President Trump walks into The White House. (whitehouse.gov)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a news conference where he took credit for preventing a so-called “blue wave” during the midterm congressional elections, President Donald Trump called out Republican candidates who lost congressional seats, including Utah Rep. Mia Love, whose race has not yet been called.
GOP Rep. Mia Love with supporters at the Hilton Garden Inn in Lehi on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018. (Steve Griffin, Deseret News)
Wednesday, the president hosted a news conference in the White House’s East Room, telling reporters, “Mia Love gave me no love, and she lost,” adding, “Sorry about that, Mia.”
Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams, Democratic candidate for Utah’s 4th congressional district, takes a photo with supporter Dave Iltis at an election night event for the Utah Democratic Party at the Radisson in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, Nov. 6, 2018. McAdams’ race against incumbent Rep. Mia Love, R-Utah, remained too-close-to-call at the end of the night. (Spenser Heaps, Deseret News)
Love, who is barely trailing her Democratic challenger, Ben McAdams, is still awaiting the official results of her race.
“There are still tens of thousands of ballots still to be counted,” said Sasha Clark, a spokeswoman for the Mia Love campaign. “Nothing has changed.”
McAdams was leading Wednesday morning 51.39% to 48.61%, but an unknown number of ballots were still uncounted in critical Utah County, which has traditionally leaned Republican. Love is a former mayor of Utah County’s Saratoga Springs. McAdams is the mayor of Salt Lake County, which traditionally leans toward Democrats.
In the news conference, President Trump says his campaigning helped a number of GOP candidates prevent that “blue wave,” “if there ever was such as thing.”
In addition to Love, the president named Rep. Mike Coffman, R-Colorado, in his remarks. Coffman had blamed his loss on resentment toward the president in his district, which includes the area around Denver.
“Too bad, Mike,” the president responded.
The Associated Press reports midterm losses are typical for the party which has control of the White House. The House of Representatives switched control to Democrats, but Republicans retained control of the Senate.
