As expected, Election Day is turning into Election Week — and beyond. Votes are still to be counted in several key races that ultimately will determine which party controls the House and Senate.
But we know enough already to pick some winners and losers from Tuesday night.
Among the winners: President Joe Biden, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and the Democrats, which far exceeded the gloomy predictions and expectations from most analysts heading into this week.
Among the losers: Former President Donald Trump, who saw many of his endorsed candidates go down, and the Republicans, who might still control both chambers of Congress but saw their “red wave” turn into a red ripple.
Fox News contributor and Washington Post columnist Mark Thiessen, a former Republican speechwriter, went on Fox News and blasted his party, saying, “There is a broader issue, and think about this: We have the worst inflation in four decades, the worst collapse in real wages in 40 years, the worst crime wave since the 1990s, the worst border crisis in U.S. history, we have Joe Biden, who is the least popular president since Harry Truman, since presidential polling happened, and there wasn’t a red wave. That is a searing indictment of the Republican Party. That is a searing indictment of the message that we have been sending to the voters. They looked at all of that, and looked at the Republican alternative, and said ‘no thanks.’”
He added that the midterms have been a “complete disaster” for Republicans.
But it might not turn out to be all doom and gloom for the Republicans, who still might be able to pull off winning both the House and Senate, even if it is by the slimmest of margins.
In the end, both Republicans and Democrats can (sort of) brag that they won these midterms, which shows just how divided the country remains and how odd this election cycle has been. Hey, good news, no more political ads to sit through — except for those in Georgia.
Here’s a quick round up of some of the notable reflections about Tuesday night and what lies ahead:
- The New York Times’ Lisa Lerer with “How a G.O.P. Wave Became a Ripple.”
- Also from the Times, it’s Blake Hounshell with “Five Takeaways From a Red Wave That Didn’t Reach the Shore.”
- Want five more? Politico’s David Siders with “The red wave that wasn’t: 5 takeaways from a disappointing night for the GOP.”
- Los Angeles Times columnist Jackie Calmes with “The biggest losers — the GOP and Donald Trump”
- The Atlantic’s Derek Thompson with “Democrats Might Have Pulled Off the Biggest Midterm Shock in Decades.”
- The Associated Press’ David Bauder with “Media narrative of US election: Bad news for Trump, GOP.”
A MESSAGE FROM OUR SPONSOR
Local news is disappearing: Students can save it
Local news is a trusted source of critical information. Hundreds of colleges and universities have found ways to support community news – teaching students to report on their communities, and collaborating with local media.
Interested? Join other colleges in making local news stronger. Bring your students to the table.
Are you a journalist? Would you like to explore a partnership with a local college and not sure where to start?
Murdoch tips his hand?
Rupert Murdoch’s New York Post certainly hasn’t hid its political leanings this election week. The cover of Tuesday morning’s Post had a photo of New York Republican gubernatorial candidate Len Zeldin being dropped into a ballot box. The accompanying headline said, “VOTE — To Save Our State.” The word “VOTE” was in red.
Zeldin ended up losing to Democratic incumbent Kathy Hochul. But instead of the New York paper featuring a New York governor’s race on its Wednesday cover, it featured the governor’s race in … Florida. The headline was about Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who easily won reelection in the Sunshine State. The headline was, “DeFuture.”
Hmm, interesting. Murdoch, who also owns Fox News and helped create the political career of Donald Trump, now seems to be favoring DeSantis over Trump. CNN’s Oliver Darcy reported that a person familiar with how Murdoch does things told him, “It is not an accident.”
Darcy wrote, “The coverage from Murdoch’s media outlets does not mean that they will completely turn on Trump. Rather, it suggests that Murdoch might use his influence to tilt the scales and push Republicans toward DeSantis if the two squared off in a 2024 Republican primary.”
Speaking of DeSantis …
Incumbent Florida Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis holds his son Mason as he celebrates winning reelection on Tuesday in Tampa. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Even though they likely will take control of the House and still have a reasonable shot at the Senate, Republicans did not have a great midterm election. They fell well short of the supposed “red wave.”
But a Republican who had a very good night was DeSantis, who not only won rather easily, but is being credited with reshaping several districts in Florida that helped Republicans land four valuable seats in the House.
The editorial board of the Wall Street Journal (another Murdoch-owned publication) praised the Florida governor in “The DeSantis Florida Tsunami.” The board wrote, “… there’s little doubt that his Florida success will grab the attention of voters outside the Sunshine State. You can bet Donald J. Trump was watching — unhappily.”
It was even more intriguing that Fox News’ Kayleigh McEnany, Trump’s former press secretary, said Trump should put a potential presidential nomination announcement on pause until after the Georgia senate runoff on Dec. 6 between Republican Hershel Walker and Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock. When asked if Trump should campaign in Georgia for Walker, McEnany said, “I think we’ve got to make strategic calculations” before adding that DeSantis should be welcome in Georgia given what happened on election night in Florida.
But it should be noted that McEnany said, “Look, he’ll make that decision, he’ll make his own decision, but if I’m advising any contender, DeSantis, Trump whomever, no one announces 2024 before we get through December 6th.”
Longtime Trump adviser Jason Miller went on Newsmax and said the same thing, that Trump should hold off on any announcements until after the Georgia runoff.
Clearly Trump sees DeSantis as a threat, which is likely why Trump called him “Ron DeSanctimonious” at a recent rally. The Wall Street Journal’s Alex Leary reported that Trump said Tuesday that it would be a “mistake” for DeSantis to run for president in 2024, adding, “I think the base would not like it.”
