CNN
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As votes flocked across the country on Tuesday night, Donald Trump said something truly incredible when asked how much credit or blame he should take for the election results.
“If they win, I think I should take all the credit and if they lose, I don’t think I should be blamed at all.” Trump told NewsNationadded, “But it would probably be the exact opposite.”
Yes, he really said so. No, he wasn’t kidding. He very simply wanted to have his own cake and eat it.
In Trump’s world, all good things are the direct result of his actions, and all bad things are undoubtedly the fault of others. continue.
Case in point, this tweet From Maggie Haberman of The New York Times:
“Trump was particularly furious about Mehmet Oz this morning, and according to people close to him, he has accused everyone who advised him to back Oz, including his wife, and that it is in her best interests. He said it was not a decision.”
It was his wife’s fault!
The data tells a different story.
Only 39% of voters viewed Trump favorably, while 58% viewed him unfavorably, according to exit polls. Those numbers put him below Joe Biden (41% in favor / 56% against).
There are also other numbers in the exit polls that suggest Trump was holding the Republican nomination down. Nearly one in three voters (28%) said he voted to send a message against the former president, and 90% to 8% he voted Democrat in the House. Only 16% said their vote was the way they supported Trump.
Exit poll numbers aside, there’s evidence that Donald Trump’s fingerprints are all over this election, and not in a good way. As he struggled to craft a message that would win the election, he endorsed the convincingly defeated candidate. (Election naysayer and Trump supporter Kari Lake won the Arizona gubernatorial race despite countless votes remaining.)
On the Senate side, Trump’s record was slightly better. Oz lost in Pennsylvania, but the candidates Oz endorsed won in North Carolina and Ohio. In Georgia, the campaign for Senators Herschel Walker and Raphael Warnock is premature. So is the Arizona Senate race between Trump-backed Blake Masters and Senator Mark Kelly. and Nevada, where Trump-backed Adam Laxalt leads Senator Katherine Cortez Mast.
But it’s clearly a mixed record. And while avoiding blame, it’s not something Trump can be trusted with.
