Far-right voices drop focus on election fraud claims, as many loyalists question movement’s leadership; Trump devotee Laura Loomer: ‘America is over and the American Dream is dead’
By Ned Parker, John Shiffman, Mike Spector, Peter Eisler and Linda So
US President Donald Trump throws MAGA hats to supporters during a midterm campaign rally at Lubbock Memorial Civic Center in Lubbock, Texas, on October 27, 2026. (Kent NISHIMURA/AFP)
DALLAS (Reuters) — As Republicans faced a nationwide drubbing in last week’s midterm elections, supporters streamed out of a ballroom in Dallas, Texas, where they’d hoped to toast a win for US Senate candidate Ken Paxton, a favorite of US President Donald Trump.
In the hotel bar, Michael Little, a 59-year-old businessman and three-time Trump voter, stared at the president’s image on a television screen: “People are pissed off at Trump. Trump has cost us,” he said, capturing a sentiment rippling through the president’s Make America Great Again movement after the Republican Party’s worst electoral defeat in decades.
Across the coalition, some supporters who once viewed Trump as MAGA’s greatest asset are beginning to question whether he’s become its biggest liability.