President Donald Trump went back on his word Monday to accept the results of the midterms, pushing unsubstantiated election fraud conspiracies in an online outburst, though onlookers quickly noted that the president’s latest push lacked the scorched-earth fervor of his 2020 crusade.
“Heart’s just not in it this time,” observed journalist Benjy Sarlin, editorial director for politics at Vox.
In a post on his social media platform Truth Social, Trump questioned how “the Polls” could “be so wrong” and suggested, without evidence, that “early voting ‘dumps’ were so large that it was impossible” for Republicans to have won.
Rather than declaring the election stolen outright as he did in 2020, Trump couched his claims as questions — a rant one critic dismissed as “flaccid,” and another said betrayed the president’s waning enthusiasm.
“You can tell his heart just isn’t in it anymore. Trump ’15 would call Trump ’26 low energy,” argued Democratic strategist Rodericka Applewhaite, a former Biden administration official.
Jon Favreau, a prominent podcaster and ex-speechwriter for former President Barack Obama, suggested that Trump’s delayed refusal to accept the results of the midterms was the result of his aide Natalie Harp, whom Favreau accused of “gatekeeping” the scope of Republicans’ historic electoral defeat last week.
Some, like progressive and liberal influencers Jared Shult and Ed Krassenstein, respectively, were largely indifferent to Trump’s seemingly tepid response. Shult called Trump “mentally deranged,” and Krassenstein called him a “loser,” telling him to “shut the f— up.”
Others, like Tangle News founder Isaac Saul, remained fixated on Trump’s apparent rhetorical shift.
“It all feels pretty flaccid. Nobody *actually* thinks these results are nefarious, and it seems like there’s a lot of impatience on the right with anyone suggesting these losses were due to fraud and not policy. Even Trump seems to be offering this as an afterthought,” Saul wrote.
Heart’s just not in it this time — Benjy Sarlin (@BenjySarlin) November 9, 2026
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