- 24 minutes ago
The 2026 US midterm elections saw the Democratic Party secure control of both houses of the US Congress, flipping seven Republican-held Senate seats, including contests in Texas, South Carolina, and Kansas.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Good evening, you're watching NewsTrack with me, Maria Shaquille.
00:03Midterm mayhem for Donald Trump and the Republicans in America.
00:07The 2026 U.S. midterm elections have delivered a verdict that President Trump will find difficult to ignore.
00:14He has acknowledged the defeat, he has conceded the defeat,
00:18but there is much more to the story of these U.S. midterms.
00:22So what are the key takeaways?
00:24American voters have delivered a rebuke to Donald Trump.
00:27In a stunning reversal, Democrats have seized control of both houses of the U.S. Congress,
00:34the House of Representatives and the Senate.
00:36Seven Republican Senate seats have flipped to the Democrats,
00:42including the politically significant state of Texas.
00:47A result that underlines just how dramatically the political mood in America has shifted.
00:53And this is not just a story of electoral arithmetic, it is a story of voter anger.
00:59From the MAGA, which is Make America Great Again heartland,
01:04to traditionally Republican strongholds, Trump's support has taken a hit.
01:11The rising cost of living, economic anxieties and growing discontent
01:16over America's war with Iran appear to have played a significant role in the Republican setback.
01:22The message from voters is unmistakable.
01:25The Trump presidency is facing a political reality check.
01:29For the next two years, a Democratic-controlled Congress could put the brakes on Trump's legislative agenda,
01:36challenge his policies and subject his administration to intense scrutiny.
01:40But is this simply a midterm setback for Trump or the beginning of a much bigger political backlash
01:47against MAGA America?
01:49Tonight, we decode the electoral verdict, the voter anger and the political message
01:53coming out of Washington with our guests.
01:56But first up, here's what happened today.
02:03America has spoken loudly.
02:09A historic rebuke for President Donald Trump.
02:14A landslide for the Democrats.
02:18Two years ago, voters powered Trump to the political comeback of the century.
02:24On November 3rd, they rejected him comprehensively.
02:30Voters have ousted Republicans in contests up and down the ballot.
02:36And Democrats have taken control of both houses of Congress.
02:41We understand that this election, a dramatic change election,
02:45means that the American people are crying out for transformational change.
02:50We hear you, we see you, we feel you,
02:54and House Democrats are committed to making life better for you.
03:01In the houses of representatives,
03:04they have won back power with what could be their largest majority in nearly two decades.
03:11Against all odds, we Democrats have won the Senate.
03:18And we have five words for the American people.
03:22Relief is on the way.
03:26In the Senate, they flipped seven seats,
03:29including Texas and even South Carolina,
03:32long considered Republican strongholds.
03:42The American people have rebuked the depravity,
03:47corruption, and incompetence of the failed lame duck President Donald J. Trump.
03:55Then came one of the most shocking results of the night.
03:58Trump-alive Vivek Ramaswamy lost the Ohio governor's race to Amy Acton.
04:06Tough and challenging night for Republicans across the country,
04:11and it is a tough night for us here in Ohio.
04:14It was a tough race.
04:16It was bitter at times in both directions.
04:21I would be incomplete if I didn't tell you that I had some serious concerns
04:27about the future direction of our country.
04:31Democrats could not help but rejoice at their political comeback.
04:37J.D.
04:42Habibi.
04:45There is this delicious irony
04:48in the fact that you're constitutionally obligated to swear me in in January.
04:55For India, the stakes are high.
04:58A shift in control of Congress could shape trade ties,
05:01tariff policy, and bilateral defense cooperation.
05:05The results could also have an influence on future immigration legislation
05:09and impact Indian professionals in the U.S.,
05:12especially H-1B holders.
05:15The road ahead looks rough.
05:18A political showdown and extended gridlock is likely in Washington.
05:24And an embattled Trump weakened at home
05:27may grow even more adventures abroad
05:30with the resumption of the Iran war on the cards.
05:34With Rohit Sharma, Bureau Report, India Today.
05:41Viewers, let's look at the political geography of this result.
