Mick Mulvaney also expressed skepticism a ‘blue wave’ will occur in November, in a recording obtained by the New York Times

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Ted Cruz could lose his Senate seat in Texas because he isn’t “likable” enough but the Democrats’ “movement of hate” will not attract former Republican voters and a midterm “blue wave” is unlikely, Donald Trump’s budget chief told donors in remarks reported by the New York Times on Saturday.

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The Times said it had obtained a recording of Mick Mulvaney and Republican National Committee chair Ronna McDaniel speaking at a closed-door meeting in New York.

“There’s a very real possibility we will win a race for Senate in Florida and lose a race in Texas for Senate, OK?” Mulvaney was reported as saying. “I don’t think it’s likely, but it’s a possibility. How likable is a candidate? That still counts.”

Cruz is a hardliner first elected in 2012 who finished second to Trump for the presidential nomination in 2016. He has been endorsed by Trump – to the glee of pundits who have resurfaced brutally critical tweets from the primary – but he faces Beto O’Rourke, a Democratic congressman whose tireless and media-savvy campaigning has kept the race closer than most expected.

In Florida, Governor Rick Scott is challenging Democrat Bill Nelson in a close race.

Mulvaney, the Times said, also discussed Trump’s continued confusion over why Roy Moore, the Republican candidate in a special Senate election in Alabama last year, lost a deep-red seat to Democrat Doug Jones.

“The president asks me all the time: ‘Why did Roy Moore lose?’” Mulvaney said. “That’s easy. He was a terrible candidate.”

Among other controversies Moore, a hardline former state supreme court justice, was forced to deny accusations of sexual misconduct involving teenagers.

McDaniel and Mulvaney both reportedly said they did not believe Democrats would be able to channel opposition to Trump into a takeover of Congress.

“They have their energy,” McDaniel was quoted as saying. “We have our infrastructure.”

Mulvaney reportedly said: “It’s hard to draw people into a movement of hate.”

He added: “I don’t think I have seen, yet, people who used to be Republican or people who have never voted before or haven’t voted in a long time, showing up at [Democratic] events.”