Democrats' Midterm Blowout, Trump Blames Candidates For Losses, Democratic Agenda

Democrats expected a big election night and went beyond even those expectations.

Texas, South Carolina and Kansas are among the seven states Democrats flipped in the Senate so far. How did Republicans lose so badly?

I'm Steve Inskeep with Michel Martin, and this is Up First from NPR News. President Trump's hand-picked candidate Ken Paxton summed up the midterms like this.

We've had a difficult night tonight across the country, but it's not over.

True in that a few undecided races will determine how badly Republicans lost. Texas elected Democrats for Senate, Governor and other offices. What does that mean for Trump's hold on his party?

Hakeem Jeffries is poised to become the first Black Speaker of the House. What does he see as the Democrats mandate? Stay with us, we'll give you news you need to start your day.

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When the new Congress is seated on January third, it will be controlled by the Democrats.

Yeah, that party flipped control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate from Republicans with wins in deep red states.

North Carolinians, I accept your job offer.

You have shown the nation that we can come together to defend South Carolina.

We just took back Texas.

North Carolina, South Carolina, Texas victorious Democratic Senate candidates Roy Cooper, Annie Andrews and James Talarico.

NPR senior national political correspondent Mara Liasson has been watching the midterm results come in, and she's here with me in our studio now. Good morning, Mara.

Good morning.

The polls were predicting a good night for Democrats, it turned into a great night. What's your takeaway on that?

Well, the polls were mostly right, and in some cases, they underestimated the magnitude of the Democrats win. But the bottom line is this was not an embarrassing night for the polling industry. And what happened was that we saw an actual Democratic wave. It was broad and deep, and there was basically one overriding reason for the election results, and that is Donald J. Trump. He made the election all about him, his whims, his grievances, his choices. A lot of this was about public reaction to the unforced choices he made, the war in Iran, tariffs, the focus on beautifying DC.

rather than talking about what voters care about, which was high prices. And also, let's not forget that he intervened in two specific Senate races, North Carolina and Texas, to either push aside or primary Republican incumbents who probably would have been pretty reelectable. But Tom Tillis, who he pushed aside in North Carolina, John Cornyn, who he defeated in a primary, if he hadn't done that, I don't think the Democrats win in the Senate would have been as big.

Having said that, though, historic results for the Democrats, but not just in Congress.

No, governor's races, the Democrats did very well in some very important places. There's now a Democratic governor of Georgia, the first Black woman governor. We have the first Latina governor elected in Texas. These are big, important presidential states. We also have a woman elected as the governor of Ohio, and this was an existential election for Democrats. They're gonna be losing electoral votes in the blue wall states after the twenty thirty census and reapportionment. They have to learn how to win in red rural places.

Last night, they showed that they can, and governors are really important cause they matter in presidential elections because they can have very important political infrastructure.

So this is very new, just happened, but what do you think the parties are gonna take away from all this?

Well, they're gonna have to do some pretty deep thinking. The big question for the Republican Party is how much they wanna stay tied to Trump. Uh, he said, pretend I'm on the ballot, and Democrats took him at his word. He's now officially a lame duck. There are many things he can do by himself without Congress, like tariffs, conducting a war. But Republicans have to think about what they wanna be, what their party needs to stand for in the post-Trump era.

And for Democrats, they have to decide if they thought the election gave them an opportunity or a mandate. In other words, was this a vote in favor of all the things they stand for, or was this just an opportunity for voters to be open-minded about the Democrats? Because the Democratic brand is still underwater.

That is NPR senior national political correspondent Mara Liasson. Mara, thank you.

You're welcome.

It was a tough night for President Trump, as you just heard, who lashed out early on as results came in showing Democrats ahead in many key races. He blamed Republican candidates, the media, including his favorite Fox News, and pledged to be Mr. Veto.

He made that pledge, but as things wore on and results got worse and worse for his party, he congratulated Democrats. Democrats did a good job. I really do. I think they did a good job. They fought hard. President speaking on Fox News there. Now, he also said more than once that he would respect the outcome of the elections.

NPR White House correspondent Franco Ordonez is here to talk about what the midterms mean for President Trump. Good morning, Franco.

Good morning, Michelle.

So he repeatedly told supporters, as Mara just said, to pretend that he was on the ballot. How effective was that strategy?

I mean, Michelle, it did not work. I mean, President Trump made himself the central figure in this midterm election, barnstorming across the country. He banked on his personality and appeal with supporters to basically offset those low approval numbers and concerns about the economy and the high cost of gas. But that also made it a lot more difficult for vulnerable candidates to separate themselves from him. And Trump also made it hard for Republicans with some of his hand-picked candidates who really just could not run out of his shadow.

I mean, just look at the states where Trump was most invested. Mara spoke to this. I mean, Trump visited Texas three times after putting his thumb on the scale for Ken Paxton. But now James Talarico is the first Democratic senator of Texas in almost four decades. Even more surprising in South Carolina, Trump encouraged Darlene Graham, the late Senator Lindsey Graham's sister, into the Senate race. He visited South Carolina twice in October, but now they have a new Democratic Senator, Andy Andrews.

Trump declined, though, to take any blame, telling Fox News this.

But I don't view it as a hit on me.

But, you know, as we're saying, this is clearly a referendum against Trump.

This was a pretty thorough loss for President Trump and for the Republicans. Is there more reaction that we expect from the president? How do we expect him to respond to this going forward?

