‘I don’t think it’s good for anybody’: Trump’s rare honest moment about election night reveals what really went wrong

President Donald Trump talked about why Republicans lost on Tuesday during a breakfast meeting with GOP lawmakers at the White House on Wednesday morning. He explained what he thinks caused the bad results for his party.

According to Fox News, Trump said the election night results were not good for Republicans. He told reporters that the night “was not expected to be a victory” and pointed to the 36-day government shutdown as one reason why things went wrong.

The president believes the shutdown hurt Republicans at the polls. “I think, if you read the pollsters, the shutdown was a big factor,” Trump said. “Negative for the Republicans, and that was a big factor.” He also talked about another reason some experts gave, saying “And they say that I wasn’t on the ballot and was the biggest factor. But I don’t know about that. But I was honored that they said that.”

The shutdown was a big factor for Republicans

Democrats won big in several states on Tuesday night. Voters who left the polls said they were worried about money and the economy. Republicans lost important races, including the New York City mayor’s race and the races for governor in New Jersey and Virginia.

The losses have made it more urgent for lawmakers to end the government shutdown, which is now the longest one in American history at 36 days. Trump told Congress they need to act right away after seeing the election results.

“We must get the government open,” Trump said at the White House breakfast. He also pushed Republican senators to get rid of the filibuster rule, telling them “It’s time for Republicans to do what they have to do. Terminate the filibuster.”

Democrats also won in California, where people voted yes on a new congressional map. This new map is meant to help Democrats pick up five more seats in the U.S. House when the midterm elections happen next year.

Trump shared what he thought about how everything turned out, saying “I don’t think it was good for Republicans. I don’t think it’s good. I’m not sure it was good for anybody.” What he said shows that his party is in a tough spot right now as they think about what comes next.