If you’ve been following the midterm election cycle, then you’ve definitely heard about the “red wave.”

Apparently, every state was supposed to turn red during the midterms, and Republicans were meant to take control of the Senate and the House by sweeping majorities.

Spoiler alert: that didn’t happen. The red wave movement was misleading and irresponsible on the part of Republicans and media outlets.

While the Republicans were able to gain control of the House by an extremely slim majority, they did not gain control of the Senate.

Right-wing media outlets have been spewing lies about a “red wave” since the summer. They used Republican-funded research and polls to try and prove their point. Now that the elections are over, Republican voters stand confused about why there wasn’t a bigger showing for their party when news outlets have been telling them for months there would be a “red wave.”

According to a poll conducted by Forbes, only 52% of Republican voters believe the midterm elections were “free and fair.” While this percentage is an increase from the 2020 election, only 46% of red voters trust the election system.

Republicans did not want to face the fact that these elections were close.

One issue that Republicans underestimated was how many voters would go to the polls with women’s rights on their minds. After the Dobbs decision in June, a surge of people wanted to vote for Democratic candidates, according to NPR.

Republicans also relied heavily on endorsements from former President Donald Trump. That turned out to be a mistake too because, last I checked, he only won nine out of the 18 races he endorsed with several still to be called.

The red party has a lot to look at after these elections.

If Republicans want any chance of taking back the White House in two years, they need to end the lies and focus on encouraging voters.