WASHINGTON _ In the wake of Democrat Doug Jones's 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.
"Remember, Republicans are 5-0 in Congressional Races this year," Trump tweeted, then contending the media "refuses to mention this."
He 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.
Trump endorsed Moore's primary candidate, outgoing GOP Sen. Luther Strange, who was appointed to fill the seate vacated when Jeff Sessions left the Senate to become attorney general. Trump did eventually endorse Moore, and held a rally in nearby Pensacola, Fla., just days before last Tuesday's 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 are using 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."
