US midterms: Biden hails ‘good day for democracy’, Trump notes disappointment

Democrats fended off major Republican gains in the midterm elections, despite GOP candidates inching towards control of the House of Representatives.

But United States preident Joe Biden noted that a “giant red wave” did not materialise on Tuesday night.

Whiel either party could still win the Senate, the upper house of Congress, it is common that the ruling party, the Democrats, usually suffers losses in a president’s first midterm elections.

Biden is suffering from low approval ratings and a 40-year-high record inflation, but exit poll data suggests Republicans have been punished for their efforts to restrict access to abortion.

Biden said his optimism had been vindicated, ribbing journalists who had predicted heavy Democratic losses. “It was a good day, I think, for democracy,” he said.

Biden, who turns 80 this month, is still mulling a re-election bid for 2024.

Still, if Republicans win either chamber of Congress, they will be able to block the president’s agenda. While Biden said he would host bipartisan talks next week, he opined that the public will view any Republican-led inquiries inot his adminisration as “almost comedy”.

There are now three outstanding contests in Arizona, Georgia and Nevada. Arizona’s Senate race is leaning toward the Democrats, while Nevada is a toss-up. Georgia’s contest between Democratic Senator Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker must be decided by a run-off next month because neither candidate passed the 50% threshold needed for outright victory.

The Republicans managed to beat Sean Patrick Maloney of New York, the House Democratic campaign chief, while the Democrats managed to flip US Senate seat in Pennsylvania when John Fetterman, who has been recovering from a stroke, beat Trump-backed celebrity doctor Mehmet Oz.

Former President Donald Trump is also being blamed by some analysts for the Republicans’ underwhelming night, placing a question mark over the timing of his widely expected 2024 presidential comeback.

By endorsing some 300 candidates, Trump’s wave of support did not give Republicans the outcome they were expecting – he conceded on social media that the election results were “somewhat disappointing”.