Sen. Pat Toomey criticizes Trump for ‘terrible rollout’ of 2024 presidential campaign

Republican Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania on Sunday criticized former President Donald for Republicans’ underperformance in the midterms and the manner in which Trump launched his re-election bid.

While speaking on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Toomey elaborated on his closing remarks on the Senate floor when he said Thursday that his party “can’t be about or beholden to any one man.”

Host Jake Tapper asked the retiring Senator if he believed Republicans “are increasingly receptive to that message,” and if Trump’s sway over the party is slipping, to which Toomey replied: “Absolutely I do.”

“First, I think his influence was waning — not as quickly as I had hoped it would — but I think it was waning. But the election outcome from last month I think dramatically accelerates the waning, and, frankly, his unbelievably terrible rollout of his re-election — his election campaign is also not helping him,” Toomey said.

While the Republican party was able to win control of the House, they did so by smaller-than-anticipated margins.

Toomey said that an “impressive turnout of prominent Republicans” appear to have begun moving past Trump by “going to events like the [Republican Jewish Coalition’s] meeting in Las Vegas openly talking about themselves as [presidential] candidates” despite Trump having “already made it clear he was running.”

Since Trump announced his 2024 presidential campaign, he has drawn criticism for a number of things, such as dining with Nick Fuentes and Kanye West, suggesting that voter fraud allows for the “termination” of the Constitution, and creating NFTs of himself.

“It tells you that they perceive the Republican electorate to be much more open,” Toomey said. “And in my travels since the election around Pennsylvania, I’ve heard from many, many formerly very pro-Trump voters that they think it’s time for our party to move on.”

He added, “So, yes, I think that process is under way. It’s not a flip of a switch. It doesn’t happen overnight. [Trump] still has a significant following, that’s for sure. But I do think his influence is waning.”