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Trump Says GOP Will Do ‘Well’ in 2018

‘I said Gillespie and Moore would lose,’ president tweets

Roy Moore rides away on his horse after voting at the Gallant Volunteer Fire Department in Gallant, Ala., on Dec. 12. President Donald Trump says he predicted Moore’s loss. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)
Roy Moore rides away on his horse after voting at the Gallant Volunteer Fire Department in Gallant, Ala., on Dec. 12. President Donald Trump says he predicted Moore’s loss. (Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call)

Updated at 9:01 a.m. | In the wake of Democrat Doug Jones’ stunning upset over Roy Moore in Alabama’s special Senate election, President Donald Trump on Monday used a tweet to tout the Republican Party’s performance this year in House races.

Trump last week referred to himself as “the leader of the party” — something he rarely does. He used a tweet Monday morning to imply that the GOP should listen to his prognostications about which potential candidates can and cannot win general election races.

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“Remember, Republicans are 5-0 in Congressional Races this year,” Trump tweeted, then contended the media “refuses to mention this.”

Trump’s tweet appears to omit one House race won by Democrats. Jimmy Gomez captured the California 34th District seat vacated by former Democratic Rep. Xavier Becerra, who resigned to become the state’s attorney general. That would make Republicans 5-1.

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The president also omitted Senate races from his count. If one views the definition of “congressional” as covering both chambers, then the GOP would by 5-2 after Moore’s loss.

The president went on to note that he always believed Virginia gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie and Moore, the Alabama GOP Senate nominee, “would lose (for very different reasons), and they did.” He further touted his own tea leaf-reading skills by reminding his 44.8 million followers that he predicted his own victory in the 2016 presidential race.

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Trump endorsed Moore’s primary candidate, outgoing GOP Sen. Luther Strange, who was appointed to fill the seat vacated when Jeff Sessions left the Senate to become attorney general. Trump did eventually endorse Moore, and held a rally in nearby Pensacola, Florida, just days before the Dec. 12 general election.

In the race for the Virginia governor’s mansion, Trump tweeted about Gillespie, endorsed him and recorded a robocall on his behalf — but he never campaigned for him.

Moore, amid a slew of sexual misconduct allegations, was unable to protect a seat the party had controlled since 1992. Some Democratic lawmakers and political analysts see the Alabama outcome as a harbinger of a coming Democratic wave during the 2018 midterm elections.

Not Trump.

He tweeted that his party will “do well in 2018, very well.”

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