05:45Democrats have broken through in Texas after 38 years,
05:49South Carolina after 28 years,
05:52and Kansas after an extraordinary 94-year gap.
05:57And that's why when we look at these red states shifting and turning blue,
06:04we are looking at perhaps redrawing of America's political map.
06:09Six big Senate flips and the historical significance.
06:13Now I'm going to speak about it.
06:15Let's look at Texas.
06:17James Tallarico has defeated Ken Paxton.
06:21Why this is important?
06:23Because the last Democratic Senate victory was in 1988.
06:28So a gap of 38 years.
06:31Texas has not elected a Democrat to the U.S. Senate
06:34since Lloyd Benston's victory in 1988.
06:39That's why Tallarico's win breaks a nearly four-decade Republican hold
06:43on the state's Senate representation.
06:46South Carolina, Annie Andrews, has defeated Darlene Graham.
06:51Last Democratic Senate victory was in 1998.
06:56A gap of 28 years.
06:58The state has not elected a Democrat to the Senate since Fritz Hollings.
07:03That's why Andrews' victory is particularly striking in a state Donald Trump won
07:08by nearly 18 percentage points in 2024, just two years ago.
07:13Looking at the beautiful state of Kansas.
07:17Adam Hamilton defeating Roger Marshall.
07:20The last Democratic Senate victory was in 1932.
07:25A gap of 94 years.
07:27This is arguably the most extraordinary historical upset this election.
07:33North Carolina, Roy Cooper defeating Michael Watley.
07:37Last Democratic Senate victory was in 2008.
07:41A gap of 18 years.
07:43That's why this one is certainly a special one.
07:46This was a Republican open seat.
07:48Ohio, Sherrod Brown defeating John Hustard.
07:52Last Democratic victory, 2006.
07:56Brown himself won that election and served until 2025.
08:01This is a remarkable comeback in a state that has increasingly moved towards Republicans
08:07in presidential elections.
08:09And then the swing state, the big state of Iowa.
08:14Josh Durek defeating Ashley Hinson.
08:17Last Democratic Senate victory was in 2008.
08:20A gap of 18 years.
08:22Iowa's last Democratic Senate election victory was Tom Harkins' re-election in 2008.
08:28And this is seen as one of the most consequential victories.
08:32Big statement coming in now by Vice President J.D. Warnes.
08:38He has blamed war for Republican losses.
08:42And he has said that Trump wants 2024 voters turned to Democrats.
08:46J.D. Warnes saying that the main problem is not turnout, but Trump wants voters switching to Democrats.
08:53He's accepted it.
08:54He's also said war inflation, Israel policy drove Republicans away.
08:59A lot of acceptance here that is coming in for reasons as to why they lost.
09:06He has also said that Republicans lost despite strong turnout as Trump 2024 voters backed Democrats.
09:13And he has identified four reasons, which are war, inflation, America first policy and Israel policy.
09:21Let me bring in the guests who are joining me now.
09:26We have Alec Tyson, Senior Vice President and lead pollster of Ipsos.
09:31He's joining me from Washington, D.C.
09:34We also have Geeta Mohan, our group editor of Foreign Affairs, joining us.
09:39Geeta, a word from you on this, because here is J.D. Warnes accepting the four reasons which he says
09:46are the reasons for war.
09:49Well, this is brilliant, Mara.
09:52This is American politics at its best.
09:55J.D. Warnes was the man who had opposed America going to war with Iran.
10:01He made that decision and he was absolutely anti-war.
10:05It is because he has a future and he sees his future in the presidential race, the next presidential race.
10:12And he knew very well that if the country goes to war, that the ones who would be paying for
10:18it are the ones who will be fighting the next presidential race.
10:22And now he's actually come out and said that in no uncertain words, that it's the war that has led
10:28to the loss of Republican votes and Republican majority in the House as also in the Senate.
10:36So he's playing a very smart game.
10:38He's distancing himself from the decision made by Trump administration, although he serves under President Trump.
10:48And he'll continue to do that.
10:50But he's made his political pitch over here, saying that he was not responsible.
