Lawrence O’Donnell celebrated Florida Congressman Cory Mills’ loss in his Republican primary race, asserting Tuesday night that it proves President Trump has “lost his magical powers with Republican voters, even in Florida.”
Trump endorsed Mills’ bid for reelection, even as the Florida representative remains under investigation by the House Ethics Committee for possible domestic violence and campaign finance violations. O’Donnell said Mills’ loss marks a change amongst Republican voters, even though Trump himself claimed in a recent interview that this year’s midterm elections have “nothing to do” with his current thinking.
“He is, of course, lying about that,” the MS NOW host told his “Last Word” viewers. “When Donald Trump says the midterms have ‘nothing to do with my thinking,’ what he might really mean is, ‘I can’t think of anything to do that will help in the midterms.’ Donald Trump has not done a single thing to help Republicans win in November. He has only joined in Republican versus Republican primaries, and Donald Trump hasn’t been able to win all of those.”
“We are not even halfway through Donald Trump’s presidency and Republican voters are increasingly saying, ‘We don’t care who Donald Trump endorses,’” O’Donnell further observed. “Imagine what that might mean in the next presidential election, if Donald Trump’s endorsement loses value.”
The anchor then wondered what the implications of Trump’s diminishing reputation could be for cabinet members like Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who have “been betting their entire political futures on the idea that Donald Trump will be the kingmaker in the next presidential election.” With that in mind, O’Donnell asked, “What if he isn’t?”
“What if Donald Trump’s endorsement for president is worth nothing two years from now?” he asked again. “Anything is possible between now and then, especially if Donald Trump’s war is still going on then.”
“Donald Trump feels helpless,” O’Donnell concluded. “Donald Trump feels lost. Donald Trump feels weak. Donald Trump feels there’s nothing he can do to stop the Democrats from winning in November and there’s nothing he can do to stop his war [in Iran].”
