President Trump on Wednesday dismissed those in the media he said are not giving the White House and the GOP “proper credit” for midterm results, labeling them as “fake news.”
“To any of the pundits or talking heads that do not give us proper credit for this great Midterm Election, just remember two words – FAKE NEWS!” Trump tweeted the morning after Republicans lost control of the House but expanded their majority in the Senate.
Several pundits and anchors acknowledged early in the night on Tuesday that the results were not indicative of a “blue wave” carrying Democrats into majorities in both chambers of Congress, including Democratic strategist James Carville, and Jake Tapper and Van Jones of CNN.
{mosads}The president has been unflinchingly positive in his response to the midterm results, where Democrats retook control of the House by defeating a number of Trump-backed candidates. He has called the night a “tremendous success” and a “big victory.”
A handful of candidates Trump boosted with campaign stops in the closing weeks of the campaign appeared to emerge victorious on Tuesday, including Senate candidates Mike Braun of Indiana, Josh Hawley of Missouri and Rick Scott of Florida. Former congressman Ron DeSantis, who aligned himself closely with the president, also won Florida’s close gubernatorial election.
However, dozens of Trump-backed GOP candidates lost House, Senate and gubernatorial races, including Sen. Dean Heller (Nev.), Senate candidate John James (Mich.), Reps. Rod Blum (Iowa), Pete Sessions (Texas), John Faso (N.Y.), Claudia Tenney (N.Y.), Dave Brat (Va.), Randy Hultgren (Ill.) and Keith Rothfus (Pa.), Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and others.