10:55He never wanted the wars and therefore this is his pitch to the presidential race in two years.
11:02Fascinating how it is turning out to be his own circle turning against him.
11:06That's how politics is, isn't it, Geeta Mohan?
11:09Really appreciate your time.
11:10Thank you so much for joining us.
11:12Joining me on this broadcast, Seema Sirohi, columnist, India-US relations.
11:16Joining me from Washington, D.C., Pramit Pal Chaudhary, head of India Practice, Eurasia Group.
11:22I'm going to begin with Pramit Pal Chaudhary.
11:26Here is J.D. Wans, perhaps the first one in U.S. administration saying that this was an unpopular war.
11:33And that is the reason why he has cited multiple reasons, but war being one of it.
11:39Inflation, we knew about it.
11:41Cost of living, of course.
11:42But for him to say that Israel policy and Iran are the reasons for this defeat is a huge admission,
11:49isn't it?
11:50Yeah, I mean, I think we've already seen a number of Republican strategists publicly say that, look, if we hadn't
11:56had this war, at the very least, we would have held on to the Senate.
11:59Because it's not just the fact that this war was a basic violation of one of Trump's most important electoral
12:07promises, which no more Middle Eastern wars.
12:11It's second that the repercussions of the war, that this led to diesel prices rising, energy prices rising.
12:20And in many ways, that economic impact has been at the heart of a lot of the, should we say,
12:28not so much as Republicans turning against Trump, as many Republicans just staying home and not bothering to come out
12:34to vote,
12:35feeling that they don't have enough to want to mobilize to support Trump or the Republican Party.
12:42So that, I don't think, is a total surprise.
12:45But notice that he, him, that Vance says that Trump himself has said this.
12:51And internally, I believe that is what the reports are saying, that Trump has admitted that this war has not
12:56been a, it was not a sensible decision.
12:59Having said that, there's no evidence that Trump has any idea to get out of this war or even wants
13:04to end it in a hurry.
13:05Because the Iranians, even if you were to believe that the war is bad, Trump needs, I would argue, a
13:13face saver to get out of this war.
13:15It's a war he started.
13:17It's a war in which almost every American interest that you could name, including the fact that America controlled the
13:23Straits of Odmuz before the war and is now basically struggling to hold on to it.
13:28He has nothing.
13:29And the Iranians are very clear.
13:30They're not going to give America anything.
13:32When Iranian officials meet their Indian counterparts, they say that we don't want to give this man a face saver.
13:40We want him humiliated because they think all the cars are falling in their favor.
13:44And this midterm results will only strengthen the Iranian view.
13:49I mean, this is humiliation.
13:51But Seema Sirohi, come in now and weigh in on what do you think will be the big takeaway of
13:57this midterm results.
13:59One may say that burying George W. Bush in 2002 and before that, in 1998, it was Bill Clinton.
14:09Most U.S. presidents have lost midterm elections.
14:14So what is it and how should this one be viewed?
14:23Ma'am, if you heard me?
14:27You're breaking off sometimes.
14:30Well, it is true that historically only twice has the president's party won the midterm since World War II.
14:41So this is not unusual.
14:45Barack Obama, if you remember 2010, I think it was where the Democrats lost both houses and he called it
14:53a shellacking.
14:56And Bill Clinton, the same thing happened.
14:59So it's not unusual.
15:02And both Clinton and Obama went on to win a second term.
15:06So this is just the normal cycle of politics in America, I would think.
15:15And another point I would say is like it's best not to overread the results.
15:23True, it was a Republican route.
15:26You know, the Democrats won seats in the Senate in places, in deeply red states where they'd never even dreamt
15:36of ever winning or trying even.
15:40Such was the anger against Trump because of the war, mainly because the war affected everything in daily life.
15:50The price of gas for everyone, the price of diesel, the price of fertilizers for the farmers.
16:00Rural America has been hurting quite a bit and doesn't get that much mentioned.
16:08There have been farm bankruptcies over the last year that have gone up by, I believe, 12 percent, according to
16:16official statistics.
16:17So the war has kind of, you know, overwhelmingly affected life in America as it has in many other countries.
