Whatever their disappointment about this month’s lackluster midterm results might be, the United States’ conservative establishment has clearly sensed an opportunity. Over the past two weeks, a swelling cavalcade of right-wing pundits, talking heads, and elected officials have sought to distance themselves from Donald Trump and signal in no uncertain terms that the future of the Republican Party lies elsewhere.

Reacting to the results, Fox’s Laura Ingraham — notably a longtime Trump sycophant — remarked: “It is not about any one person. If the voters conclude that you’re putting your own ego . . . ahead of what’s good for the country, they’re going to look elsewhere. Period.” Former congressman Mick Mulvaney, who served as Trump’s chief of staff for over a year, meanwhile told CNBC:

I’m ready for a generational change in my party. Ron DeSantis would make a great president. Tim Scott would make a great president. Nikki Haley would make a great president. Mike Pompeo. Mike Pence. Go down the list. . . .  I think [Trump] is the only Republican who could lose.