Republicans could lose more seats in the U.S. Senate in the next election if the GOP “doesn’t get its act together,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) said nearly one week after the midterm election which devastated the party.
The outgoing Florida governor has been particularly outspoken after the blue wave dominated the majority of the county, with exception for the Sunshine State, which held the line, electing Republican Rep. Byron Donalds (R-FL) as the next governor and keeping Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) member Angie Nixon from taking Sen. Ashley Moody’s (D-FL) in the Senate.
“I’ve never seen in a year that was worse for Republicans across the board in a midterm since I’ve been on God’s green earth, and that’s just the reality of it,” DeSantis said last week, offering his autopsy report.
During an interview on the Sage Steele Show with host Sage Steele, DeSantis explained that the GOP simply “screaming socialism” did not work this time around, placing blame on the “corporatist Republicans who propagate” crony capitalism.
RELATED: DeSantis: Democrats Won Over Voters Because GOP Told Them to “Grin & Bear It”
“So, here’s the issue. I think — obviously like a guy like me, if I see a socialist candidate, it’s an easy thing for me to vote no,” DeSantis explained. “I mean, like, it’s not even a question. But the question is, for kind of the broader electorate who aren’t as partisan, is just screaming socialism going to work? Obviously, it didn’t work in this election, and why? I think the reason is, young people have a very positive view of socialism compared to capitalism.”
“The question is, why is that?” he asked. “Some of it is the education in our universities or whatever. But I think a big part of that is, what they’re comparing is not free enterprise to socialism. What they’re comparing is how government gets involved in business and you have crony capitalism. So, the best kind of indirect supporters of socialism are some of these corporatist Republicans who propagate these crony policies.”
On Monday, DeSantis – who is suspected to have presidential aspirations – fired another warning shot to Republicans.
“Republicans could lose even more Senate seats in 2028 if the GOP doesn’t get its act together,” he said, sharing an infographic from Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), showing all the GOP senators up for reelection in 2028. That includes Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Sen. Ted Budd (R-NC), Sen. James Lankford (R-OK), Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC), Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY), Sen. Ashley Moody (R-FL), and more.
Many have surmised it could take Republicans several election cycles to regain a majority status in the House and Senate.
DeSantis is not the only prominent figure speaking out in the aftermath. Vice President JD Vance also offered his view of what happened to Republicans in the midterm election, pointing directly to the war in Iran as the primary factor.
“Our voters did show up,” he said, noting this did not seem to be a turnout issue. “In Florida, for example, the electorate was 9 points more Republican than Democrat, just a couple points worse than 2024. Undoubtedly there were places we could have done better on turnout. But the main problem is not turnout. The main problem is that many people who voted for Trump/Vance in 2024 voted for Democrats in 2026.”
“In the next few months, there’s going to be a lot of gaslighting. Expect to hear any number of establishment politicians say the solution to our woes is amnesty. I’m open to the idea that we should change enforcement—by focusing more on businesses that hire illegal labor, for instance. But anyone pushing amnesty is lying to you,” he said, adding, “The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night.”
