US midterms: Red wave of Republican wins fails to materialise as future looks better for Biden
Republican hopes of wiping out the Democrats in the US midterm elections appear to have faded away as a “red wave” of wins has failed to materialise.
The Republicans are still set to take control of the House of Representatives – but with a much slimmer majority than expected, while the race for the Senate is virtually neck and neck with a few results remaining.
Sitting presidents usually suffer in the midterms and with Joe Biden‘s approval rating at only about 40%, many had forecast deep losses for his Democratic Party.
Losing both the Senate and the House would make it extremely hard for his party to pass any laws.
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Ahead of Tuesday’s national vote, Donald Trump had predicted a “great night” for the Republicans as he prepares for an expected second run at the White House.
But senior Democrat Nancy Pelosi, the House speaker, said her party’s candidates were “strongly outperforming expectations across the country”.
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John Fetterman recorded an important victory in Pennsylvania by beating Trump-backed Dr Mehmet Oz, a well-known TV personality, to capture a Senate seat from the Republicans.
Two remaining seats that will determine who gets a majority in the Senate, Arizona and Nevada, may not be confirmed for some days as both states have postal voting, which takes longer to count.
Elections officials in Georgia – where the result is too close to call – also say it’s likely there will be a run-off vote in December.
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It means it could be next month before the fate of the Senate is confirmed.
Other notable results so far include Ron DeSantis being re-elected – the Florida governor is mooted as a possible Republican presidential hopeful and Trump rival in 2024.
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The first Generation Z candidate elected to the House of Representatives is also from Florida, as 25-year-old Maxwell Frost won the seat in the state’s 10th congressional district.
Other firsts include Donald Trump’s former press secretary, Sarah Huckabee Sanders, becoming the first woman governor of Arkansas.
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While in Massachusetts, Maura Healey became America’s first openly gay female governor, and California elected its first Latino senator and first black secretary of state.
Donald Trump has said he is considering “taking away” the US citizenship of actress and comedian Rosie O’Donnell, despite a Supreme Court ruling that expressly prohibits a government from doing so.
In a post on Truth Social on Saturday, the US president said: “Because of the fact that Rosie O’Donnell is not in the best interests of our Great Country, I am giving serious consideration to taking away her Citizenship.”
He also labelled O’Donnell, who has moved to Ireland, as a “threat to humanity” and said she should “remain in the wonderful country of Ireland, if they want her”.
O’Donnell responded on Instagram by posting a photograph of Mr Trump with Jeffrey Epstein.
“You are everything that is wrong with America and I’m everything you hate about what’s still right with it,” she wrote in the caption.
“I’m not yours to silence. I never was.”
Rosie O’Donnell moved to Ireland after Donald Trump secured a second term. Pic: AP
O’Donnell moved to Ireland with her 12-year-old son in January after Mr Trump had secured a second term.
She has said she’s in the process of obtaining Irish citizenship based on family lineage and that she would only return to the US “when it is safe for all citizens to have equal rights there in America”.
O’Donnell and the US president have criticised each other publicly for years, in an often-bitter back-and-forth that predates Mr Trump’s move into politics.
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This is just the latest threat by the president to revoke the citizenship of someone he has disagreed with, most recently his former ally Elon Musk.
But the two situations are different as while Musk was born in South Africa, O’Donnell was born in the US and has a constitutional right to American citizenship.
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Amanda Frost, a law professor at the University of Virginia School of Law, said the Supreme Court ruled in a 1967 case that the fourteenth amendment of the constitution prevents the government from taking away citizenship.
“The president has no authority to take away the citizenship of a native-born US citizen,” he added.
“In short, we are nation founded on the principle that the people choose the government; the government cannot choose the people.”
A farmer who fell from a greenhouse roof during an anti-immigrant raid at a licensed cannabis facility in California this week has died of his injuries.
Jaime Alanis, 57, is the first person to die as a result of Donald Trump’s Immigration Compliance and Enforcement (ICE) raids.
His niece, Yesenia Duran, posted on the fundraising site GoFundMe to say her uncle was his family’s only provider and he had been sending his earnings back to his wife and daughter in Mexico.
The United Food Workers said Mr Alanis had worked on the farm for 10 years.
“These violent and cruel federal actions terrorise American communities, disrupt the American food supply chain, threaten lives and separate families,” the union said in a recent statement on X.
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The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said it executed criminal search warrants at Glass House Farms facilities on Thursday.
Mr Alanis called family to say he was hiding and possibly fleeing agents before he fell around 30ft (9m) from the roof and broke his neck, according to information from family, hospital and government sources.
Agents arrested 200 people suspected of being in the country illegally and identified at least 10 immigrant children on the sites, the DHS said in a statement.
Mr Alanis was not among them, the agency said.
“This man was not in and has not been in CBP (Customs and Border Protection) or ICE custody,” DHS assistant secretary for public affairs Tricia McLaughlin said.
“Although he was not being pursued by law enforcement, this individual climbed up to the roof of a greenhouse and fell 30ft. CBP immediately called a medivac to the scene to get him care as quickly as possible.”
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Four US citizens were arrested during the incident for allegedly “assaulting or resisting officers”, the DHS said, and authorities were offering a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a person suspected of firing a gun at federal agents.
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In a statement, Glass House, a licensed Cannabis grower, said immigration agents had valid warrants. It said workers were detained and it is helping provide them with legal representation.
“Glass House has never knowingly violated applicable hiring practices and does not and has never employed minors,” it added.
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