Donald Trump said Republicans would have won “by a landslide” if he had been on the ballot, in his first public statement during the overnight vote count. In a post on Truth Social, the US president described the election as a referendum in which he had not participated, but did not name any of the candidates he had endorsed who were facing difficulties.
Several candidates personally selected by Trump were struggling in the midterm elections, and many had not won. Earlier on Tuesday, a White House official told CNN that the candidates, rather than Trump, were responsible for their performance, saying the president had done more to promote them than they had done themselves.
CNN projections indicated that Democrats were expected to take control of the House of Representatives. At the time of the projections, Democrats had won 113 seats, compared with 62 for Republicans, including six seats taken from the president’s party.
The result put Hakeem Jeffries on course to become the first Black speaker of the House, though he would still need to secure the position in a floor vote when the new Congress takes office.
Sources: CNN Brasil.