Was Trump Correct to Call the Midterms a ‘Tremendous Success?’

by Alex Gibson

(Wiki Commons)

After the midterm elections on Tuesday, President Donald Trump, in his usual vein, tweeted that the outcome was a ‘Tremendous Success! Thank you to all!’ Instantly, as is always the case, he was met with backlash, with the majority of people questioning this statement - he had lost the House of Representatives after all. However, after examining the results, is he correct? Well, to an extent,  yes.

I say ‘to an extent’ because he obviously lost his majority in the House of Representatives, with the Democrats now having a majority of 28, at the time of writing (there are still 15 seats to be announced). This will of course lead to issues for Donald Trump and, although the likelihood of articles of impeachment being submitted are very low, the Democrats now have full access to the investigative powers of House committees by having majorities in these bodies, and so a higher level of scrutiny can take place. This could lead to further enquiries into any relations or dealings with Russia building up to the 2016 election or the president’s tax returns being released. If anything of interest is found here, naturally Trump may come under further pressure. I would make the argument that this will be be beneficial, even if just for the sake of clarity and closure. It is a fair assessment, in my view at least, to say that parts of the Trump administration are shrouded in secrecy.

However, there are reasons as to why Trump could come out of this ‘defeat’ very well. Firstly, the Democrats claimed that there would be a ‘blue wave’ and any Trump support would be decimated in this midterm vote. If I’m being honest there was more of ‘blue puddle.’ I say this because it was predicted that Trump would lose the House and maintain control of the Senate (the surprising aspect of all of this is that there were no major surprises in terms of the result). At the time of writing the Republicans have lost 28 seats, this is fewer than in the first terms of the Clinton and Obama tenures. So it is possible to say that this is no humiliating defeat for Trump and the victory for the Democrats is nowhere near as significant as some were perhaps hoping for. As a result, Trump could be seen as somewhat successful.

In addition, this ‘victory’ for the Democrats in the House in the midterms can realistically be seen as a double-edge sword. Although they can reap the benefits of having a majority, as just explored, I would make the argument that they will play into Trump’s hands. As we have seen (countless times I may add) Trump is very quick to find a scapegoat, whether it be the media (for what appears to be any reporting whatsoever) or illegal immigrants (in terms of the election). For the next two years, every time Trump fails to pass legislation he endorses or is faced with one problem or another, he will be quick to reach for his phone, open Twitter and wage war with the Democrats, stating that they are hindering everything in Congress, that they are the new ‘enemy of the people’ and the electorate should vote Republican at all costs for the next election. However true this may be, this could be something the American people consider before they cast their next vote for President.

Although it appears that the Democrats were triumphant in the midterm elections and now have a plethora of resources at their disposal to effectively scrutinise the executive, this was no humiliating defeat for Trump. Not only did he not lose as many seats as some assumed he would, he now has a key campaigning tool for 2020. Make no mistake, the next election is one he could win.