Election debacle was bad for Republicans

President Donald Trump acknowledged Tuesday night’s debacle in Democratic election results across the country was bad news for Republicans.

“Last night, as you know, we weren’t expected to win. It was very pro-Democratic, and I don’t think it was good for the Republicans,” President Trump said at a breakfast meeting with Republican senators at the White House on Wednesday morning.

“I don’t know if that was a good thing for anyone,” Trump said. “But we had an interesting night and learned a lot, and we’re going to talk about it.”

Trump added: “If you read the polls, the government shutdown was a big factor, negative for the Republican Party. That was a big factor.”

“And they say the biggest factor is that I’m not on the ballot,” he said.

President Trump’s reference to the longest government shutdown in U.S. history suggests he believes Republicans are politically responsible for the deadlock in the Senate.

Recent polls show that more Americans are blaming Trump and the Republican Party for the government shutdown that has led to mass furloughs of government workers and threatened funding for many federal services.

The president’s remarks came hours after Democratic candidates Abigail Spanberger and Mikie Sherrill won big victories in their respective gubernatorial races in Virginia and New Jersey, with both candidates expected to win by double-digit margins.

Zoran Mamdani, the Democratic candidate for mayor of New York City, also defeated former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, his main opponent who was backed by Trump.

Jay Jones, a Democrat running for Virginia attorney general, also defeated his incumbent rival in 2022, overcoming a huge scandal in which he sent emails musing about violence against a Republican political opponent.

Trump’s first reaction to the election results, with results still beginning to come in Tuesday night, was to claim that his party underperformed because he was not on the ballot and because of the government shutdown.

“According to pollsters, the two reasons Republicans lost tonight’s election are ‘Trump is not on the ballot and the government shutdown,'” Trump said in a post on Truth Social. He did not provide links to those polls.

In a subsequent post, Trump reiterated his recent call for top Republicans to move to eliminate the Senate filibuster, a rule that requires 60 votes rather than a simple majority to pass most legislation.

Republican leaders have long opposed taking this step, known as the “nuclear option,” fearing that a future Democratic Congressional majority would aggressively use that authority.

But President Trump wants to nuclearize the filibuster to quickly end the government shutdown and carry out more of his policy agenda, including passing sweeping changes to federal voting laws.

He emphasized that view during breakfast on Wednesday morning.

“If we don’t end the filibuster, we’re going to be in a dire situation. We’re not going to pass any legislation,” he said.

President Trump is scheduled to fly to Miami, Florida, later Wednesday to deliver a speech on the economy.

This is developing news. Please check back for the latest information.