After GOP midterm losses, Baker says Trump ‘hurt the party’s chances’

November 15, 2022 9:23 am

Cori Dubois,

Massachusetts Republican Gov. Charlie Baker, center left, speaks to reporters as Mass. Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, left, Mass. Democratic Attorney General Maura Healey, center right, and Mayor of Salem Kim Driscoll, right, look on during a news conference, Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2022, at the Statehouse, in Boston. Hours after Healey was elected governor of the state she met with Baker at the Statehouse to discuss the upcoming transfer of power. (AP Photo/Steven Senne)

BOSTON (WLNE) — Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker on Monday talked about former President Donald Trump’s influence on the Republican Party.

In an exclusive interview with CNN, Baker said, “I think the biggest issue that played out in the midterms is something I’ve talked about a lot over the course of the past eight years, which is voters, generally speaking, especially in battleground states, aren’t interested in extremism.”

The two-term governor explained, “They want people who they believe are going to be reasonable, who are going to be collaborative, who represent the fundamental tentative democracy that it’s supposed to be a distributed decision-making model.”

Despite often being named in polls as the most popular governor in America, Baker didn’t run for re-election.

He will be succeeded by Democratic Maura Healey, who defeated Trump-backed Geoff Diehl.

“I certainly think there’s significant influence from the former president. And I think that influence probably hurt the party and hurt the party’s chances on Election Day, not just here in Massachusetts and Maryland, but in many of those other battleground states,” Baker said.

Trump is expected on Tuesday to launch his third campaign for the White House from his club in Palm Beach.