President Donald Trump’s party lost control of the House of Representatives last night, and Trump is blaming the losing Republican candidates for not loving him more. Literally.
“Mia Love gave me no love and she lost — too bad, sorry about that, Mia,” Trump said about Republican Utah Rep. Mia Love, who looks like she is going to lose her Republican-leaning but competitive district to a Democrat this year.
He didn’t stop with Love. He went down the list of Republicans who couldn’t muster enough support to overcome the blue wave this year, chastising them for not “embracing” the Donald.
“Carlos Curbelo, Mike Coffman. Too bad, Mike,” Trump said. “And Barbara Comstock was another. I think that she could’ve won that race, but she did not want to have an embrace ...
“Peter Roskam did not want the embrace ...
“Erik Paulsen did not want the embrace ...
“John Faso; those are some of the people that decided for their own reason not to embrace, whether it is me or what we stand for, but what we stand for meant a lot to a lot of people,” Trump said at a press conference Wednesday.
Republicans, particularly those in districts that voted against Trump in the 2016 election, found themselves on the chopping block last night — a reality that Trump has been reluctant to recognize. So far, Democrats have been able to flip 28 Republican-held congressional districts for a net gain of 26 seats (they lost two seats in Pennsylvania and Minnesota).
Look no further than Comstock’s race in northern Virginia, which Trump called out. Jennifer Wexton became the first Democrat to flip a Republican-held seat early Tuesday night by effectively tying Comstock to the president — even billing her as “Barbara Trumpstock” in ads.
Trump had a big role in the midterm elections in the final months. He participated in 42 rallies to support Republican candidates across the country, some more successful than others. Exit polls also indicated that this election was very much about Trump.
But there’s no question that Trump’s unpopularity as president played a significant role in these midterms, energizing Democratic voters to turn out in historic levels. Even some of Trump’s primary picks didn’t fare so well on Election Day. Notably, Trump supported two Republican primary challengers — Katie Arrington, who ousted sitting Republican Rep. Mark Sanford, and Kris Kobach, who unseated incumbent Gov. Jeff Colyer — only to see them lose on Tuesday.
Those defeats didn’t faze the president, however, who early on established that he would bear no personal responsibility for Republican losses in the midterms.
Trump’s takeaway from Tuesday night: “I think people like me and people like the job I’m doing.”
