Trump Lays Groundwork to Spin Midterms: I Mostly Focused on Senate Races

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https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2018/11/trump-appears-to-lay-groundwork-to-spin-midterms-i-mostly-focused-on-senate-races.html

Trump Lays Groundwork to Spin Midterms: I Mostly Focused on Senate Races
By Daniel Politi
Nov 04, 20185:53 PM


Reports had predicted this would happen, but it seems to be happening earlier than expected. President Donald Trump appears to be laying the groundwork to shake off any blame for the likely Republican losses in the House during the upcoming midterms. Talking to reporters outside the White House two days before election day, Trump was optimistic about the GOP’s chances in the House races but made sure it was clear that he has been laser-focused on the Senate.

“I think we’re going to do well in the House but as you know, my primary focus has been on the Senate and I think we are going to do really well in the Senate,” Trump said. “With so many people in Congress, with so many people in the House, it’s very hard to make those stops. But I’ve made a number.”

Link to tweet

The words amounted to “the starkest indication that Trump has grown less optimistic about the GOP’s chances of retaining control of the House, where Republicans face greater headwinds than in the Senate,” notes the Associated Press.

Trump did speak positively about the excitement he is seeing at rallies, noting that the “level of fervor, the level of fever is very strong in the Republican side.” Polls suggest Republicans are far likely to keep control of the Senate whereas Democrats are seen as likely to regain control of the House.

Trump’s words about the Senate vs the House align quite well with a piece Politico published Friday that claimed the White House was already planning how to spin the results of the midterms:

In public and private, Trump and advisers are pointing to the president’s surge of campaigning on behalf of Republican Senate candidates — 19 rallies alone since Labor Day — as evidence that nobody else could have had a bigger impact in the states. The argument is classic Trump, who despite making the midterms a referendum on his own presidency, has a history of personalizing and then dwelling on his victories while distancing himself and diverting attention from his losses.

Fox News’ Sean Hannity and talk show host Rush Limbaugh, both of whom are staunch supporters of the president, will join Trump for the final rally before the midterms on Monday night in Missouri.