After the party's shock win in 2016, the GOP has been losing key races for several years. The biggest reason for these losses isn't the candidates' poor quality or lack of policy proposals; it is the presence of Donald Trump. Far Right-wing voters may love the 45th president, but his lack of popularity in swing states has cost the party dearly.
While they won't say it publically, plenty Republican politicians know that Trump hurts them more than he helps. They also had a chance to get rid of him in 2020 by convicting him of impeachment. According to Jeffrey Goldberg, that is Mitch MConnell's fault.
The editor of The Atlantic was a guest on Morning Joe Wednesday morning when the topic of Donald Trump came up. He said of the Republicans in the Senate:
"They wanted to keep their jobs. They saw what happened to people who stepped out of line. They saw, you know, even their own colleague Romney being scapegoated within the Capitol simply for standing up for his principles. They found excuses not to vote for it."
Goldberg then turned his attention to McConnell, the leaders of the Republicans in the Senate by saying, "Mitch McConnell could have ended this. He's the guy. But you know what, people like Rob Portman, a highly respected senator, very smart guy, very accomplished guy, if he had built up Mitch McConnell's backbone, we wouldn't be here. But Mitch McConnell was the key player."
Watch a clip of the segment below, courtesy of MSNBC: