After Georgia Senate Loss, Republicans Stare Down Their Trump Dilemma - The New York Times

ATLANTA — The Democrats’ capstone re-election triumph of Senator Raphael Warnock forced Republicans to reckon connected Wednesday with the reddish question that wasn’t, arsenic they turned with trepidation to 2024 and the intensifying divisions successful the enactment implicit erstwhile President Donald J. Trump.

Mr. Warnock’s two-and-a-half percent constituent triumph implicit Herschel Walker successful the Georgia Senate runoff near Democrats with a 51-49 spot bulk successful the precocious chamber, a one-seat gain. That came contempt dire predictions for a humor bath for President Biden’s party.

It rapidly had Republican fingers pointing each which way: astatine Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the Republican person accused by detractors of abandoning oregon belittling embattled Republican Senate candidates; astatine Senator Rick Scott of Florida, the president of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, who galore consciousness severely mismanaged the Senate Republicans’ run arm; and astatine Mr. Walker himself, for hiding and lying astir his past, lone to spot the details watercourse retired steadily implicit the people of his campaign.

But for a fistful of Republicans, recently emboldened by re-election oregon status to accidental truthful aloud, the biggest culprit was Mr. Trump. In progressively biting terms, they slammed him for promoting flawed candidates, including Mr. Walker, dividing his enactment and turning galore plaything voters against the G.O.P. for the 3rd predetermination rhythm successful a row.

“I deliberation he’s little applicable each the time,” Senator John Cornyn, a Republican of Texas, said of the erstwhile president, who has begun a 3rd bid for the White House.

“It’s conscionable 1 much information constituent successful an overwhelming assemblage of information that the Trump obsession is precise atrocious for Republicans,” said Senator Patrick J. Toomey of Pennsylvania, a retiring Republican whose spot was flipped to Democrats by Lt. Gov. John Fetterman.

Trump run aides responded with defiance, successful a back-and-forth apt to beryllium connected repetition for the foreseeable future. Steven Cheung, a elder communications advisor for the erstwhile president, said they “are not going to beryllium lectured by governmental swamp creatures who are already looking to find ways to marque a speedy subordinate successful 2024 by moving to the media and providing cowardly quotes.”

The midterm losses similar Mr. Walker’s not lone squashed the G.O.P.’s precocious hopes of retaking power of the Senate but besides signaled the party’s steep ascent ahead. Voters successful respective statesmanlike battleground states resoundingly rejected candidates aligned with the erstwhile president, handing Republicans losses successful winnable races successful Arizona, Pennsylvania, Nevada, New Hampshire and, finally, Georgia.

Mr. Paul allowed that the erstwhile almost-wholly affluent, almost-wholly achromatic assemblage had go much divers ethnically, racially and economically, tipping it successful Democrats’ favor.

“All of those are factors, but the top origin is Trumpism,” helium said.

“There’s a precise beardown blimpish streak successful the bluish suburbs, Cobb, North Fulton — if Trump’s not engaged, they’ll inactive ballot Republican,” helium continued, speaking of the bluish borderline of Atlanta’s main region and Cobb County, conscionable to the west. “But if they consciousness Trump’s influence, they’ll ballot against him.”

Trump loyalists successful Georgia and beyond disputed that assessment. Former Speaker Newt Gingrich, who represented galore of those suburbs for years arsenic a House Republican, blamed a database of factors beside Mr. Trump, down to the mockery by “Saturday Night Live” of Mr. Walker 3 days earlier the runoff election. It’s the G.O.P. versus the media, Big Tech, Hollywood and the nation’s societal powerfulness structures, helium said.

“We underestimate however large the upland is that we’re trying to climb,” helium said.

But Mr. Gingrich besides raised the prospects of a disastrous 2024, arsenic Trump’s supporters divided acrimoniously with its anti-Trump helping of the enactment the mode conservatives successful 1964 backed Barry Goldwater and moderates sided with Nelson Rockefeller.

“My top fearfulness is that we’re going to extremity up successful a 1964 division” that near Republicans crippled successful Congress, helium said successful an interrogation Wednesday. “I tin ideate a Trump-anti-Trump warfare implicit the adjacent 2 years that conscionable guarantees Biden’s re-election successful a landslide and guarantees that Democrats power everything.”

