WASHINGTON _ Utah GOP Rep. Mia Love took a parting shot at President Donald Trump for living in a cynical world with "no real relationships, just convenient transactions" at her first news conference since her midterm election defeat nearly three weeks ago.
Love publicly conceded the 4th District race to Salt Lake County Democratic Mayor Ben McAdams on Monday after nearly three weeks of counting and scrutinizing ballots showed McAdams won by 694 votes.
In his post-Election Day news conference, Trump criticized Love for rejecting him on the campaign trail, even though the president garnered less than 40 percent of the vote in Love's district in 2016.
"Mia Love gave me no love and she lost," Trump said. "Too bad. Sorry about that, Mia."
Love chastised the president in her prepared remarks Monday for prioritizing his own ego instead of helping vulnerable Republicans keep their seats in the midterms.
"The president's behavior towards me made me wonder: What did he have to gain by saying such a thing about a fellow Republican?" Love said during her concession speech in Salt Lake City. "It was not really about asking him to do more, was it? Or was it something else? Well Mr. President, we'll have to chat about that."
Love said her election experience with the president provided her a clear window into his world: "No real relationships, just convenient transactions," she said. "That is an insufficient way to implement sincere service and policy."
The midterms also highlighted Republicans' ongoing efforts reaching out to blacks and other minorities, Love, the only black woman Republican in the lame-duck 115th Congress, said in her remarks Monday.
"It's transactional. It's not personal. You see, we feel like politicians claim they know what's best for us from a safe distance. Yet, they are never willing to take us home," she said.
"Because Republicans never take minority communities into their home and citizens into their homes and into their hearts, they stay with Democrats and bureaucrats in Washington because they do take them home _ or at least make them feel like they have a home."
McAdams will take over from Love when the 116th Congress is sworn in on Jan. 3.
