CNN
Sen. Pat Toomey (R-PA), who will be replaced in Congress come January by Democrat John Fetterman, admitted Thursday that former President Donald Trump was not a positive influence on the Republican ticket in Pennsylvania — which saw far-right gubernatorial candidate Doug Mastriano lose in addition to Mehmet Oz.
In a CNN interview, the retiring senator began by criticizing the effect of Mastriano’s campaign on down-ballot races. “We had an ultra-MAGA candidate who never appeared to even attempt to expand beyond a hardcore base that was very, very committed to him,” Toomey said. “But he ended up losing in an epic beatdown.” Mastriano, a 2020 election denier, was defeated by a convincing margin of more than 14 points, yet has refused to concede.
Regarding the loss of a few winnable congressional races in his home state, Toomey said he believed it was because of “a combination of a real problem at the top of the ticket, but also President Trump inserting himself into the race.”