A furious Trump is blaming Melania for urging him to support Dr. Oz, who lost a key Senate race: NYT reporter

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A furious Trump is blaming Melania for urging him to support Dr. Oz, who lost a key Senate race: NYT reporter
Former President Donald Trump addresses reporters after he and former First Lady Melania Trump voted in the general election in Palm Beach, Florida, on November 8, 2022.Phelan M. Ebenhack for The Washington Post via Getty Images
  • Trump-backed Republican Mehmet Oz lost the race for US Senate in Pennsylvania this week.
  • The former president was "furious" about his loss, The New York Times' Maggie Haberman tweeted.
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Former President Donald Trump was angry with his wife, Melania, for urging him to support Mehmet Oz, who lost a pivotal Senate race in Pennsylvania, New York Times reporter Maggie Haberman said.

In a tweet on Wednesday, Haberman confirmed earlier reports that the former president was "livid" and "screaming at everyone" after many of the Republican candidates he backed underperformed in Tuesday's midterm elections.

"Trump is indeed furious this morning, particularly about Mehmet Oz, and is blaming everyone who advised him to back Oz -- including his wife, describing it as not her best decision, according to people close to him," Haberman tweeted.

"Worth remembering that Trump is a grown man who endorsed Oz over the objection of some of the people closest to him," she added.

Oz, a former reality TV doctor, lost to Democrat John Fetterman on Wednesday, flipping a crucial Senate seat that had previously been in Republican hands.

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Trump endorsed Oz in April, saying he has the best chance of winning the general election because he has "lived with us through the screen and has always been popular, respected, and smart."

Former First Lady Melania Trump and Fox News host Sean Hannity had been pressing Trump to back Oz because they were friends with him, Axios' Jonathan Swan reported at the time.

In March, Oz and his wife, Lisa, had a dinner with Trump and Melania at Mar-a-Lago that lasted for several hours, Politico reported.

Trump has denied reports that he was angry and insisted that the midterm results were a success for him, writing in a Truth Social post on Wednesday: "Incredible how dishonest the Fake News Media is. The Failing New York Times has gone crazy."

Haberman also said that Trump, who teased last week that he might officially announce his presidential candidacy on November 15, is now debating whether or not to reschedule it.

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"Several [Republicans] have texted asking whether he will, but it's risky and would be acknowledging he's wounded by yesterday, something that some of his advisers insist is not the case," she wrote.

A representative for Trump did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.

Haberman is a White House correspondent for The New York Times who covered Trump's presidency extensively and recently published a tell-all book: "Confidence Man: The Making of Donald Trump and the Breaking of America."

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