--- title: Trump Blames Republicans After Crushing Election Defeats description: Trump lashed out at fellow Republicans and Fox News as mounting losses raised questions about his grip on the party. canonical: https://time.com/article/2026/11/03/what-is-trump-planning-to-do-on-election-day-midterm/ author: Philip Wang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2026-11-03T12:00:00.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-11-04T06:46:08.000Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump Blames Republicans After Crushing Election Defeats og:description: Trump lashed out at fellow Republicans and Fox News as mounting losses raised questions about his grip on the party. og:url: https://time.com/article/2026/11/03/what-is-trump-planning-to-do-on-election-day-midterm/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9bbeed4e1f1f19de/6ae8e705807db172d2e37b45/GettyImages-2302752708.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1024 og:image:height: 576 og:image:alt: GettyImages-2302752708.jpg og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump Blames Republicans After Crushing Election Defeats twitter:description: Trump lashed out at fellow Republicans and Fox News as mounting losses raised questions about his grip on the party. twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9bbeed4e1f1f19de/6ae8e705807db172d2e37b45/GettyImages-2302752708.jpg?branch=production&width=1024&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trump Blames Republicans After Crushing Election Defeats > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=f699289e-0b3b-4d65-b303-01d4bb4f5775&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Chuck Schumer Reacts to Democrat Senate Victory: "Relief Is On Its Way" [Watch (HLS stream): Chuck Schumer Reacts to Democrat Senate Victory: "Relief Is On Its Way"](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ZwRKFadX.m3u8) (1:27)  _Published 2026-11-04. Trump lashed out at fellow Republicans and Fox News as mounting losses raised questions about his grip on the party._  by [Philip Wang](https://time.com/author/philip-wang/)  ## Philip Wang Updated: Nov 4, 2026 6:46 AM UTCPublished: Nov 3, 2026 12:00 PM UTC  by [Philip Wang](https://time.com/author/philip-wang/)  ## Philip Wang Updated: Nov 4, 2026 6:46 AM UTCPublished: Nov 3, 2026 12:00 PM UTC Listen 00:001.0x02:45 Narrated by TIME AI. President Donald Trump criticized fellow Republicans and Fox News’ election coverage in a series of Truth Social posts Tuesday night as his party suffered defeats up and down the ballot. Had he been on the ballot, he[ lamented](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117556082339815131), Republicans would have won “IN A LANDSLIDE.” Trump singled out Texas Governor Greg Abbott, who lost his re-election bid to Democrat Gina Hinojosa, calling him a “RINO,” short for “Republican in name only.” **Read more:** [_Democrat Gina Hinojosa Ousts Gov. Greg Abbott in Texas, Ending Decades of Republican Leadership_](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/texas-governor-hinojosa-abbott-2026-midterm-elections/) “He went back to his original formula, and it wasn’t pretty,” said Trump, who had[ praised](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117552709457855737) Abbott as “strong and highly respected” a day earlier. In a phone interview with Fox News, Trump said he was “a little surprised” by the results but rejected the suggestion that they amounted to a repudiation of his leadership. “We’ve had the greatest two years in the history of the presidency,” he added. ## Trump final push falls short Trump had packed his final days before the election with back-to-back virtual rallies. During remarks in front of the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool on Monday, the source of a recent [troubled renovation,](https://time.com/article/2026/06/22/lincoln-memorial-reflecting-pool-vandalism-algae-paint-trump-admin/) Trump lauded his Administration’s achievements while calling Democrats “extreme and dangerous.” “For whatever reason, the sitting president doesn’t win the midterms, and we gave this a very strong shot,” Trump said. His Monday schedule included at least nine virtual rallies for Republican candidates across the country. In October alone, he spoke at 27 campaign rallies. But the last-ditch effort did little to stem Republicans’ losses, with Democrats [taking control](https://time.com/article/2026/11/04/democrats-win-control-of-senate-in-blue-wave-election/) of both the House and the Senate. Republicans suffered some of their most unexpected defeats in South Carolina and Texas, two longtime Republican strongholds. In Florida, Democrats overcame the GOP’s unusual mid-decade redistricting and were projected to win in redrawn districts where Republicans had hoped to gain an advantage. “Democrats are showing up, they're energized. They hate, hate, hate Donald Trump,” Republican Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, said Friday on his [podcast](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xiFTI2%5FCGoc). For months, Trump has appeared to lay the groundwork to claim that voter fraud took place if Republicans perform poorly in the midterms, despite the fact that instances of [voter fraud](https://time.com/article/2026/03/20/mail-voting-absentee-voter-fraud-trump-claims-research/) are exceedingly rare. Last week, he claimed in a [Truth Social post](https://truthsocial.com/@realDonaldTrump/posts/117509280703799414) that the federal government is closely watching for any sign of voter fraud in Minnesota, and that the only way that the Republican candidate for the Senate will lose is through “playing games with the \[B\]allots.” On Monday, the Supreme Court blocked the Department of Justice from setting aside 20,000 mail-in ballots that the administration claims have been provided to noncitizens. Federal judges in the lower courts have all rejected the DOJ’s request to do so. Asked if he will respect the midterm election results, Trump told reporters last Tuesday that he will “if they are honest elections.” ## Transcript [00:00] Against all odds, we Democrats have won the Senate. [00:06] And we have five words for the American people. [00:11] Relief is on the way. [00:14] Republicans had a choice [00:16] of following Trump over the cliff, [00:18] even though Trump policies made [00:21] American families pain much worse. [00:24] We never wavered. [00:26] We listened to the American people [00:28] what they wanted. We talked to them. [00:30] We sat down in their kitchens, [00:32] in their living rooms and said, [00:34] what should we do? [00:35] And they told us. And we listened. We listened. [00:40] They didn't. And the American people [00:45] reduced the red brick wall to a pile of bricks. [00:50] And as a result, [00:52] there is now a generational remake of [00:56] the Senate map that is going to change America. [00:59] Now and on into the future. [01:03] Americans voted for change, [01:07] and now Democrats must deliver. [01:12] I hope Republicans learn [01:13] the lesson that they failed to see up to tonight. [01:17] Listen to the American people. [01:19] Listen to the American people they want us [01:22] to focus on again. [01:25] Costs, chaos. 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