Why did Trump's Republicans lose the US midterm elections? | Global News Podcast

This is the Global News podcast from the. BBC World Service. I'm Valerie Sanderson. and today, why did US voters turn. against Donald Trump's Republicans in. the midterms? The Democrats have won. control of the Senate [music] and the. House of Representatives in a sweeping. victory, flipping seats in conservative. strongholds like Texas, Kansas, and. South Carolina. We'll ask our analyst. what caused this blue wave. There was a. sense by a lot of voters that President. [music] Trump seemed to be more. interested in these foreign conflicts.

and these political battles and not. actually doing much to help everyday. people. And we ask what this means for. the Democrats heading into the 2028. presidential election. >> This likely makes the water run warmer. for someone like Alexandria Okaziocortez. to run for president. Progressives no. longer can be told that they can't win. >> [music]. >> The political map of the US has been.

dramatically redrawn as voters delivered. what the US media is calling a blue. tsunami across the country. Heading into. this election, Donald Trump had told. voters to imagine that his name was on. the ballot. And these midterms were. widely seen as a referendum on the. president halfway through his second. term. Democrat Senator John Oaf, who won. re-election in Georgia, said the results. were a clear rejection of Mr. Trump. >> The American people have rebuked the.

depravity, corruption, and incompetence. of the failed lame duck President Donald. J. Trump. [cheering]. [applause]. And if at times these last two years, amidst the ceaseless onslaught of. brutality and indecency, you doubted. whether our republic would survive. Let. tonight's results give you courage that. the first light of dawn is on the.

horizon. >> Well, the BBC's Nombal spent many years. as our North America correspondent. She. told us why so many voters turned. against the Republicans. I think there. has been a real sense of fatigue over. the cost of living, especially. considering that was something President. Trump had promised to to to help with. I. think people were feeling poorer and. they blamed President Trump. So. inflation, the cost of groceries, fuel, everyday essentials, we know that.

those are the things that people care. about. the war with Iran definitely uh. particularly the impact on petrol prices. but also the fact that this war happened. in the first place initiated by the US. and Israel and there's no end in sight. and it was something that President. Trump had promised not to do and I think. there was a sense by a lot of voters. that President Trump seemed to be more. interested in these foreign conflicts. and these political battles and not. actually doing much to help everyday. people. even his closing speech in the.

run-up to the midterms in DC near the. reflecting pool talking about the sort. of superficial decorating of DC and all. that sort of stuff. I think I'm I can. confidently say there's not one American. that cared about that. They wanted to. hear something else from the president. So, I think that many people. >> just turned away from him. They they. judged him against his promise to make. their lives better. Of course, he wasn't. on the ballot. Although he said to. people, "Vote as if I am on the ballot.". >> And now he's saying, "Well, my name.

wasn't on the ballot, and that's why it. has been a terrible night for the. Republicans.". >> So, what do you think these results mean. for him going forward? Because he's in. the last two years of his last term, but he also has the veto. >> He does have the veto. So, he's. weakened, but he's not powerless. He's. lost his legislative authority, but he. has the executive authority. uh. Democrats can block legislation, they. can investigate his administration. I. think we will see a lot of. investigations going on and basically.

his next two years will become harder. He's entered that twilight zone of lame. duck presidency, although I don't think. lame duck is something uh that a lot of. people would associate Donald Trump. with. Uh I think he's more of a a badly. wounded beast right now. And I think for. him, yes, he has the power, but it's. about the influence now. power and. influence, two very different things. Is. he going to still be influential? Republicans feared not having his. endorsement. Now, will they fear having.

his endorsement? Will he become. politically toxic? Uh, and I think. Donald Trump, as we'll see what happens. in the next few days, but Donald Trump. won't want to lose that power that he. has over the Republican party. The. Republican party is his. He's reimagined. it. Um and and so yes, I think he is he. is weakened, but he still has an. enormous amount of power and it will. just be a case of seeing what he does. with that. >> So you say he's refashioned it really in. his own image, hasn't it? What does this. mean for MAGA? Is this MAGA is over or.

will it just go to a part of the party? >> I think MAGA is a very important. political movement. We know that it has. been for more than 10 years and it has. Donald Trump as its current leader. And. the truth is when you get these. electoral results, presidents have to. adapt. They have to move with the times. And I think MAGA has to now go from this. sort of force that was hard to reckon. with to now becoming more adaptable.

Whether that happens or not, I don't. know because just I I think all that. those grievances. that Americans had, I don't think that's. going to disappear. And I don't think. that that the midterm results is. necessarily about people moving to the. left and about people loving the. Democratic party. I think a lot of it is. anti-Trump. I think a lot of people are. very angry with Trump, but that doesn't. necessarily mean that they've abandoned. the America First movement. Many of them. think that he abandoned it. And so we'll. see what happens with with MAGA, but I I.

