US President Donald Trump used his Truth Social platform in the early hours of Wednesday (5) to distance himself from the disappointing results for Republicans at the polls.
“TRUMP WAS NOT ON THE BALLOTS AND THE GOVERNMENT SHUTDOWN WERE THE TWO REASONS REPUBLICANS LOST TONIGHT’S ELECTIONS,” Trump posted in his first public comments following Tuesday night’s election results (4), citing unidentified “research institutes.”
The president supported New Jersey gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli during the state’s Republican primary earlier this year and held virtual rallies for candidates in New Jersey and Virginia in the run-up to the elections, although he stopped short of explicitly supporting Republican Winsome Earle-Sears in the Virginia gubernatorial race.
In a last-minute post on Monday (3), Trump asked his supporters to support former New York governor Andrew Cuomo over Republican Curtis Sliwa and Democrat in the city’s mayoral race.
Ciattarelli, Earle-Sears and Cuomo lost their respective electoral bases, according to the projections of CNN.
The president quickly turned his attention to more promising numbers, writing shortly afterward that his Sunday interview on CBS’s “60 Minutes” “was the highest-rated 60 Minutes interview IN YEARS!”
According to Variety, Trump’s interview earned the show its biggest audience since the January 10, 2021 edition, which focused on the US Capitol riot on January 6.