Trump went on his Truth Social network Wednesday and noted that he got more votes during the presidential election in 2020 than DeSantis got in this election.
And speaking of Trump …
A number of reports Wednesday said Trump was furious that several of the candidates he backed in key senate and governor races lost Tuesday night. New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman, who always is plugged into what’s going on in Trump’s world, tweeted, “Trump is indeed furious this morning, particularly about Mehmet Oz, and is blaming everyone who advised him to back Oz — including his wife, describing it as not her best decision, according to people close to him.”
Oz lost the Pennsylvania Senate race to John Fetterman.
Haberman added that others inside the Republican party are also suggesting that Trump needs to hold off announcing any run for president for the time being.
Odd questions of the day
To borrow from an old Fox News line, I’ll post and you decide. During Fox News’ day-after coverage of a red wave that wasn’t, anchor Harris Faulkner asked this: “What is happening right now? Are Democrats so entrenched that they are okay with horrible crime statistics and victims by the hour here and many other Dem-led cities? Are the high prices not bothering Democrat voters? Like, what causes them in the worst of circumstances to say yes to their party?”
She was not being ironic.
The ratings game
Fox News’ election anchors Martha MacCallum and Bret Baier during Tuesday night’s coverage. (Photo courtesy of Fox News)
Where did viewers turn to watch Tuesday night’s election coverage? Well, all the news networks had decent viewership, but Fox News dominated the night. During primetime (8 to 11 p.m. Eastern), Fox News drew 7.2 million million viewers — more than MSNBC (3.1 million) and CNN (2.47 million) combined. It should be noted that this is the first time in election history that MSNBC drew more viewers than CNN.
As far as the broadcast networks, ABC was tops with 3.31 million viewers, followed closely by NBC (3.11 million) and CBS (2.56 million).
Brutal cuts at Meta
What a rough day at Meta, the company formerly called Facebook. On Wednesday, the company said it was laying off 11,000 people — or about 13% of its workforce.
In a letter to employees, founder Mark Zuckerberg wrote, “I want to take accountability for these decisions and for how we got here. I know this is tough for everyone, and I’m especially sorry to those impacted.”
The New York Times’ Sheera Frenkel and Adam Satariano wrote, “The cuts — nearly triple what Twitter announced last week — represent a stunning reversal of fortune for a once high-flying company whose ambition and room for growth had seemed limitless. It spent lavishly over the years, accumulating users, buying companies such as Instagram and WhatsApp, and showering its employees with envious perks. Not even scrutiny over its data privacy practices and the toxic content on its apps could dent its financial performance, as its stock continued climbing and its revenues soared. At one point last year, Meta was valued at $1 trillion.”
In his letter, Zuckerberg said the company grew too quickly during COVID-19, believing the surge in online commerce would continue after the pandemic ended. Zuckerberg wrote, “Unfortunately, this did not play out the way I expected. Not only has online commerce returned to prior trends, but the macroeconomic downturn, increased competition, and ads signal loss have caused our revenue to be much lower than I’d expected. I got this wrong, and I take responsibility for that.”
Big news at Gannett/USA Today
My colleague Rick Edmonds, who is Poynter’s media business analyst, reports that president of Gannett Media and publisher of USA Today, Maribel Perez Wadsworth, will be leaving the company at the end of the year. She will be succeeded on an interim basis by Henry Faure Walker, president of Gannett’s United Kingdom subsidiary Newsquest.
Media tidbits
- Twitter drama continues. The Verge’s Jay Peters with “Elon Musk’s Twitter Blue with verification is now live.” And also for The Verge, Mia Sato with “Twitter’s new double-check verification disappears, Elon Musk says he ‘killed it.’”
- More on Twitter: The Big Lead’s Ryan Phillips with “Twitter Flooded With ‘Verified’ Imposters.” The imposters included someone claiming to be ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter saying an NFL coach had been fired, as well as someone saying they were NBA star LeBron James requesting a trade from the Los Angeles Lakers.
- The New York Times’ Lauren Hirsch and Benjamin Mullin with “Forbes Nears Deal With Investor Group for Under $800 Million.”
- MSNBC’s Stephanie Ruhle tweeted Wednesday: “Isolation update: Covid likes me more than men do.”
- Variety’s Brian Steinberg reports that MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” could end up doing some primetime specials. Steinberg writes, “The anchors and network are discussing the idea as rival CNN attempts to jump-start its own morning programming. Scarborough says he would like to launch a series of quarterly — potentially even monthly — hourlong primetime specials that could take viewers on deep dives into topics like voting rights or into some of the challenges facing American cities.”
Hot type
The New York Times’ A.O. Scott talks with the famed director in “Steven Spielberg Gets Personal.”
For The Washington Post, David Gardner with “Gunshots shattered her hoop dreams. Now she wants them back.”
Variety’s Clayton Davis with “HBO Turns 50: The 50 Best TV Series Performances.”
More resources for journalists
- Time for a new job? Your future employer is looking for you on The Media Job Board — Powered by Poynter, Editor & Publisher and America’s Newspapers. Search now!
- Improve your skills to spot misinformation and find credible news online in one week with MediaWise’s free Find Facts Fast text message course.
- Honor free press, democracy and the distinguished careers of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein at Poynter’s Bowtie Ball. The duo will receive the Poynter Medal for Lifetime Achievement in Journalism with Carl Bernstein accepting the honor in-person on Nov. 12, 2022, in Tampa, Florida. Get tickets.
Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at tjones@poynter.org.
The Poynter Report is our daily media newsletter. To have it delivered to your inbox Monday-Friday, sign up here.
