Top Republicans are slamming Trump and plotting to get rid of him after the GOP's disappointing midterm results

• Some Republicans have turned against Donald Trump after the midterm elections.
• Several appeared on TV shows Sunday to criticise the former president.

Former President Donald Trump has long been regarded as the Republican Party's kingmaker — with prospective candidates clamoring for the former president's endorsement as they sought office.

But in the wake on the party's disappointing showing in the midterm elections last Tuesday, his reputation as a political winner is badly damaged.

GOP analysts and lawmakers were lining up on news shows Sunday to ask a question that until recently many Republicans would've dismissed: What if Trump is more of an electoral liability than asset?

The party had expected to sweep to success on the back of the unpopularity of President Joe Biden's economic policies.

Instead it fell well short, failing to overturn the Democrats' thin Senate majority. Even control of the House of Representatives, where many analysts had expected Republicans to win a commanding majority, remained in the balance as of Monday morning.

Larry Hogan, the departing governor of Maryland and a high-profile GOP Trump critic, took aim at the former president in an appearance on CNN's 'State of the Union', branding him a serial loser.

"It's basically the third election in a row that Donald Trump has cost us the race, and it's like, three strikes, you're out," Hogan said.

He was referring to the 2018 and 2020 election cycles before this one, both of which saw losses for the GOP.

"This should have been a huge red wave. It should have been one of the biggest red waves we've ever had," said Hogan. Despite President Joe Biden's unpopularity, he said, the GOP "still didn't perform."

His comments were echoed by GOP Gov. Chris Sununu of New Hampshire in an interview on ABC News, who said the results were a rejection by Americans of the extremism embraced by Trump and his supporters.

"I don't think anyone likes the policies out of DC," Sunumu said. "No one likes paying six bucks for a gallon of heating oil, especially with winter coming. But what I think people said was, look, we can work on these policies later, but as Americans, we've got to fix extremism right now."

The Washington Post on Sunday reported that conversations about ousting Trump were being held privately among top GOP donors and operatives.

An increasing number of party figures, The Post reported, were actively working to oppose Trump by directing their donations elsewhere. The outlet did not say who the people were.

The former president had hoped to use the triumph of his candidates in the midterms to launch another bid for the presidency in 2024.

But, according to the report, many Republican power-brokersnow see Florida's Gov. Ron DeSantis as the party's best chance after he cruised to re-election.

Many of the hundreds of candidates endorsed by Trump in the midterms embraced fringe, extremist views, and became mired in scandal and controversy during their campaigns.

They were rejected by voters at the ballot in several key competitive races, notably for control of the US Senate.

Over the weekend, the GOP was dealt a major blow when Trump-endorsed candidates Blake Masters in Arizona and Adam Laxalt in Nevada were defeated by their Democratic rivals, securing the party's continued control of the chamber.

Trump, though, seems determined to push forward with his plans to return to office despite his faltering endorsement strategy — and could make a formal announcement as soon as Tuesday.

He has aimed attacks on social media at DeSantis, pushed baseless election fraud claims, and sought to spin the results as a success story.

Some Republicans believe that Tuesday's results indicate that an even more crushing defeat could be in store for the GOP in 2024 if Trump is selected as the GOP's candidate.

"A true leader understands when they have become a liability .. It's time to step off the stage," Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Sears told Fox News last week.

Defenders of the former president say that this isn't the first time his political career has been declared over, only for him to bounce back.

In the 2016 presidential campaign, opponents said the release of the "Access Hollywood" tapes where he bragged of groping women spelt the end of his candidacy — yet he went on to win.

And in aftermath of the January 6 riot, when his supporters ransacked the US Capitol, many believed Trump's hold over the GOP was at an end. Instead he retained control of the party and the loyalty of millions of its grassroots supporters.

Polls indicate that he remains the most popular candidate in contention for the 2024 nomination, an aggregate of recent polls for the data website FiveThirtyEight shows.

"Remember, when he was on the ballot in 2016 and 2020, we won a lot more seats than when he wasn't on the ballot in 2018 and 2022," argued Trump ally Rep. Jim Banks of Indiana in a Fox News interview Sunday.