Week after week for the past three months, Americans have heard President Donald Trump say and repeat that they needed to vote as if he "were on the ballot." At rallies, interviews, at the Texas Republican convention, in tweets and ads. This has been the main and almost sole message. While congressmen, senators, and candidates pleaded with the White House to let them campaign focusing on state and local issues to counter rising prices, Trump wanted a referendum on himself. It is clear that he has lost.Clear to everyone, except for himself.
Just before 10:00 PM Washington time, the White House began damage control by sending a message to reporters distancing itself from the results, stating that the blame for what happened is not at all the leader's and even claiming that the leader had nothing at stake, a blushing message after having bombarded with that same idea precisely. "President Trump did a better job promoting many of the candidates than the candidates themselves (...) The president was not on the ballot, and it has been shown that Trump voters show up when he is on it," the statement said.
The MAGA leader, in fact, is the one who handpicked most of the defeated tonight. Darline Graham in South Carolina, Al Paxton in Texas, or the "muscle butt" Senate candidate Jon Husted in Ohio. But he insists that the responsibility lies with others. "I didn't run for office, and if I had, we would have won by a landslide!" he tweeted when he was already aware of the extent of the harsh defeat.
Throughout the day, numerous allies and friends of Trump, conspiracy enthusiasts, and MAGA influencers had been laying the groundwork for possible challenges, talking about massive thefts, manipulations, and maneuvers to disenfranchise Republicans. Accusing them of being behind failures in machines in New York, ballot supply errors in Kansas, and electrical problems in Arizona or Colorado. The president, however, seems willing to admit the overwhelming results. "I am absolutely willing to accept those results," he said in an interview with The New York Times. "We will work with the Democrats and, well, we hope to work with them. We will probably reach an agreement," he stated around 10:30 PM (4:30 AM in Spain). Shortly after, however, he posted an image of his traditional red cap with the message VETO in capital letters, signaling that for the next two years he would try to block any legislative proposals from his rivals.
Trump was angry, furious, last night. He showed this on his social media, harshly attacking his own ranks. To quickly divert attention, he announced that he would become "a political analyst, for better or worse, on the reasons why these candidates won and lost," starting a list of grievances against his own. "Some of them had many flaws, and obviously were not acceptable to voters," Trump told the Wall Street Journal. "You know, one only goes as far as one goes," he added, washing his hands.
"If Greg Abbott, the governor of Texas, hadn't become a Republican in name only (RINO) in the last six months of his political career, he wouldn't have lost. He went back to his original formula, and it wasn't pleasant at all," he said about the three-time governor of Texas and his ally for 10 years. The first to be singled out.
But his anger was mainly directed at Fox News, his favorite television network, where he was following the election night at a small party in the White House. "I'm watching the pre-election results on Fox News, but I can't stand Jessica Tarlov's voice; she's as dumb as a rock, but it's her voice that drives me crazy. I have to go somewhere else until that loser is off the air. I'll be back later!" he wrote before the polls closed, referring to one of the network's hosts, the only one who is progressive and very critical of his government.
His anger only grew as the polls and early results came in. "The Fox News poll, always the worst, is so insulting with the questions they ask. Every question is an attack, and every answer is 'LIE!'. This has been going on for years," he lamented shortly after. "Fox News' ratings have plummeted drastically (by 27%) because they spend too much time covering the crazies obsessed with Trump. Everyone who used to watch Fox and no longer does understands it. It's them, not me; my numbers are better than ever. The new CNN poll states that 'TRUMP' has 99% support among Republicans and, among Republican presidents, 53%, compared to Ronald Reagan (18%) and Abraham Lincoln (8%). Fox knows it, and so does everyone else!" he added shortly after, completely unleashed.
The network's data is accurate. On Monday, the president, son of Rupert Murdoch, admitted that viewership had dropped and blamed viewer fatigue with politics. But analysts believe it may reflect a growing disaffection with Trump and the Republicans. The president does not accept half-loyalties and stated that "it's no surprise that Fox News' ratings are collapsing, and they will fall much more. They have fallen a lot, not because of me, but because they are AGAINST ME! This happened once before, and Fox almost collapsed. It's happening again!" he concluded, lamenting one by one the donations to progressive figures or causes from the Murdoch family.