Ousted Republican candidates across the country are refusing to advise their successors — and in some cases are publicly turning against leaders of their own party — according to a new report from Politico. The report describes what appears to be retaliation from figures rejected by President Donald Trump or members of his administration.

Outgoing Senator John Cornyn has lent his support to other Republican candidates' fundraising efforts, with one notable exception: Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who defeated Cornyn in the primary with Trump's backing. In North Carolina, Senator Thom Tillis, a vocal Trump critic, played only a limited role in the rise of former Republican National Committee Chair Michael Whatley, Trump's hand-picked Senate candidate.

Rep. Mark Amodei has repeatedly criticized David Flippo, the GOP nominee seeking to succeed him, and has now openly declared he will not vote for him. David McIntosh, president of the Trump-aligned Club for Growth, a fiscally conservative political organization that has endorsed both Flippo and Paxton, pushed back forcefully. "The bedwetting from outgoing moderate Republicans will define their legacy and only help socialists get elected," McIntosh said. "People like John Cornyn and Mark Amodei need to get on board and support Republican nominees and stop posturing for an MSNOW contract."

The dissent is unfolding at a delicate moment, with much of the country already opposed to Trump and even former supporters in red states growing frustrated over the state of the economy and increasingly uncertain about when, if ever, conditions will stabilize. All three seats at issue — the Texas and North Carolina Senate posts and Amodei's House seat in Nevada — will be contested in November 2026 without the outgoing incumbents on the ballot. They are part of the midterm elections, in which every House seat and roughly one-third of Senate seats will be up and control of Congress for the remainder of Trump's term will be decided.

"What [Trump's] done is created a coalition that, in my opinion, will not stay with Republicans once we go back to traditional Republican platform priorities," Tillis said in a recent interview with Politico. "A lot of the elements of the populism that Trump created to expand a base that made him successful running for president, I don't think that stays with the party long-term."

With questions about who bears the blame still lingering, many formerly ousted Republicans are turning on one another. Though Tillis publicly endorsed Whatley to succeed him in the 2026 U.S. Senate election, he never followed through on offers to help Whatley by contacting donors, one person told the outlet anonymously.

"He was never part of our strategy because ... if he could have been helpful to us, then he could have run," the source said, referring to Tillis' decision not to seek reelection. "The Tillis of the past year ain't the same guy who worked overtime to help elect Republican majorities here in NC back in 2010."

Some argue that Trump's endorsements are backfiring. Candidates such as Flippo, who has faced scrutiny over multiple scandals, including financial controversies, have handed Trump's critics additional ammunition against his picks.

Amodei suggested in an interview that whoever advised Trump on the endorsement offered poor counsel. "The only criteria shouldn't be, 'Well, they're the Republican,'" he said after selecting a third-party candidate. "I mean, politics is a team sport. But when a member of the team turns out to be this way, clearly this is not a bright and shining moment for the vetting process."