Emerging from the midterms, the anti-Trump helping has plentifulness of ammunition to marque its lawsuit for a break. Two of Mr. Trump’s astir salient Republican foils successful Georgia, Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, won re-election easily, successful portion due to the fact that of their refusal to backmost the erstwhile president’s prevarication that the authorities had been stolen from him successful 2020. Their absorption confirmed to Republican-leaning plaything voters that they were not successful Mr. Trump’s thrall.

The Republican fared worse successful the runoff astatine precincts that initially backed Mr. Warnock and Mr. Kemp, astatine precincts dominated by assemblage graduates, astatine municipality and suburban precincts, affluent precincts and astatine Black precincts and Hispanic precincts. The lone precincts wherever helium held his ain were successful agrarian areas and areas with white, noncollege voters.

Mr. Walker, a first-time campaigner and erstwhile shot star, had plentifulness of troubles that had thing to bash with Mr. Trump. His run was repeatedly deed with damaging revelations that mightiness person knocked different candidates retired of the race, including accusations of home violence, unacknowledged children and hypocrisy connected abortion.

And beyond Mr. Trump, determination are different factors changing Georgia’s governmental hue: the in-migration of voters of colour from astir the country, the question of politically progressive Black voters from cardinal Atlanta to suburbs adjacent and far, wherever they carried connected their organizational activities, and the activation of achromatic women similar Jennifer Haggard, a existent property cause and lifelong Sandy Springer, who formed speech reflexive conservatism for a much open-minded politics.

“I’m the achromatic Republican who turned plaything elector for sure,” Ms. Haggard said aft voting for Mr. Warnock. She cited Mr. Trump arsenic easy the biggest factor, but happily voted for Mr. Warnock.

In the look of trends favoring Democrats, Georgia Republicans failed to nominate a Senate campaigner who could galvanize some the party’s hyper-conservative basal and its mean factions — a radical that galore successful the G.O.P. judge inactive makes up a bulk of the state’s electorate.

That nonaccomplishment extended beyond Georgia. Republican candidates successful the superior play reached into Mr. Trump’s ideological milieu to seizure his voters, moving truthful acold that they could not credibly plaything to triumph backmost the halfway successful the wide election.

“Even if you seizure each of the Trump voters, you whitethorn beryllium capable to triumph a superior but you’re not needfully going to triumph a wide predetermination and successful this business, you person to triumph an predetermination earlier you tin really govern,” said Mr. Cornyn, who for years dodged questions astir Mr. Trump. “It’s not similar coming successful 2nd and getting a trophy similar you did successful inferior precocious schoolhouse for participation.”

For galore Trump-loyal voters, the question whitethorn travel down to whether they are consenting to marque a cold-eyed appraisal of electability oregon travel their hearts. The chorus of Republican voices arguing for electability is increasing louder.

“More strings of defeats delivered to america intelligibly by Donald Trump is capable for our enactment to recognize we’ve got to determination connected if we privation to win,” Paul D. Ryan, the erstwhile Republican talker of the House, said successful a SiriusXM interview. “We should not conscionable concede the state to the near by nominating an unelectable campaigner similar Donald Trump.”

Even Mr. Walker’s squad seemed to admit Mr. Trump was a resistance connected the campaigner successful the last weeks of the race. As the erstwhile president teased a sojourn to Georgia, Trump aides worked with the Walker run to hold to scrap an in-person rally and alternatively clasp the lawsuit via phone.

Mr. Walker did not often notation Mr. Trump successful his run speeches. And successful his last concession speech, he did not accidental the erstwhile president’s name.

Jack Kingston, a erstwhile House Republican from the Savannah area, argued that Mr. Trump’s power was overblown. In 2021, arsenic 2 Georgia Senate races headed to a runoff, Mr. Trump, past the president, was railing against a rigged election, signaling to Republicans that their ballot wouldn’t count, helium noted. This clip around, helium was acold little present.

“I would not accidental the invisible manus of Donald Trump was telling Herschel Walker what to do,” Mr. Kingston said connected Wednesday. “He was his ain man.”

Stephanie Lai, Emily Cochrane and Michael C. Bender contributed reporting from Washington.