Brad overstated it, but he is not far off
Donald Trump lost because Donald Trump is a bad brand
The last thing House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy needed was Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger testifying against Donald Trump outside of a grand jury.
Somewhat because grand jury testimony is secret, but mostly because it cements the most dunderheaded decision since Jimmy Carter agreed to debate then Governor Ronald Reagan in October 1980.
The narrative coming from the Select House Committee to Investigate the January 6th Attack on the Capitol is non-partisan, non-ideological, and very anti-Trump. And, but for McCarthy’s decision to not to cede Jim Banks (R-IN) and Jim Jordan (R-OH) as Committee members, the narrative could have been attacked as anti-GOP and anti-Trump. Plus, it’s unlikely the January 6th Committee would have made forays into the conflicts within the Trump Justice Department1, orders given by the Acting Secretary of Defense2, and of course, Trump’s attempt to change the outcome of Georgia’s presidential vote3 without cries of “fishing expeditions” or “outside the Committee’s scope and jurisdiction”.
Raffensperger to his credit pointed out that Trump lost in Georgia, but he also opined the GOP did okay.
Losing two U.S. Senate seats and one U.S. House seat is not doing okay. And holding one’s gerrymandered advantage in the state legislature is not a win4.
Trump lost in Georgia, Arizona, and Wisconsin; because conservatives voted for Jo Jorgensen, the Libertarian nominee, and it cost Trump 37 Electoral votes — enough to tip the election.
Jorgensen’s vote percentages in Georgia and Arizona exceeded her national average and the raw votes for the Libertarian ticket were 5.3 times and 4.9 times the margin between Biden and Trump, respectively. You can read all about it here5.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/17/politics/january-6-witnesses-justice-department-hearing/index.html
https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/congress/former-acting-defense-secretary-meets-jan-6-committee-rcna12335
https://www.npr.org/2022/06/21/1106472863/georgia-officials-fact-check-infamous-trump-phone-call-in-real-time
The GA State Senate and House results were virtually unchanged from 2018 to 2020.
