Karoline Leavitt, who served as White House press secretary, appeared on Fox News as election results came in Tuesday night. She argued that Republicans lost heavily because many Americans had forgotten President Trump’s earlier policies and instead paid attention to what she described as the lying media. The midterms delivered control of both the House and the Senate to Democrats.
Leavitt pointed back to the period before the United States began its military operation in Iran. She recalled standing at the briefing podium and noting that gasoline had reached $1.99 a gallon in Colorado and similar states. She said that price level came from Trump’s energy dominance plan, not from actions by Democrats.
“Before the president launched the operation in Iran, I remember being at the podium talking about how gasoline was $1.99 in states like Colorado,” Leavitt stated, according to The Daily Mail. She continued, “And that was because of [Trump’s] energy dominance plan, not the Democrats. So unfortunately, I think the American people forgot about the good policy, maybe listened to the lying media on the other side.”
Former press secretary cites pre-invasion fuel costs during election night remarks
The national average price for a gallon of regular gasoline now sits at $4.12, according to the American Automobile Association. That figure is higher than the $3.05 average recorded a year earlier. The increase followed Iran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz after the February invasion began. Roughly 25 percent of the world’s seaborne oil normally travels through the strait.
Trump had taken office in 2025 after promising to bring down the price spikes seen under the prior administration. He also stated that his presidency would involve no new wars. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal on election night, he acknowledged that the Iran conflict played a partial role in the Republican defeats. He added that he does not regret the decision, saying, “I did the right thing. I would have done it again.”
In a Truth Social post the same evening, Trump wrote, “I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE! Thank you for your attention to this matter.” In the weeks leading up to the vote, he had repeatedly urged supporters to treat the midterms as if he were on the ballot himself. His handpicked candidates for Senate seats in South Carolina, North Carolina, Michigan, and Texas all lost by margins larger than most pre-election polls had indicated.
In Texas, Democrat James Talarico defeated Ken Paxton by 12 points. The result gave the state its first Democratic senator since 1988. Trump had endorsed Paxton in the Republican primary over incumbent John Cornyn, citing concerns about Cornyn’s loyalty. In South Carolina, Democrat Annie Andrews defeated Darlene Graham, the sister of the late Lindsey Graham. Graham had been appointed to fill her brother’s seat and entered the general election race with Trump’s support.
During a phone call with Fox News anchor Bret Baier on election night, Trump appeared frustrated when asked about the strength of his Senate picks in Texas and South Carolina. He said he “had no choice” but to back Paxton. He also criticized the network’s polling, stating, “The Fox polls are terrible. You ought to get yourself a good pollster, because your pollster is the worst.”
Baier responded that the actual results that night lined up fairly closely with what the Fox polls had projected. Trump also blamed Fox News for midterm losses.
Trump told The New York Times that he would accept the election outcomes. He indicated openness to working with the incoming Democratic majorities, saying, “We’ll, you know, look forward to working with them. We’ll probably work something out.” Many voters had cited ongoing frustration with elevated living costs, gasoline prices, the Iran conflict, and immigration enforcement measures as factors in their choices at the polls.
Published: Nov 5, 2026 08:45 am