STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:
President Trump asked for voters to act as if he was on the ballot. It's widely thought that voters did. All across the country, they repudiated Republicans who were on the ballot.
MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
The GOP losses across both chambers of Congress came after Trump actively stumped and backed many Republican candidates. So what does this mean for the future of the Republican Party? We're going to talk about this with NPR senior national political correspondent Mara Liasson. Mara, hello.
MARA LIASSON, BYLINE: Hi there.
MARTIN: So the Republican Party in recent years has become the party of Trump. He says it. Many voters say that. So after losing their majority in Congress, where do they go from here?
LIASSON: Well, that is a really good question, and the Republicans have some big decisions to make, mostly how closely they want to hew to Trump. Up until now, the Republican Party has stood for pretty much whatever Trump wanted to do at a given day. And now that he's an official lame duck and he was shown to be not a good person to be associated with if you are running for Congress, will Republicans be more emboldened to break with Trump?
Now, at least one GOP House member, representative Maria Elvira Salazar of Florida, is ahead in her race - it hasn't been called yet - even after airing an ad where she tells Trump, standing in front of the White House, that many of her Hispanic constituents feel betrayed by his immigration policies. So there's an example of someone who broke with Trump and so far hasn't paid a price for it. We'll see if other people - other Republicans follow.
MARTIN: But the fact is that the president backed many of those candidates who did win their primaries in the GOP. And in fact, he selected them. I mean, he made it very clear that including, you know, going against incumbents - which is a very unusual thing to do - many of these same candidates that he selected, that he backed, that he, you know, strongly supported, lost in their general election. I wonder what that message sends to other House Republicans who will face elections again in just two years.
LIASSON: Well, I think that is why this is such a difficult decision for Republicans. The next election they're all going to stand in, if they're members of Congress, is a Republican primary. And at least until now, that is where Trump has the most juice. He was able to pick his - the candidate he wanted in Texas, North Carolina, South Carolina. It just doesn't work in a general election. So how do you hew closely to Trump to get his endorsement but somehow separate yourself from him later? That's unclear. And that's why it's going to be so difficult for Republicans to navigate this next cycle.
MARTIN: And the fact is President Trump is such a big figure. I mean, he doesn't leave a lot of room for any other big figure. But as you pointed out, for all the reasons you've just pointed out, he may not carry the same weight as he did before. Do you have a sense of who fills that vacuum, especially now that we've learned that the current speaker of the House, who would be the minority leader in the next Congress, says he's not even going to run for that leadership position. So...
LIASSON: Right.
MARTIN: ...Who fills that room or that space?
LIASSON: Well, I think who fills that room eventually obviously is going to be the next nominee for president. And JD Vance seems like he's the heir apparent. You know, Marco Rubio, the Secretary of State, has said he doesn't want to run if JD Vance does run. So I think a Republican primary will produce that person.
But the interesting thing about the Republican Party is it's really up for grabs because Trump suppressed debate inside the Party since he was the party. Now there's going to be a debate about the post-Trump future. What does the Republican Party stand for? Are they going to look something like a European far-right party? Are they going to revert to a small-tax, strong-defense-conservative on social issues party? It's not clear, but that's going to be a fascinating debate to watch inside the GOP.
MARTIN: That is NPR senior political correspondent Mara Liasson. Mara, thank you.
LIASSON: You're welcome. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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