President Trump gave himself double credit for the likely outcome of Tuesday’s special election in Pennsylvania, saying Democrat Conor Lamb was ahead in the vote tally because he’s ‘like Trump.’
The president also claimed that the Republican contender, Rick Saccone, had received a Trump bump, making the race so close – though Saccone still lost in a district that had long voted for Congressional Republicans, and went for Trump in 2016 by 20 points.
‘We had an interesting time because we lifted [Saccone] seven points up,’ Trump told attendees at a closed-door fundraiser for Missouri Senate hopeful Josh Hawley Wednesday night, according to a recording obtained by the Atlantic.
President Trump (left) said he actually gave a boost to Pennsylvania Congressional candidate Rick Saccone (right) despite Saccone’s likely loss in a district that has gone red for years
The president also said that Democrat Conor Lamb was successful because he was ‘like Trump.’ Lamb didn’t disparage the president during his campaign, but was against the Republican tax bill
On Saturday, President Trump (right) suggested he might throw Rick Saccone (left) under the bus if he lost, saying, ‘I hate to put the pressure on you, Rick, but the world is watching, because I wont the district’
At last polling, Saccone had fallen behind Lamb by six points, though the Real Clear Politics polling average had Lamb ahead by just .2 per cent.
That was in line with the actual result with Lamb pulling off a squeaker win, edging out Saccone with just 627 votes.
The Associated Press still has yet to call the race in Lamb’s favor while Republicans mull asking for a recount.
The previous person to hold the seat, Republican Rep. Tim Murphy – who resigned after it surfaced that he had asked his mistress to get an abortion – had won the district by 28 points over a Democratic challenger in 2012.
No Democrat had even run for the seat since then.
In Missouri, Trump touted overblown figures saying he had been ’22 points up’ in the 18th Congressional District in 2016 and he had lifted Saccone up seven.
The final poll before election day had Saccone earning 45 per cent of the vote.
‘And seven would normally be enough, but we’ll see how it comes out,’ Trump told the crowd. ‘It’s, like, virtually a tie.’
The president said Lamb, a 33-year-old former Marine, had run a ‘pretty smart race, actually.’
‘The young man last night that ran, he said, “Oh, I’m like Trump. Second Amendment, everything. I love the tax cuts, everything.” He ran on that basis,’ Trump explained to the crowd.
While Lamb did play up the fact that he knew how to use a firearm, he also said he opposed the Republican tax bill .
‘He ran on a campaign that said very nice things about me. I said, “Is he a Republican? He sounds like a Republican to me.”‘
Lamb, giving a victory speech in the early a.m. hours Wednesday morning, told the crowd that he was a ‘Pennsylvania Democrat, a proud Western Pennsylvania Democrat,’ explaining that his grandfather’s love of FDR played into his personal feelings about politics.
Lamb had also said he’d be willing to work with the president, and anyone else across the aisle.
‘He taught us that people have the right to know that their government walks on their side of the street,’ Lamb said of his grandfather.
‘What that means is I’ll work on the problems that our people face, secure their jobs and pensions, protect their family and I’ll work with anyone to do that,’ the Democrat said, concluding his victory remarks.
Since Lamb pulled off what had previously looked like the political impossible Republicans like Trump and House Speaker Paul Ryan have tried to downplay the race.
Trump noted how, because of redistricting, Lamb would likely only hold office until early next year.
‘It’s actually interesting, because it’s only a congressman for five months,’ Trump said Wednesday night. ‘I don’t know about that one, Josh, it was a lot of work for five months,’ he said, referencing Hawley.
The president also seemed to mock the caliber of the candidate in the Pennsylvania race, suggesting Hawley would perform better against Democratic Sen. Clair McCaskill in the fall.
‘Because you do need the right candidate, have you heard about that?’ Trump said. ‘You do need the right candidate.’
The president had previously hinted he would throw Saccone, a Pennsylvania state House representative, under the bus if the Republican candidate was to lose.
‘The world is watching,’ Trump said at a Saccone rally Saturday outside of Pittsburgh. ‘I hate to put the pressure on you, Rick, but the world is watching, because I wont the district.’