November 4, 2018

Trump Attempts to Distance Himself From Potential GOP Electoral Disaster

“There are so many people in the House—and that’s a lot of stops.”

President Donald Trump appears prepared to distance himself from a potential Republican loss in the House of Representatives, telling reporters on Sunday that he has been largely focused with the Senate for some time.

“My primary focus, of course, has been on the Senate because there are so many people in the House—and that’s a lot of stops,” Trump said as he departed the White House for a rally in Georgia to support Republican gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp. “But I have done some House-work also but I think we’re going to do well on the House.”

“With so many people in Congress, with so many people in the House, it’s hard to make those stops.”

The remarks, which came just as a fresh round of polls showed Democrats with an edge in the midterms, are yet more evidence that Republicans see their hopes of retaining both chambers of Congress fading. Trump recently acknowledged the increasing likelihood Democrats will gain control of the House of Representatives, telling supporters at a rally Friday that it “could happen.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Trump nevertheless assured. “I’ll just figure it out.” 

Trump has repeatedly said that he views the election as a referendum on both his presidency and himself. But if his latest comments are any indication, it’ll only be a referendum he intends to take responsibility for in the Senate, where Democrats face longer odds.

The president was not the only member of his administration to focus on the Upper Chamber this weekend. “We are not even talking about losing in the Senate,” Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway told Fox News’ Jeanine Pirro. “Think about that. That’s historic.”

Whatever happens Tuesday, Paul Ryan can at least be grateful Trump doesn’t plan on blaming him for a possible House loss.

WE'LL BE BLUNT:

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't find elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

WE'LL BE BLUNT

We need to start raising significantly more in donations from our online community of readers, especially from those who read Mother Jones regularly but have never decided to pitch in because you figured others always will. We also need long-time and new donors, everyone, to keep showing up for us.

In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we explain, as matter-of-factly as we can, what exactly our finances look like, how brutal it is to sustain quality journalism right now, what makes Mother Jones different than most of the news out there, and why support from readers is the only thing that keeps us going. Despite the challenges, we're optimistic we can increase the share of online readers who decide to donate—starting with hitting an ambitious $300,000 goal in just three weeks to make sure we can finish our fiscal year break-even in the coming months.

Please learn more about how Mother Jones works and our 47-year history of doing nonprofit journalism that you don't elsewhere—and help us do it with a donation if you can. We've already cut expenses and hitting our online goal is critical right now.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate