Former President Donald Trump criticized two GOP candidates for U.S. Senate who lost their midterm election bids on Tuesday night.
Both Colorado Republican Senate nominee Joe O’Dea and New Hampshire Republican Senate nominee Gen. Don Bolduc had either distanced themselves or openly attacked Trump for challenging the 2020 election results.
O’Dea failed to unseat incumbent Democrat Michael Bennet. Bolduc conceded in a speech late Tuesday after Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-N.H., was projected as the winner.
“Joe O’Dea lost BIG! MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!!!” Trump wrote on TRUTH Social late Tuesday night.
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PALM BEACH, FLORIDA – NOVEMBER 08: Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during an election night event at Mar-a-Lago on November 08, 2022 in Palm Beach, Florida. Trump addressed his supporters as the nation awaits the results of the midterm elections.
(Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
Over the summer, Trump held back from chiming in during the Colorado GOP primary before one of his supporters, state Rep. Ron Hanks, who went behind police lines at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, lost the party nomination for U.S. Senate to O’Dea. O’Dea told NBC’s “Meet The Press” in September that he did not support Trump’s opinion of issuing pardons to Jan. 6 protesters. He said he did not want to see Trump or President Biden run again in 2024.
Appearing on CNN’s “State of the Union” in October, O’Dea ripped Democrats who “defunded and demoralized” the police before when asked about Jan. 6 hearings wrapping before the midterms, saying that Trump “should have done more to keep the violence from heading toward the Capitol.”
O’Dea said he would “actively campaign against” Trump if he chooses to run for re-election, naming other Republican contenders, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, diplomat Nikki Haley and Sen. Tim Scott, R-S.C.
That sparked Trump to lambast O’Dea as a “Republican in name only.”
Colorado GOP Senate candidate Joe O’Dea delivers his concession speech at the Colorado Republican Committees election night watch party on November 8, 2022, in Denver. O’Dea lost to incumbent Democrat Sen. Michael Bennett.
(Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images)
“MAGA doesn’t vote for stupid people with big mouths,” Trump wrote on TRUTH Social in October.
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On Tuesday, Trump also addressed Bolduc’s defeat, criticizing the Senate nominee’s wavering loyalty.
“Don Bolduc was a very nice guy, but he lost tonight when he disavowed, after his big primary win, his longstanding stance on Election Fraud in the 2020 Presidential Primary. Had he stayed strong and true, he would have won, easily. Lessons Learned!!!” Trump wrote on TRUTH Social late Tuesday night.
Bolduc, who signed a letter after the 2020 election alleging it was possibly stolen by Biden, emphasized his MAGA-Republican and outsider credentials in a crowded and combustible GOP primary.
Republican candidate for Senator Don Bolduc, joined by his wife Sharon, speaks to supporters at an election night party on November 8, 2022, in Manchester, New Hampshire. Bolduc announced to his supporters that he lost the election to incumbent Democratic Sen. Maggie Hassan.
(Scott Eisen/Getty Images)
In mid-September, Bolduc narrowly edged more mainstream conservative Chuck Morse, the state Senate president who was backed by popular GOP Gov. Chris Sununu, to win the nomination. But after the primary, Bolduc, who served in Afghanistan, quickly reversed his stance on Trump.
In a Fox News interview days later, Bolduc said that after speaking with Granite Staters, he had “come to the conclusion” that the 2020 presidential election “was not stolen.” Trump, who stayed neutral in the Republican primary in New Hampshire, endorsed Bolduc but dinged him over reversing his views on the 2020 election.
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“General Don Bolduc has run a great campaign to be the U.S. Senator from the beautiful State of New Hampshire. He was a strong and proud ‘Election Denier,’ a big reason that he won the Nomination, but he then disavowed,” Trump wrote on social media. “He has since come back, at least on busing, but that is only a small part of N.H. Election Fraud. Nevertheless, Don Bolduc has asked for my Endorsement, and he’s got it, Complete & Total.”
Fox News’ Paul Steinhauser contributed to this report.
