Failed MAGA Candidate Immediately Stabs Trump in the Back
The GOP Maine gubernatorial candidate loved to compare himself to Trump. Until he lost.
Evan Vucci/REUTERS
A MAGA Republican who lost his bid to become Maine’s next governor has immediately pointed the finger of blame at Donald Trump.
Bobby Charles was decisively beaten by Democrat Hannah Pingree in Tuesday’s midterm election, amid an intense voter backlash against the president that saw Republicans lose control of the House and Senate, as well as several gubernatorial races.
After his crushing defeat, Charles—who sold Trump-esque merchandise on his website and enthusiastically supported the president’s tariffs and hardline immigration policies—appears to have decided that distancing himself from the lame-duck president is the best move going forward.
“It sounds a little ironic,” Charles told Politico, “but I am nevertheless optimistic for the future because Trump’s going to be gone in two years.”

Bobby Charles was desperate for a Trump endorsement in the Maine gubernatorial race.
Facebook/Bobby Charles
The remarks starkly contrast with what Charles had been saying throughout his campaign. When he first launched his bid for Maine governor, Charles promised he would run the state akin to Trump.
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“If you liked the first 90 days of Trump, if you liked the first two weeks of Trump, you would love the first few weeks of my administration, because we are going to flip this thing on its head,” he said.
Charles also desperately sought Trump’s endorsement in the race and described the backing he received from Vice President JD Vance as a “wonderful thing.”
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Other Republicans have demanded that Trump—who launched a deeply unpopular war in Iran, drove up gas prices, and endorsed controversial MAGA candidates in key races across the country—be held responsible for the midterm massacre.

Bobby Charles sold a Maine version of Trump’s synonymous red “Make America Great Again” hats on his website.
Screengrab
“We are beyond candidate quality. It’s a bloodbath,” one senior Senate GOP official told Politico. “Trump did this.”
A Republican operative working on swing-state campaigns said the crushing defeats were the result of a devastating mixture of “incompetence” from Trump and his team.
“The people in the White House didn’t do anything to stop him from engaging on things that were actively making everything worse because he was ignoring what the voters were caring about,” the operative said.
Trump, who is recording near-record-low approval ratings, has refused to shoulder any of the blame for the GOP’s devastating losses.
“I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE,” Trump posted on Truth Social.
The 80-year-old has also blasted Fox News for spending “too much time covering the Trump Deranged Dumocrats” and attacked Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who lost his re-election bid amid a seismic political shift in the Lone Star State, as a “RINO” who should have gone “back to his original formula.”
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment.
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