I wouldn't say that the the essence of. that movement is done, >> but these are triumphant results for the. Democratic Party. What does it mean. going forward into the election, the US. presidential election in 2028? >> It it's such a massive victory for them. We've heard all kinds of uh phrases like. the blue blue s blue. tsunami, all kinds of Yeah, it's an. amazing moment for them for sure uh to. to to win Texas, for example. So I think. for Michigan. >> and Michigan absolutely.

>> first Muslim senator with Abdai. >> Yeah. Who would have who would have. thought that and and I remember being. covering a few elections and there was. always this hope and dream of Texas. going blue and and people like no it. will never happen uh not you know for a. long time but it has. So I think what. Democrats need to do now moving forward. or what they they will say they need to. do is show that they can govern show. that they can meet voters where they. are. And I think that will be hard. because the Democrats are made up of so.

many different types of Democrats, the. progressives, the centrists, the people. that, you know, sort of on the left. And. it's how you bring them all together. And also they we've already seeing the. uh some members of the party wanting to. go after Trump. And I think there will. be that by the way. I think there will. be investigations. But to what extent do. they want to spend the next two years. opposing Trump and going after Trump? Do. you think these results have thrown up. who will be the next runner in terms of.

the presidential election? You know, have we seen the next Barack Obama? >> Well, there's quite a few of them. I I. feel and and it's so it's so funny, isn't it? We're talking about the. midterms, but we'll be talking about the. presidential elections of 2028. Yes, I. think there are people like John Oaf. I remember covering his Senate victory. in 2021 which was overshadowed by the. capital riots and at that time he was. seen as the big contender for the. future. That's not gone away. Uh Terico. in Texas as well. Uh you've got uh some.

of the older names like Gavin Newsome. the California governor Pete Buddhajge. as well. I think the Democrats have. quite a lot of people to choose from but. also they are of of different. backgrounds as well. Let's not forget a. AOC Alexandria Kaziocortez very. progressive but also sort of moving more. to the center. They do have quite a lot. of names that I think they can put. forward but I don't think anyone is. emerging as a favorite at the moment. which is quite extraordinary if you. think about it. It's only two years away. the elections. So, but I think that they.

will definitely feel so much more. reinvigorated and stronger after these. results. >> Several Democrats made history with. their victories on Wednesday night. Kesha Lance Bottoms of Georgia became. the first black woman elected governor. of a US state. Chris Papus of New. Hampshire is the first openly gay man. elected to the Senate. And Abdul Elsa in. Michigan, who we mentioned a moment ago, will be the first Muslim senator. Mr. Elsa faced a wave of Islamophobia during. the campaign. President Trump repeatedly.

and basisly accused him of being a. jihadist. He referenced those attacks. and his progressive platform in his. victory speech. They might have been. pointing to my name and my faith, but we. all know that my name and my faith. aren't the reason you can't afford your. gas. Not the reason you can't afford. your groceries. Not the reason you can't. see a doctor. We built a movement, government of the people, by the people, and for the people. [cheering] We showed. that in a battle between the money and. the many, that the many really can win.

[cheering]. Our correspondent Neda Tophik was at the. Alside Victory Party and told us what. his win says about the future of US. politics. Well, Abdul say in the. Democratic primary was unapologetically. uh a critic of Israel. or he ran to the. left of his party on things like. universal uh you know healthc care um. and having foreign aid spent here in the. United States instead of out in wars.

overseas and he won that primary. narrowly. But Republicans after that. thought that it was their best chance to. pick up a Democratic seat in the Senate. They thought they could attack him. And. what we saw was what Abdul say on stage. today. He called it one of the ugliest. campaigns in our lifetime. And what we. saw was anti-Muslim rhetoric used. against him. The president of the United. States over and over attacking him. falsely as a jihadist, spreading this.

conspiracy theory that he wants to. spread Islamic law in America. You know, I spoke to a progressive strategist who. was here tonight, and he said that this. likely makes the water run warmer for. someone like Alexandria Okaziocortez. to run for president in 2028. He says. that progressives no longer can be told. that they can't win. So, this has. certainly um kind of excited.

progressives. uh they feel that their. candidates when they stick to messaging. like affordability that it resonates. with people when they talk about you. know corporations not being able to. spend in politics that resonates with. people and when they talk about you know. having more funding going to schooling. and healthcare that that is also a. winning message and that's it for now to. hear more about the topics we covered. today you can find the audio version of. the Global News podcast wherever you get.

your podcasts If you'd like to get in. touch, our contact details are below. I'm Valerie Sanderson. Until next time, thanks for listening. Thanks for. watching. Bye for now. [music].