According to the New York Times, US President Donald Trump said late Tuesday that he would accept the results of the midterm elections and was prepared to work with Democrats as the party took control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. During a phone interview while watching election returns at the White House, Trump told the newspaper, “I am absolutely willing to accept those results.”
“We’ll work with the Democrats, and we’ll, you know, look forward to working with them. We’ll probably work something out,” Trump added.
The president blamed Republican losses in several closely watched races partly on his absence from the ballot, arguing that the party’s performance might have been different had he been personally running in the elections. After suffering major losses, Trump asserted he “wasn’t on the Ballot” but “would have won IN A LANDSLIDE” if he was.
This was a reversal from weeks of Trump encouraging supporters to vote as though he was a candidate on the ballot in hopes of generating support for Republicans. However, on Tuesday night, he dismissed concerns that the midterm results were a reflection of that. “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,” Trump said.
Trump reiterated his claim to the New York Times, saying: “I wasn’t on the ticket, and because I wasn’t on the ticket, we couldn’t get enough people out to vote.” He also told the newspaper he was “absolutely willing” to accept the results of the midterms.
