Washington Post: “MAGA is certainly muddled, as its rank-and-file voters look to leaders outside of the Trump administration, have crossed over to Democrats or disengaged from politics altogether. There is no consensus about who should run in 2028 and plenty of skepticism for Vice President JD Vance, who once seemed the heir apparent. Like Trump or not, everyone agrees his vacuum will be hard to fill.”

“Right-wing influencers increasingly critical of Trump were declaring themselves vindicated by his rebuke in the midterms.”

Dan Pfeiffer: “It was an ass-kicking for the ages. So if there was ever a time for Republicans to engage in some introspection and change their approach, it would be now.”

“But that’s not what’s happening at all.”

“Based on almost everything they have said and done since the election, Trump and the GOP seem wholly committed to learning nothing and instead doubling down on the exact strategy that led to their losses.”

“A growing number of Republicans on Capitol Hill want to draft Marco Rubio for a 2028 presidential bid as they grapple with their midterms wipeout — and look beyond Vice President JD Vance,” Politico reports.

“The generational losses are sparking new discussions among Hill Republicans about who should lead the party. Many argue the race to carry the mantle is now wide open — including a faction who view Rubio as a better fit, given that voters may continue to tie Vance to the president’s unpopularity.”

Adam Serwer: “It is now politicians on the right who find their perceptions skewed by what draws approval on social media and their efforts to tailor their personas to appeal to that audience. If you’re looking for an explanation for why conservatives were shocked that Democrats routed Republicans in the midterms, flipping seats and states that haven’t gone blue in generations, this is a good place to start.”

“When Musk first took over Twitter, I worried that Americans would become trapped in an ‘algorithmic cage’—that right-wing ownership would allow Trump allies to control what Americans saw and heard, and as a result, shape their understanding of reality. I did not anticipate that conservatives would trap themselves in that cage.”

“Republicans are still reckoning with a historic midterm wipeout, but the fight to assign blame and inherit President Donald Trump’s political movement is already underway,” CNBC reports.

“Vice President JD Vance faults the war in Iran. Secretary of State Marco Rubio defends it. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis says Republicans fought the wrong battles. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) argues the party lost touch with voters’ economic struggles.”

“The competing visions from potential presidential contenders offer an early glimpse of the Republican infighting ahead of 2028. But all face the same dilemma: How to convince voters the party can change course without alienating Trump or the MAGA base they need to win the nomination.”

“The biggest obstacle may be Trump himself, who has shown little appetite for a political retreat.”

Fox News: Rubio’s defense of Trump’s Iran war draws sharp contrast with Vance’s midterm blame.

“A new Republican group thinks their party is too old, too moderate and too weak. So they’re launching an effort to replace the outgoing generation of politicians with a younger crop of America First-aligned lawmakers,” Politico reports.

“American Ascent launches Monday with an eye toward building a bench of young conservatives that could flip some of the dozens of congressional seats that will be held by aging lawmakers in 2028.”

New York Times: “In the days since Republicans’ blowout loss, Turning Point leaders have been left to sift through the rubble of the ‘red wall’ they had pledged to build in Arizona, Nevada and New Hampshire, states they view as critical battlegrounds. Despite the group’s significant investment, the only high-profile candidate in those three states who won with its backing was Kelly Ayotte, the incumbent governor of New Hampshire.”

“Turning Point and its allies have defended the group’s strategy, blaming Republican losses on a brutal national political environment stemming from President Trump’s deeply unpopular war with Iran. And they note that many other Republican candidates who ran without Turning Point’s backing lost by similar margins.”

New York Times: “The rush to point fingers comes as the Republican Party is plunging into perhaps its most uncertain moment in years. For a decade, Mr. Trump has controlled the GOP with an iron grip, remaking Republicanism in his MAGA image with little tolerance for dissenting views. Now, as they worry about what could amount to generational losses for their party, some Republicans are embarking on the earliest of efforts to transform the midterm wipeout into a new path forward.”

“These fledgling conversations about the future are taking shape against the backdrop of a quietly bubbling 2028 presidential campaign. Mr. Vance, Mr. Cruz and Mr. DeSantis injected themselves into the debate with their early and extensive assessments in no small part because they are considered potential presidential contenders.”

“They may not be totally in charge of charting their own destinies — or their party’s. Mr. Trump, not even halfway through his four-year term, remains in the White House. He has shown little inclination to change course.”

Associated Press: “As has been the case for the past decade, the central question is the role Trump will play in shaping the party’s future. His insistence on loyalty reached a zenith this year as he intervened in GOP primaries and pressed voters to make the elections a referendum on his second term. He held dozens of rallies in the final weeks of the campaign for candidates, most of whom lost their races.”

“Since Tuesday’s election, he’s refused to acknowledge any responsibility, placing blame on the candidates.”

“As Republicans reckon with a historic rout in Tuesday’s midterm elections, calls to extirpate Trump from the right’s politics are resounding more forcefully than at any point since the first of his three presidential bids,” the Washington Post reports.

”But in a party that has, over the intervening decade, remade itself to a once-unimaginable extent in the president’s image, GOP leaders and activists are finding that creating a ‘post-Trump’ party is easier said than done.”