- President Trump tweeted about the GOP’s prospects after the loss of a Senate seat in deep-red Alabama
- He said the party was ‘5-0’ in congressional races
- He apparently counted an election and a runoff for the same Georgia seat
- Says he predicted the defeat of Roy Moore and Ed Gillespie in Virginia Gov’s race
- Claims the media ‘refuses to mention’ GOP victories
- Democratic turnout has spiked even in special election losses
- Som observers are predicting a Democratic ‘wave’ election in 2018
President Donald Trump hit back at critics who are predicting a new threat of Republican losses next year, saying Republicans will ‘do well.’
The president tweeted out his prediction just days after the Republican Party’s stunning loss in the Alabama Senate race, where his own efforts to boost Roy Moore failed to produce a win for a deeply flawed candidate.
Moore has yet to concede the race, but his loss to Democrat Doug Jones will pose ongoing challenges to the narrowly divided Senate, which currently stands at 52-48.
President Trump tweeted that Republicans would ‘do well’ despite a recent loss in deep-red Alabama
Trump tweeted that he predicted losses in Alabama and Virginia in advance
‘Remember, Republicans are 5-0 in Congressional Races this year. The media refuses to mention this,” Trump wrote.
The he referenced the Alabama loss as well as the Democrats’ ability to hang onto the Virginia governorships, despite a challenge by Democrat Ed Gillespie, who tried to both appeal to Trump’s supporters while keeping the president at arm’s length.
‘I said Gillespie and Moore would lose (for very different reasons), and they did. I also predicted “I” would win. Republicans will do well in 2018, very well! @foxandfriends,’ Trump wrote.
It wasn’t immediately clear when Trump claimed to have said Moore and Gillespie would lose. He sent out positive tweets to back up both candidates in the final days of their failed races.
Even his claim about the party’s success in non-Alabama special elections was flawed. As The Hill noted, Trump appears to be taking credit for both the Georgia special election and the runoff that resulted in Republicans keeping a GOP House seat.
But even in cases where the House GOP has been able to hang onto tweets during the first year of the Trump presidency, Democrats have been able to improve over their 2016 performance, raising the possibility of an enthusiasm gap.
In the case of Democrat Jon Ossoff’s loss to Karen Handel in Georgia, Ossoff raised $25 million from Democrats around the country desperate to score a win to brush back Trump.