Fox News co-host Kayleigh McEnany suggested Wednesday that former President Donald Trump should not campaign in Georgia ahead of the runoff between Sen. Raphael Warnock (D) and Republican Herschel Walker.
McEnany's comments are particularly eyebrow-raising because they indicate that even former Trump loyalists like herself (she was White House press secretary through the end of the Trump White House) realize that Trump may be hurting, not helping, the Republican Party.
What did McEnany say?
Speaking on "Outnumbered," McEnany said "every last ounce of Republican energy" must go into pushing Walker across the finish line.
"I know there’s a temptation to starting talking about 2024 — no, no, no, no, no, 2022 is not over," McEnany said. "Every Republican energy needs to go to grinding the Biden agenda to a halt, and that could go straight through the state of Georgia."
When asked about Trump, McEnany said "he needs to put it on pause," an apparent reference to a major announcement that Trump is scheduled to deliver next week. Many political observers believe Trump will announce his 2024 presidential campaign.
Should Trump campaign for Walker? According to McEnany, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is better suited for that task.
"I think we've got to make strategic calculations," she explained. "Gov. DeSantis, I think he should be welcome to the state given what happened last night. You've got to look you got to look at the realities on the ground. And Herschel Walker— we've got to win the Senate. That's it, guys. Got to win the Senate."
Anything else?
McEnany's implied suggestion — that Trump should stay away from Georgia — appears to be the prescription Republicans need.
The Wall Street Journal editorial board demonstrated why this is the case. Across the board, Trump-endorsed personalities either lost election or won by significantly smaller margins than did Republicans in the same state who are not big Trump-backed candidates.
"Since his unlikely victory in 2016 against the widely disliked Hillary Clinton, Mr. Trump has a perfect record of electoral defeat. The GOP was pounded in the 2018 midterms owing to his low approval rating. Mr. Trump himself lost in 2020. He then sabotaged Georgia’s 2021 runoffs by blaming party leaders for not somehow overturning his defeat," the editorial board explained.
"Now Mr. Trump has botched the 2022 elections," the board added.
On the other hand, DeSantis has transformed Florida from a generational swing state into reliable GOP territory.
