If the reaction of prominent right-wing media figures is any indication, conservatives are having a hard time getting over Republican candidate Ed Gillespie’s resounding loss in the Virginia gubernatorial election on Tuesday.
We can start with Ann Coulter.
Right-wing talk show host Laura Ingraham echoed these sentiments. he tells the audience on Tuesday night“Gillespie never jumped aboard the Trump train. He’s an old Bush hand. I think he gave it his best shot. He’s not a populist conservative.”
Sean Moran of Breitbart had a similar view.
“Virginia Republican gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie’s loss to Ralph Northam defies Republican establishment; Gillespie loses by more points than Donald Trump or Ken Cuccinelli.” Moran wrote Wednesday.
Other conservative pundits have tried to paint the Republican disaster in Virginia as a demographic issue rather than something specific about Trump.
“Tuesday night’s carnage is more a reflection of Virginia’s rapidly changing demographics — which, regardless of Trump, have made it a solidly blue state.” Scott Greer of The Daily Caller wrote.
Likewise, Fox News’ Doug Schoen he wrote Attributing Gillespie’s loss to a large majority of minorities for Democratic candidate Ralph Northam, Virginia is now a “reliably blue state.” “To the extent that President Trump was a factor in the election, he had a huge negative impact on Gillespie’s candidacy,” Schoen acknowledged.
Republican politicians include House Speaker Paul Ryan he told an audience Wednesday, “It doesn’t change how I read the moment.”
He added: “I believe when we do comprehensive tax reform and tax relief… I think it will pay off politically, but most importantly it will help people.”
Likewise, a source close to Trump’s political team told a conservative newspaper The Washington Examiner attributed the loss of both Gillespie and Republican New Jersey gubernatorial candidate Kim Guadagno to “local dynamics” and “history.”
“These are blue states where the president did not win last year. It is not about the president,” the source told Imtahana.
