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Donald Trump makes claim about midterm election result in all-caps Truth Social post
Donald Trump has claimed he would have secured a landslide victory in Tuesday's midterm elections if his name had appeared on the ballot, despite repeatedly urging Americans to treat the vote as a referendum on his presidency.
The 80-year-old president took to Truth Social on Thursday to react to the Republican Party's bruising electoral defeat, suggesting the losses had very little to do with his own leadership.
Trump's extraordinary claim about midterm election results
"I JUST WASN’T ON THE BALLOT. IF I WERE, WE WOULD HAVE WON IN A LANDSLIDE! President DONALD J. TRUMP," he wrote.
The extraordinary all-caps message came after months of Trump encouraging voters to support Republican candidates as though they were voting directly for him.
But Tuesday's results proved disastrous for Republicans, with a sweeping Democratic victory widely interpreted as a rejection of Trump's presidency amid poor approval ratings, an unpopular war with Iran and rising living costs.
Democrats secured victories across several key battleground states, including Georgia, Michigan, New Hampshire and North Carolina.
They also made gains in traditionally Republican territory, winning in Iowa, Kansas, Texas and South Carolina.
Trump's controversial mid-decade redistricting strategy also appeared to backfire, with the results delivering historic firsts for Democrats, with Keisha Lance Bottoms becoming the first Black woman elected governor in US history after her victory in Georgia.
In Texas, Gina Hinojosa is set to become the state's first Latina governor.
As it became apparent on Wednesday that Democrats had regained control of Congress, Trump had already published a similar message attempting to distance himself from the defeat.
"I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE! Thank you for your attention to this matter," he wrote.
His latest comments quickly attracted criticism, with social media users pointing out that Trump had spent months telling voters to approach the midterms as though he were personally standing for election.
"Trump told Americans to vote as if he was on the ballot. They just did!" one X user wrote.
Another pointed out: "You were quite clear, numerous times, for everyone to treat this election as if you were on the ballot, AND THEY CERTAINLY DID THAT!"
A third had declared: "The guy is completely senile."
Even one supporter suggested Trump's own decisions had contributed to the Republican losses.
"I support you; however, it's your arrogance & indecisiveness on Iran that cost the election. You want to bring us to the foundation of our country 'One nation under God'. But, you make it more about you," they wrote.
The reasons for midterm defeat
Trump's midterm setback follows a first half of his second term in which he has faced relatively few political consequences for his decisions.
His administration introduced sweeping tariffs that placed pressure on the economy, while his decision to launch a war with Iran sent fuel prices soaring and angered Americans opposed to US involvement in another Middle Eastern conflict.
That was despite Trump previously promising to avoid precisely the kind of foreign entanglement that has historically proved unpopular with voters.
Meanwhile, the president has attracted scrutiny over billions of dollars in outside investments and his focus on extensive Washington renovations, at a time when many Americans are struggling with the cost of living.
Trump approached the midterms with apparent confidence, insisting the economy was performing well and arguing that military action in Iran was necessary to prevent a nuclear war.
Outgoing Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a Republican, offered a stark assessment of the scale of the party's losses on Wednesday.
“Let’s just be clear about what happened last night,” he said. “This is close to an extinction-level event for Republicans in many parts of the country.”
Even Trump, who continues to reject the outcome of the 2020 presidential election, which he lost to Democrat Joe Biden, did not dispute the results of Tuesday's vote.