Well, I mean, I think we can expect that Trump is gonna be pretty confrontational going forward, especially with the relationship with Democrats. I mean, Democrats are expected to launch all sorts of investigations of Trump and his family. And Trump has signaled that he will continue to flex his executive powers as he already has. But he did also say that he'll make some deals, and you saw a little hint of that attitude with his willingness to congratulate Democrats.

You know, he did do the same thing back in 2018 during his first term, though things did eventually turn, you know, somewhat contentious. So it is a bit of a wait and see moment.

And at least based on some of what they talked about during the campaign, Democrats are already pledging to be confrontational themselves, right?

Oh yeah, oh yeah. I mean, just last night, the incoming chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Robert Garcia, he said, or he vowed to take on the Trump crime family, ICE abuses, and, in his words, the cover-up of the Epstein files. But again, back to the 2018 midterms, Republicans lost the House then, and Trump actually started to negotiate with then Democratic Speaker Nancy Pelosi on spending on trade and on criminal justice reform.

And before we let you go, Franco, what do these results say about the direction of the Republican Party? Is this the beginning of life post Trump?

I mean, look, the Republican Party is at a crossroads. Republicans are already grappling with the question of what this party is without Trump, and if and how they want to separate themselves from MAGA. I mean, it's so tied to Trump himself. On the one hand, they don't wanna actually repeat the mistakes of the midterms, but on the other, they don't wanna abandon Trump supporters. That is why, you know, 2028 is gonna be so interesting because the presidential election will reveal a lot about whether this party can figure out a path forward without Trump.

That is White House correspondent Franco Ordonez. Franco, thank you.

Thank you.

We turn now to what congressional Democrats will do with their massive victory.

Yeah, Hakeem Jeffries has been the House Democratic leader for four years, and now he is the presumptive House Speaker. He spoke late last night.

This is a change election, and we understand as House Democrats that we need to deliver dramatic change.

Okay, what will that change look like?

Let's ask NPR congressional correspondent Barbara Sprung, who is also here. Good morning, Barbara.

Hi, good morning, Michelle.

Okay, we talked about the large margins in the Senate and the House. What does that mean practically for a Democratic majority?

Well, most significantly, it's a check on the White House. You know, the president has not been constrained by the Republican led Congress thus far, even when he does something that some Republicans have have not really appreciated, like rescinding congressionally appropriated funds. So Democrats want to flex those muscles of the legislative branch once again, and I think we'll see that happen in two big buckets. A Democratic Senate majority means massive roadblocks for confirming President Trump's future cabinet and judicial nominees, of course, if there's a Supreme Court vacancy.

And on the House side, as Franco said, you know, we can expect a lot of investigations. Here's Jeffries again.

We're going to bring accountability to those who have visited unprecedented corruption on this country. Because if you have people in high office who are so focused on enriching themselves, their family members, their friends, or their donors, then they're not focused on making life better for the American people.

So presumptive Speaker Jeffries talks about accountability there. How specifically have Democrats said they're going to use that oversight power?

Well, they'll have full investigatory powers, so the power to subpoena, the power to compel people to testify before Congress. How the administration responds, of course, is an open question. Uh, but Democrats have a long list of targets. Um, a few are probing some of the businesses in the Trump family orbit, as Franco mentioned, stepping up scrutiny on the Jeffrey Epstein case, uh, investigating pay to play accusations surrounding the pardons of of Trump allies. And I expect robust congressional oversight into how tax dollars are being spent.

Okay, Barbara, what about the I word, impeachment? Are Democrats thinking about that?

You know, I think Democrats are wary about jumping into an impeachment of the president. It would be their third time. It doesn't really help their argument that they have more to offer than just being the anti-Trump party.

And what about Jeffries himself? He would be an historic speaker, the first Black lawmaker to hold that role. And what are you expecting from him?

Well, part of his future success, I think, will be how he can unify the caucus. There is a small bloc of members who want endorsements from the Democratic Socialists of America. They want the party to lean harder into its left flank. Whether they vote for Jeffries will be, I think, an early litmus test of how they're approaching their role within the party. But Democrats won in such a big way that I don't think Jeffries is going to have trouble, even if there are some defections in his party.

And this is the gift of large margins, because we saw again and again this cycle House Speaker Mike Johnson constantly getting thwarted by a small but very vocal group in his party. That does not seem to be the dynamic that will be replicated for Jeffries.

Briefly, briefly, in the first Trump administration, Jeffries worked with Jared Kushner, the president's son-in-law, to pass bipartisan criminal justice reform. As Franco has said, Trump has said he's going to have the veto pen handy. He may work with Democrats. Is there any room between?

Well, I think this is the most interesting part, right? Because, uh, Jeffries has shown in the past willingness to, you know, work in a bipartisan way. The president has already said, even though he will veto, veto, veto, that there's room to negotiate. So, you know, brand new era.

That is NPR congressional correspondent Barbara Sprung. Barbara, thank you.

Thank you, Michelle.

And that's up first for Wednesday, November fourth. I'm Michel Martin.

And I'm Steve Inskeep. Today's Up First was edited by Megan Pratz, Miguel Macias, Padma Rama, Rebekah Metzler, Mohamad ElBardicy, and Adam Bearne. It was produced by Ziad Buchh and Nia Dumas. Our director is Christopher Thomas, and we get engineering support from Neisha Heinis and Patrick Murray. Our technical director is Carleigh Strange, and our supervising producer is Michael Lipkin. Join us tomorrow.

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