Following former President Donald Trump’s assault on GOP Senate nominee in Colorado, Joe O’Dea, Republicans are wondering whether the former President cares about the party winning back the Senate Majority.
O’Dea is in an uphill battle against incumbent Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.). The Republican, who Democrats have spent $4 million against in Colorado’s primary, is a moderate, pro-abortion candidate who had the chance of pulling off an upset.
But, Republicans believe those chances have been extinguished by Trump’s comments.
According to reporting by The Hill, Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) called Trump’s comments unhelpful, saying: “I would hate to see O’Dea lose to Sen. Bennet by a few votes just because Donald Trump urged Republicans not to vote and we came up short of the majority by one senator.”
Cramer also contrasted Trump’s actions to that of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY.), saying, “If Mitch McConnell opposed every Republican nominee who criticized him publicly, we wouldn’t stand a chance.”
Cramer’s assertions come the day after Trump took to Truth Social to lambast O’Dea, calling him a “RINO” — an acronym for Republican in Name Only — and adding, “MAGA doesn’t Vote for stupid people with big mouths.”
Trump’s post came as a rebuttal to O’Dea saying he wouldn’t support the former President if he mounted a reelection bid in 2024, saying that he’d rather be actively campaigning against Trump.
O’Dea’s remarks coincided with ballots beginning to be distributed in Colorado, making it the worst timing to spark an attack from the former President.
One GOP strategist involved in Senate races elucidated on the impact an O’Dea loss could mean.
“If O’Dea is literally the difference between a GOP majority and minority, you think about the profound policy ramifications that come along with that,” the operative stated, adding, “To think you can be anywhere right of center and be willing to mortgage on a Republican majority just because someone says not nice things about you is pretty revealing.”
