Trump questions whether the midterms were ‘honest’ as Miller starts
Six days after telling the New York Times he was “absolutely willing” to accept the results, Donald Trump posted: “Does anybody really believe that this ‘Election’ was honest. How could the Polls be so wrong???” He blamed early-voting “dumps” that were “so large that it was impossible to win” and said “it’s all about the machines”. Chuck Schumer said the president’s “return to election denialism was inevitable”. Stephen Miller began work as chief of staff.
State and local officials across the country reported largely trouble-free voting, and the Justice Department’s pre-election suits in California and Alaska failed in nearly every court. Democrats hold 54 Senate seats and 254 House seats with counting continuing; in Mississippi, Scott Colom leads Cindy Hyde-Smith by more than 2,500 votes at 97% counted, with postal ballots accepted until Tuesday, and Alaska remains uncalled. The day after the vote Mr Trump had said he would “probably” get along with Democrats “unless they want to be destructive”; by Sunday he told CBS: “We would have won easily if I was on the ballot.” Mr Miller, 41, took over from Susie Wiles on Monday as the deputy chief of staff Richard Walters also departed; no first-day statement was reported. Mr Trump told 60 Minutes his deportation drive “might be too tough, yeah”, a striking concession given his new chief of staff designed it. On Capitol Hill, Republican Don Bacon said he was weighing the Hegseth impeachment articles. Watch whether the “machines” line becomes a campaign against certification in the uncalled races.