Barack Obama ripped Donald Trump and claimed Americans have moved on from ‘politics that divides them’ after the Democrats triumphed in the midterm elections on Tuesday.
Obama, who played an active role on the campaign trail, said Democrats taking the House and Senate sent a ‘clear message’ to the White House.
Americans ‘want a politics that brings people together rather than divides them,’ Obama said in a statement on X.
The former president hailed the ‘outstanding candidates’ who swept to victory because they were ‘united by shared values, a belief in public service, and a commitment to putting the people of their districts and states first.’
Obama said: ‘While this administration has another two years in office, our job now is to roll up our sleeves, make changes wherever we have the power to do so, prevent further damage, and lay the groundwork for the future.’
The 65-year-old campaigned for Sherrod Brown in Cleveland and Abdul El-Sayed in Detroit on October 24 before heading to Georgia four days later to rally behind Jon Ossoff and Keisha Lance Bottoms.
But it was his mockery of Trump’s lavish White House makeover that sparked one of the campaign’s more unlikely controversies.
‘He’s got the White House looking like Saddam Hussein opened a Cheesecake Factory,’ Obama told supporters in Ohio, comparing the president’s gold decor to the ostentatious interiors at the restaurant chain.
Barack Obama speaks during a midterm campaign rally in support of US Senator Jon Ossoff’s (D-GA) reelection campaign in Morrow, Georgia, on October 28
Trump fired back by defending both the renovations and the restaurant chain, while Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent joined the fray with a television interview outside a Cheesecake Factory in Washington.
Bessent praised his meal and recommended it to ‘the Martha’s Vineyard set.’
The spat even spilled into election night, when White House staff ordered Cheesecake Factory takeout for their watch party as the results rolled in.
Democrats seized both chambers of Congress after flipping six Senate seats and at least a dozen Republican-held House districts, delivering a crushing setback to Trump heading into the final two years of his presidency.
Among the biggest shocks was Texas, where Democrat James Talarico defeated Trump-backed Attorney General Ken Paxton.
Democrats also captured Senate seats in Kansas and South Carolina, breaking decades-long Republican winning streaks in all three states.
The Republican losses extended to governors’ mansions, with Texas Governor Greg Abbott defeated by Democrat Gina Hinojosa and Vivek Ramaswamy losing his bid to lead Ohio.
Donald Trump reacts as he takes the stage during a campaign rally at the Majestic Valley Arena in Kalispell, Montana, US, October 14
In Georgia, former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms defeated Republican Rick Jackson to become the first black woman elected governor in US history.
Republicans did retain the governorship in Florida, where Trump ally Byron Donalds defeated Democrat David Jolly, while Senator Ashley Moody also held her seat.
But those victories offered limited consolation as Trump sought to distance himself from the wider rout, writing on Truth Social: ‘I wasn’t on the ballot, and if I was, we would have won in a landslide.’
