'I wasn't on the ballot': Trump distances himself from midterm results - USA Today

President Donald Trump sought to distance himself from Republicans' mounting midterm losses Tuesday, declaring in his first remarks on the election results that his party would have been victorious had he been on the ballot.

"I wasn’t on the Ballot and if I was, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!" Trump wrote on social media.

Trump's efforts to sidestep blame for the growing blue wave came as Republicans were dealt stunning losses in deep red states and districts, with Democrats flipping Senate seats in Texas, South Carolina, Kansas and Ohio. Republicans also lost Senate races in North Carolina and Georgia, and are trailing in other key contests.

Trump told the New York Times that he is "absolutely willing to accept" the election results.

“We’ll work with the Democrats, and we’ll, you know, look forward to working with them. We’ll probably work something out," Trump said.

Democrats are poised to flip both chambers of Congress by wide margins, with the party seizing on backlash to Trump's second-term agenda, including concerns about his handling of the economy and the Iran war.

Despite his record-low approval rating, Trump thrust himself into the center of the midterm election with a series of rallies across 20 states in the closing weeks.

The midterm contests are shaping up to be an emphatic repudiation of a president who implored voters to "pretend" he was on the ballot.