Trump Blames Republicans but Says Democrats Did a 'Good Job' in Midterm Rout
President Donald Trump conceded the Democrats did a 'good job' as they won control of both chambers of Congress, while accusing losing Republicans of disloyalty and insisting the GOP would have prevailed 'in a landslide' had he been on the ballot.
BBC World
US President Donald Trump has reacted to heavy Republican losses in the midterm elections by criticising his own party's candidates while conceding that the Democrats did a "good job", as the opposition party takes control of both the Senate and House of Representatives.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump derided Greg Abbott, who lost the Texas governor's race to Democrat Gina Hinojosa, saying Abbott would not have lost if he "hadn't become a RINO in the last six months" of his political life. The acronym, short for "Republican in Name Only", is used by party members against those deemed disloyal. Abbott's defeat marks the first time a Democrat has won the Texas governorship in more than 30 years.
Despite the recriminations, Trump told The New York Times he was "absolutely willing to accept" the results and said he would "look forward to working with" the Democrats. "We'll probably work something out," he said.
Speaking to Fox News, the president said he was "a little surprised" at the outcome. "I thought they'd do better," he said of the Republican candidates, adding: "The Democrats did a good job. They fought hard." He nonetheless predicted the Democrats would send "insane" legislation to his desk that he would veto, posting an image of a red cap emblazoned with the word "VETO" in reference to his ability to block legislation. "After a couple of months of vetoes, they'll call and they'll say, 'how do we get this stuff done?' And we'll work together," he said.
Trump acknowledged that the Iran conflict had contributed to the defeat. Asked what the takeaways of the results were, he told Fox News: "I think a part of it was Iran." But he argued it was the war's impact on US fuel prices that turned voters away. "People agree with what I'm doing on Iran but they really probably weren't willing to do the short term consequences of paying more for gasoline - I understand that," he said. Iran's chief negotiator, meanwhile, said Americans had voted "no to war".
The president repeatedly insisted that his absence from the ballot was decisive. "We would have won easily if I was on the ballot. But I wasn't," he told CBS News, adding on Truth Social that Republicans "would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!" if his name had appeared. He distanced himself from other Republican candidates, telling CBS News: "In some cases they [voters] didn't like the candidates, and in some cases those candidates were not my friend."
As Republican losses mounted on election night, Trump posted that he was going to "become a Political Pundit, both good and bad, on the reasons these Candidates won and lost". He also lambasted Fox News over its coverage, criticising the outlet for "spending too much time" on the Democrats and saying its ratings were "way down, not because of me, but because they are AGAINST me!" He was further unhappy that the network had interviewed former New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, whom he called "the Worst Mayor" in the city's history, writing that he "left the City in disgrace and the damage he caused was incalculable".
The night produced a series of electoral firsts, including James Talarico becoming the first Democrat to win a Texas Senate seat since 1988, as Democrats pushed deep into traditionally Republican territory on what analysts described as a historic evening for the party.