「赤い波」不発、責任はトランプ氏に？　党内で反発広がる

【ワシントンＤ．Ｃ．ＡＦＰ＝時事】米国のドナルド・トランプ前大統領は、８日の中間選挙で予想されていた「赤い波」（赤をシンボルカラーとする共和党の大勝）に乗り、次期大統領選への出馬に弾みをつけるつもりだった。だがふたを開けてみると、同党の獲得議席数は伸び悩み、さらには党内のライバルであるロン・デサンティス・フロリダ州知事が大躍進する結果となった。（写真は、ドナルド・トランプ前大統領と妻のメラニア氏）
　現職大統領の支持率が低迷し、インフレが高進する中で行われる選挙では通常、野党側が大量の議席獲得を見込める。だが今回の中間選挙では、共和党が民主党から下院を奪還するものの、議席数を大きく伸ばすことはできない見通しだ。
　トランプ氏は共和党の選挙運動で全面に立ち、重要選挙区での党公認候補を選ぶ予備選にも影響力を行使。全米各地で集会を開き、２０２０年の大統領選に不正があったという根拠なき主張を繰り返した。
　だが、トランプ氏がお墨付きを与えた候補者は落選が相次ぎ、それまで共和党が確保していた議席を民主党に奪われる事態にもなった。アナリストや党内からは、選挙結果が振るわなかった責任はトランプ氏にあるとの指摘も上がっている。
　激戦州ペンシルベニアの連邦上院選では、トランプ氏の支持を受けた著名医師のメフメト・オズ氏が共和党から出馬。民主党は、公職経験がなくニュージャージー州居住歴が長い同氏を徹底的に攻撃し、共和党から議席を奪うことに成功した。
　ただし、例外もある。オハイオ州の連邦上院選では、トランプ氏が支持するＪ・Ｄ・バンス氏が当選。また米メディアの予測によると、２０年の大統領選の結果に異議を唱える共和党候補の当選者数は全米で１００人以上に上る見通し。
　一方、フロリダ州知事選では、２４年の大統領選出馬を強く示唆しているデサンティス氏が対立候補に圧倒的な差をつけて再選を果たし、トランプ氏の強力な対抗馬としての地位を確固たるものとした。
　選挙翌日、新聞各紙はデサンティス氏の躍進をこぞって報道。アリゾナ州スコッツデールでＡＦＰのインタビューに応じた共和党支持者からは、トランプ氏よりもデサンティス氏を選ぶとの声が上がった。
　小規模事業を経営するリサ・クリストファーさん（６０）は「トランプ氏にとって重要なのは自尊心だけ」と指摘。「デサンティス氏は押し引きのタイミングを心得ているが、トランプ氏はそうではない」と語った。
　ＣＮＮテレビのジム・アコスタ記者が側近の話として伝えたところによると、トランプ氏は９日朝、選挙結果に「激怒」し、「皆を怒鳴りつけていた」とされる。
　同氏は１５日に次期大統領選への出馬を表明する可能性をほのめかしていたが、一部の政治評論家からは発表を延期するのではないかとの見方も出ている。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/11/11-15:29）

Donald Trump was hoping to surf a Republican red wave to a fresh White House bid, but with only limited gains in Tuesday's midterm elections -- and an outstanding result for his chief intraparty rival -- the former US president seems to be left out to sea.
Though Republicans look likely to wrest control from the Democratic Party in at least one chamber of Congress, projections show they will not gain the large number of seats typical when the sitting president's approval ratings are so low, and inflation so high.
In the House, early results suggested Republicans were on track for a majority -- but only by a handful of seats -- while control of the Senate remains on a knife-edge and may hinge on a runoff election in the southern state of Georgia in early December.
Trump, who has teased the potential launch of a presidential campaign on November 15, remained in the spotlight throughout the campaign -- putting his thumb on key Republican primaries and holding rallies nationwide, during which he repeated his baseless claims of fraud in the 2020 race.
But with several of his hand-picked candidates underperforming -- some even losing Republican-held seats to Democrats -- analysts and some in his party are blaming him for the party's underwhelming election night.
Meanwhile, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has barely hidden his intent to run for president in 2024, resoundingly won reelection, cementing the rising Republican star's position as a formidable Trump opponent.
The day after the polls newspapers hailed DeSantis' rise, while Republican voters in Scottsdale, Arizona compared him favorably to Trump.
Trump, he's just about his ego, small business owner Lisa Christopher, 60, told AFP. DeSantis knows when to push and when to back off and Trump doesn't.
Retired crane worker Bob Nolan said Trump had too much baggage.
He was who we needed. But I think ... DeSantis is more down to earth and ready to run.
University of Chicago's Jon Rogowski told AFP that it should have been easy for Republicans to take back the House and the Senate by a wide margin, pointing to the negative economic environment and Biden's low approval ratings.
Many of the candidates he (Trump) endorsed underperformed and cost their party a chance at picking up seats that should have been winnable, said the political scientist.
Other Republican candidates with whom he'd feuded publicly won their seats easily.
- Candidate 'quality' -
The midterm results show that you can be a conservative, you can be principled, you can oppose Trump -- and win, Peter Loge, a media professor at George Washington University, tells AFP.
Geoff Duncan, Georgia's lieutenant governor and longtime critic of the former president, told CNN Wednesday morning: I think Donald Trump's moving from a movement to a distraction for the Republican Party.
Before the election on Tuesday, lead Senate Republican Mitch McConnell had voiced concern over the quality of some Trump-backed candidates.
In Pennsylvania, Democrats were able to flip a highly-prized US Senate seat with constant attacks on the Republican candidate, celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz, who had never held public office before and lived mostly in New Jersey.
The Republican candidate for Pennsylvania's gubernatorial race, the right-wing and anti-abortion Doug Mastriano, who was present at the January 6th assault on the US Capitol, also lost.
Some notable exceptions, however: the Trump-backed candidate for the US Senate seat from Ohio won, as did more than 100 Republican candidates who challenged the 2020 presidential election results, according to US media projections.
- 'Leave the stage' -
Trump on Wednesday morning was livid and screaming at everyone, according to CNN reporter Jim Acosta, citing an adviser to the former president.
While he admitted that the election results were somewhat disappointing, Trump on Wednesday posted to his Truth Social page that from my personal standpoint it was a very big victory, pointing to the likely Republican win in the House.
Rogowski says he expects Trump will be eager to move past 2022 and will declare his candidacy for 2024 sooner than later.
Some political commentators have speculated Trump might delay his November 15 announcement, but he has not yet revealed any change in plans.
Another of his possible 2024 rivals -- his former vice president Mike Pence -- will publish his memoirs that same day.
A preview of those memoirs appeared in the Wall Street Journal Wednesday, with Pence recounting the pressure Trump laid on him to overturn the 2020 election results.
Such an early campaign launch by Trump, just under two years from the actual election, would serve to consolidate his support early and crowd out other potential candidates, says Rogowski.
But if he felt he were in a strong position, he would not need to declare so early.
While some may be hoping Trump steps aside and lets candidates such as DeSantis pick up the Republican banner, Loge says that is highly unlikely.
The problem of becoming the next Trump is that the current Trump has to leave the stage, he says.
Donald Trump isn't very good at leaving the stage.