16:27So the anger and was really palpable.
16:33So, but Mr. Roy, let me ask you, you know, something more in this question.
16:39When you say that we should not be reading too much into it, here will be Donald Trump known to
16:46take those calls all by himself, perhaps not even keeping his administration on board, taking to Truth Social and making
16:55announcements with regards to tariffs, imposing penal taxes on multiple countries.
17:02He won't be able to do that.
17:03Or do you think he'll continue to?
17:07He still has a lot of executive authority.
17:10He can pass orders.
17:12But now the Congress will be controlled by Democrats.
17:17So all of the committee chairs will be Democrats.
17:20Democrats, and like, for example, Gregory Meeks, the incoming chair of the House Foreign Relations Committee, has been a huge
17:32critic of Trump's tariff wars.
17:36They will do what they can on Capitol Hill, but Trump never needed or never used, never went to Congress
17:49for permission to launch this war, right?
17:52So what he will do with the existing authorities that he has is anyone's guess.
18:02I'm not sure whether the Congress, a democratically controlled Congress, will act as a huge, you know, control mechanism.
18:13Yes, there will be hearings.
18:15There will be attempts at subpoenas, calling people, calling administration officials to answer questions.
18:25What will it result in?
18:28I'm not so sure.
18:30Okay.
18:31Alec, Ipsos has been talking about multiple issues that will decide the outcome.
18:39Most of these issues have decided the outcome and we have seen the results.
18:44But I'm looking at the sheer scale.
18:47You have the Senate 54 for the Democrats, much bigger mandate than what it was two years ago.
18:56Then you have, you know, the other House, the House of Representatives, almost having a landslide for the Democrats again,
19:05230 plus.
19:07The sheer scale, was that also something that you had sensed during all the surveys that was being carried out?
19:15Well, this was a remarkable night in American politics, as we've suggested to have Democrats winning Senate seats in states
19:22like Texas, South Carolina, potentially even Mississippi.
19:26This is really a seismic shift or shock to the political system here.
19:30Polls did a good job of seeing the signs here that it could be a very, very strong Democratic year.
19:36But I think it has to be said that early results suggest that Democratic candidates have even outperformed those polls,
19:42which are pointing to a strong environment for Democrats.
19:45And it's worth saying, how did we get here?
19:47The war was unpopular?
19:48Absolutely.
19:49But it was the intense pressure of affordability of the economy, that deep frustration.
19:54And that really drove the president's ratings down over the course of this year.
19:58That's part of the trajectory we could see going into the midterms.
20:01And it changed how Americans think about the political parties.
20:04They began to see the Democratic Party as better on the economy.
20:08That's unusual.
20:09That's different.
20:10That's a shift from the past.
20:11In other issues that concern Americans, but maybe they were willing to give the president the benefit of the doubt
20:17when they had more economic confidence, such as immigration enforcement, even border or trade negotiations, these same seem to cascade
20:24down from these economic concerns.
20:26And that's how you get to what we saw last night, which is really a remarkable win for the Democratic
20:31Party.
20:32And what I would add to that note here is it's more of a rejection of the current administration than
20:37it is an embrace of the Democratic Party.
20:39It's an opportunity for Democrats, but these remain Republican-leaning places, many of these newly won Senate seats.
20:46And the broader American public does have some doubts about the Democratic Party brand.
20:50So it's an opportunity for Democrats.
20:52It's not necessarily a warm embrace.
20:54That will be to be seen over the next two years here.
20:57So, Alec, when you say that, you know, this is this was a negative vote, a vote against Donald Trump,
21:05not as much as Democrats being seen.
21:10Generating an alternative narrative that was attracting voters.
21:14So what really happens, according to you, if if the elections, the presidential elections were held today?
21:21Do you think the outcome would be similar?
21:24Part of what we just saw is how much can change in two years.
21:27Two years ago, President Donald Trump won a popular vote victory.
21:31And what we saw last night was an enormous reversal.
21:33So I think it's good to be cautious about how much can change over the next two years as we
21:38go into the presidential.
21:39But to return to your question, neither party is in great standing overall with voters right now, whether that's the
21:45Republican Party or the Democratic Party.
