Midterm voters rebuke Trump, handing Democrats both chambers of Congress

Voters delivered a sweeping rebuke of President Trump and his party in the midterms, handing Democrats major victories and dramatically reshaping the balance of power in Washington. Trump now enters a lame duck phase of his second term, promising both to use his veto power, and also to work across the aisle as he faces the largest Democratic majorities in decades. Liz Landers reports.

Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors.

Geoff Bennett:

Well, it was a Democratic tsunami at the ballot box. Voters have delivered a sweeping rebuke of President Trump and his party in the 2026 midterms, handing Democrats major victories across the country and dramatically reshaping the balance of power in Washington.

Amna Nawaz:

Mr. Trump now enters a lame-duck phase of his second term, promising both to use his veto power and also to work across the aisle as he faces the largest Democratic majorities in decades.

Liz Landers reports.

Liz Landers:

After two years of unified Republican government...

James Talarico (D):

We just took back Texas.

(CHEERING)

Abdul El-Sayed (D):

Michigan, we did it!

Troy Jackson (D):

We did it! Working people did it!

(CHEERING)

Liz Landers:

... a sea change is coming to Washington, a blue wave that grew into a tidal wave, Democrats poised to seize control of both houses of Congress by wide margins.

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY):

The American people reduced the red brick wall to a pile of bricks.

Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA):

In sweeping and decisive victories...

(CHEERING)

Sen. Jon Ossoff:

... the American people have rebuked the depravity, corruption and incompetence of the failed lame-duck President Donald J. Trump.

(CHEERING)

Liz Landers:

For many Republicans, it was a reckoning, including Vice President J.D. Vance, who analyzed the defeat in a lengthy post, saying bluntly -- quote -- "The reason we lost is the Iran war."

He added that the Republican Party has to have an honest conversation about that thorny topic after it led to higher prices and drove voters to want change.

President Donald Trump:

I can tell you that, as far as that war is concerned, I would have done nothing different.

Liz Landers:

In his first comments since last night's midterm losses, President Trump updated on his ballroom construction project.

President Donald Trump:

If I put the kitchen on top, you would lose three walls.

Liz Landers:

But he also acknowledged the issue that cost him at the polls.

President Donald Trump:

Probably, that's the primary reason, the price, not the war, the price.

Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL):

To call it a wave, I don't think would be fully accurate. It's the political equivalent of a meteor strike that went all around the United States. This is close to an extinction-level event for Republicans in many parts of the country as we have seen probably in the last hundred years.

Liz Landers:

Democrats handed historic losses to the GOP from Maine to the Carolinas to Michigan and Texas.

With James Talarico to the Senate and Gina Hinojosa to the governor's mansion, Democrats won in the Lone Star State for the first time in nearly 40 years.

James Talarico:

We just proved that all the money in the world is no match for the people of Texas.

(CHEERING)

James Talarico:

We just showed that a politics of division is no match for a politics of love.

Liz Landers:

Abdul El-Sayed wins Michigan's Senate race, beating Republican Mike Rogers, despite a last-minute defection from fellow Democrat Haley Stevens. He'll become the first Muslim ever elected to the Senate and withstanding ugly campaign attacks on his faith, including when the president called him a jihadist.

El-Sayed did not hold back in addressing his opponent.

Abdul El-Sayed:

So, Mike, enjoy your retirement.

(CHEERING)

Abdul El-Sayed:

I know you got a house in Florida and two yachts.

(CHEERING)

Abdul El-Sayed:

See, you chose hate and Michigan chose hope.

Liz Landers:

In Maine, five-term Republican Senator Susan Collins conceded to Democrat Troy Jackson. In Kansas, Adam Hamilton, a Methodist pastor, will be the state's first Democratic senator in nearly a century.

And in South Carolina, the Graham family name was not enough. Darline Graham, sister to the late Senator Lindsey Graham, lost in her election bid, despite being handpicked by President Trump.

Sen. Darline Graham (R-SC):

It is clear that we as conservatives have work to do. And that work starts tonight.

Liz Landers:

A defiant President Trump repeated today that, if he were on the ballot himself, many races would have been different. But he also said that he would accept the midterm results and that he was prepared to work with Democrats.

President Donald Trump:

Well, we're going to work with the Democrats to make sure things go well for our country. Very important. They have already called and they want to work with me. I have the right to veto everything. But I don't want to be just sitting there for two years vetoing everything.

Liz Landers:

Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, poised to make history as the first Black speaker of the House, said he was open to dialogue.

Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY):

If the other side of the aisle wants to work with us to deliver the type of bold, dramatic, and decisive change the American people are demanding, we will sit down and we will have that conversation.

Liz Landers:

The election also produced many other firsts. New Hampshire Democrat Chris Pappas is the first openly gay man elected to the Senate in U.S. history. With Illinois Democrat Juliana Stratton's win, three Black women will serve in the Senate for the first time ever.

Audience:

Gina! Gina! Gina!

Liz Landers:

In the governor's races, Gina Hinojosa will become Texas' first Latina governor. Deb Haaland becomes the first Native American woman to lead a U.S. state.

Keisha Lance Bottoms (D):

So, Georgia. I have said over the past few days, if I were your woman.

(CHEERING)

Keisha Lance Bottoms:

Well, now I am your woman.

(CHEERING)

Liz Landers:

Keisha Lance Bottoms becomes the first Black woman governor in U.S. history. Democrat David Crowley will be Wisconsin's first Black governor. Republican Byron Donalds becomes the state of Florida's first Black governor.

And a new milestone for youth. Melat Kiros is the first woman from Gen Z elected to Congress. Though control of Congress is set, the exact composition of the House and Senate will take time. Votes across the country are still being counted, and dozens of states are still unresolved.

Two of those contests that have not yet been called are the Senate races in Alaska and Mississippi. In Alaska, a rural state where some ballots have to be flown in by plane, there remains about a quarter of the vote to count.

And Mississippi is extraordinarily close. The Democrat, Scott Colom, is up only 65 votes over the incumbent Republican Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith. It is expected that there are a few thousand provisional ballots still to count there. The state has until next Tuesday, Geoff, to resolve those.

Geoff Bennett:

Liz, our thanks to you.