President Trump took a victory lap Wednesday at his first rally since Republicans won a hotly contested special election in Georgia and a separate special election in South Carolina, arguing the success of GOP candidates in congressional races this year has proven the popularity of his agenda.
"They thought they were going to win last night in Atlanta," Trump told a crowd of thousands in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, referring to Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff's defeat Tuesday in the Georgia congressional contest. "They spent close to $30 million on this kid — who forgot to live in the community that he was [running] in."
Ossoff, who lost the special election Tuesday by four points, did indeed live outside the district in which he ran for Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price's former seat. Karen Handel, the Republican who beat him, used his residence to argue Ossoff was out of touch with the community.
"If Karen Handel had lost, they would have blamed it on me," Trump said after congratulating Handel on her victory.
"And we can't forget Ralph Norman in South Carolina. He called me, and I called him. He said: 'You know, last night I felt like the forgotten man,'" Trump said of the Republican candidate who won Tuesday in South Carolina by a smaller-than-expected margin. "But he won, and he won really beautifully. Even though most people, a lot of people didn't show up, because they thought he was going to win by so much. It's always dangerous to have those big leads."
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01.18.2025