The US Capitol looms in the distance as US President Donald Trump departs following his remarks ahead of the midterm elections at the National Mall in Washington, DC, US, November 2, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY
Tuesday’s midterm elections delivered a historic repudiation of President Donald Trump’s policies, according to one analyst.
Democrats entered the midterms with public support at their backs, and the momentum delivered several significant wins. The party won control of both the House and the Senate, flipping Senate seats in ruby-red states like Kansas and South Carolina, and turned the Texas governor’s mansion blue for the first time in more than three decades.
Jonathan Chait, a staff writer for The Atlantic, argued in a new article that the results reflect a broad rejection of Trump, not just the usual midterm backlash against the party in power.
“The 2026 midterm elections are delivering a repudiation of historic magnitude to the president’s party, extending far deeper than the customary pendulum swing against the party in power,” Chait wrote. “Not only did Trump’s presidency as a whole repel the electorate, but also his specific interventions in Republican primaries proved counterproductive.”
“While the Americans who worship Trump as a culture-war champion or god-king remain enthralled, the ones who thought they were hiring him for a four-year gig to get a handle on the border and inflation regard his second term as a failure,” he added.