats, even if they just hold steady quite frankly, and things resemble what they already do after the election, they will consider that a success.’So long as they don’t lose ground, and things mostly stay the same, the Democrats will look and call that a great victory.’DON’T MISSFBI warns of rideshare ‘trend’ criminals use to abduct childrenAmericans want Truss-style tax cuts according to new pollTomorrow Joe Biden will be offcially a lame duck and spat out by party Chris Sununu said it would be a ‘terrible idea’ for Trump to announce a 2024 run before Christmas (Image: GETTY)It comes after New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu said on Sunday that it would be a ‘terrible idea’ for Mr Trump to announce a 2024 presidential candidacy before Christmas.He told CBS’ Face the Nation: ‘People are really going to be happy one way or another that the election is over come Tuesday. And everyone’s going to want to take a breath.’Sources close to Mr Trump have indicated to Express.co.uk he is likely to launch his campaign in January next year and February at the latest.Should the former President make an announcement, the Governor said ‘it’ll have no effect on anything, and I mean that quite sincerely’.He added that ‘eight to maybe a dozen other candidates’ could run on the Republican side. It is widely expected the GOP will take control of the House of Representatives on Nov. 8 (Image: GETTY)Meanwhile, it is widely expected the GOP will take control of the House of Representatives, but the fate of the Senate remains a toss-up.The Fox News Power Rankings forecast expects Republicans to take control of the House with a 19-seat majority – or 236 total seats.According to the monthly tracker poll by the Democracy Institute for Express.co.uk, Republicans are set to win big on Tuesday. It polled 1,500 likely US voters, with the results shared on the eve of the midterms vote.It gives the Republicans a 51 percent to 46 percent lead ahead of the Democrats in the House of Representatives election.It could see them go from being the minority party with 212 seats to the majority with between 245 and 265 seats.In the Senate race, the Republicans lead by 49 percent to 46 percent, giving them at least 54 seats – but this could rise to as many as 57 of the 100 seats.However, the polling also reveals former President Trump is personally popular.Asked who was better as President, 56 percent say Trump and just 40 percent Biden.