21:47Now, there were some quality candidates that ran last night and won very important victories.
21:51But if you're looking at national brands, Americans have been frustrated with how they've been represented in the political system
21:57for some time.
21:58So, again, it's yes, it's an opportunity for Democrats.
22:01It's also an opportunity for Republicans to remake their brand ahead of the next presidential election.
22:06There's really an open contest here to see who can appeal to voters and convince voters that they're really speaking
22:12directly to their needs,
22:13because that's not how voters have felt in recent years.
22:16So, Pramit, tell me, what do you think will happen in the next two years?
22:19Because this is the last two years of Donald Trump's presidency.
22:22Will he be trying to course-correct or will he double down as he's always known to do,
22:29that whenever he's under pressure, he goes on an offensive?
22:34Well, Eurasia Group actually just issued a note to its clients and said this Trump administration is effectively a lame
22:41duck administration now.
22:42Look, on the domestic front, he's been able to rule by issuing executive orders and a Republican Congress was unwilling
22:53to challenge him in any of this,
22:56even though much of what he did on these orders was a violation often of constitutional and legal structures.
23:06Now they will challenge him endlessly, and they will challenge him not only on what he does,
23:11they will also launch criminal investigations against his administration.
23:17Its lack of integrity has been striking, and it hasn't exactly made sure that it's kept its paper trails unclean.
23:27So you've seen, and then finally, they'll control appropriations.
23:31It's the Congress's single most powerful element of power is that it controls where the money goes and how it's
23:38spent.
23:38So you'll see at least definitely long questioning of the administration.
23:42Why do you want more money for this war?
23:44What do you plan to do with it?
23:46And so on and so forth.
23:47So you'll see that.
23:48And then you'll see potentially, and this is what everybody's looking at Vance's statement as I think is most important,
23:54is that they will start to see dissent within the Republican Party itself.
23:59And Vance's statement in many ways, as you could almost argue, is the beginning of his run for the presidency
24:05two years from now,
24:08where he has begun, as you said, distancing himself a bit from President Trump and his policies, or his more
24:15unpopular policies.
24:17So on the domestic front, I don't expect to see very much except a huge degree of paralysis and infighting
24:23as the Democrats try to change the narrative, political narrative on the front.
24:30Foreign policy, however, the president has a lot of leeway, as Seema correctly pointed out.
24:37But I think the pressure on him to first bring this war to Iran to an end will be very,
24:43very strong.
24:44I still expect a few more rounds of conflict.
24:46But fundamentally, Trump increasingly has very little to argue as to why he's exactly pursuing this war.
24:54And if Netanyahu's government is unable to return in Israel,
24:58then the one one of the crucial external players sort of egging him on will effectively have disappeared.
25:05All right.
25:06All right. We have really come to the end of this discussion.
25:10Alec Tyson, Pramit Paul and Seema Sirui really appreciate your time.
25:15Thank you so much for joining us.
25:16And before I wrap up this bulletin, let's turn to Michigan, where Democrat Abdul El-Sayed has secured a historic
25:24victory,
25:25emerging as the state's first Muslim senator after a fiercely contested campaign marked by bitter attacks and divisions within his
25:34own party.
25:35In fact, 42-year-old El-Sayed defeated Republican Mike Rogers, who had the backing of President Trump.
25:42President Trump, during the course of the campaign, had called him a jihadist.
25:48And despite an aggressive campaign targeting his political positions,
25:53his stance on Israel and more his Muslim faith,
25:59what we saw is Abdul El-Sayed winning this battle and becoming the first Muslim to enter the Senate.
26:09That certainly gives us hope that this is about diversity and representation being valued in America.
26:20Let's listen in to what Abdul El-Sayed said after winning from Michigan.
26:28J.D.
26:32Habibi.
26:35There is this delicious irony in the fact that you're constitutionally obligated to swear me in in January.
26:49He's the first Democratic doctor in the Senate since 1969.
26:54So what a history.
26:55That has been made today in America in multiple ways.
26:59That's all from me on NewsTrack tonight.
27:01Thanks so much for watching.