After the congressional election, US President Joe Biden approaches the Republicans, who have long been dominated by his predecessor Donald Trump. He was willing to compromise on many issues, said the Democrat, with a view to the foreseeable tight majority in Congress. At the same time, he was convinced that Trump supporters were now in the minority in the Republican Party. The 79-year-old president also said he would likely decide early next year whether to run for a second term.
In the midterm election at the midpoint of Biden’s term on Tuesday, the Democrats did better than many polls had predicted. It is still possible that they could hold a majority in the House of Representatives and the Senate – or at least in one of the two chambers of Congress. However, it could be several days or even weeks before there is clarity. The count is still ongoing in some key races.
The Republicans are given a slightly better chance of winning a majority in the House of Representatives. The decision on three particularly hard-fought seats in the Senate is still pending. Ultimately, a single race could decide control of the currently narrowly Democratic-controlled chamber.
218 seats are needed for a majority in the House of Representatives. With the votes for which there are already results or predictions about the winner, the Republicans have so far received 209 votes and the Democrats 191 seats.
Many results still open
In Georgia, Arizona and Nevada it was still unclear on Thursday whether Democrats or Republicans would get the senator positions there. In the particularly close race between incumbent Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker in Georgia, the runoff will take place on December 6th. If the counts in Arizona and Nevada do not bring clarity, this duel will be decisive – as in the 2020 election.
Voters demonstrated during the election that they “don’t want to go through a political battle every day,” Biden said in Washington on Wednesday. After a hard-fought election campaign, he now struck out in a deliberately conciliatory tone. Although he has different views than the majority of Republicans, “but they are decent, honorable people,” said Biden.
Even after Trump’s election defeat by Biden in 2020, the Republican Party was dominated by the ex-president and his companions. Republicans who oppose him were mostly ostracized by the party. But now there are increasing numbers of critical voices in the party that blame Trump for the fact that various candidates he supported have lost their races. Big victories for the Republicans were expected before the election – but they didn’t materialize.
Not endlessly willing to compromise
At the same time, Biden showed the Republicans the limits of his willingness to compromise. With his veto, he will block any law that aims to ban abortions nationwide or undermine health care.
The President expressed the hope that after the elections we would continue to support Ukraine together. The US is the main supplier of arms to the country, which has been fighting aggressor Russia since February 24. Before the election, the Republicans had signaled that there would be no “blank check” for Ukraine if they won the majority. Biden countered that there were no blank checks from the Democrats either.
Biden reiterated his intention to run again in the 2024 presidential election. Ultimately, however, it is a family decision. “I think everyone wants me to run, but we’ll discuss it.” He feels no hurry and will not make a decision dependent on what Trump is doing.
Trump had announced a “very big announcement” on the eve of the November 15 election. It is expected that it will be about the announcement of a new presidential candidacy. However, the performance of the Republicans in the election weakens the position of Trump, who ultimately supported defeated candidates such as TV doctor Mehmet Oz in the race for a Senate seat. It remains to be seen what that could mean for Trump’s plans.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis is considered a possible rival of the 76-year-old in the race for the Republican presidential nomination. The 44-year-old was confirmed in office in the midterm elections with a clear majority – and thus emerged stronger from the big election day.
