Trump's "pretend I'm on the ballot" appeal meets congressional defeat

Andrew Chang's analysis contrasts Trump's campaign appeal with his post-election response, tracing Democratic breakthroughs in Texas, South Carolina and Kansas.

Channel: CBC News · CanadaStory of November 5, 2026Trari Newsroom

Why this story? One of CBC News's most watched videos since yesterday, with 191,888 views.

CBC News: The news division of the CBC, Canada's public broadcaster. 4.8M subscribers and 3.4B views.

Midterms ‘bluenami’: The exact moment Trump lost control of Congress | About That

Before the election, Donald Trump asked supporters to vote as though his name were on the ballot. After Republican losses, he emphasized that it wasn't.

Andrew Chang makes that contrast central to an About That analysis for Canada's CBC News, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's news service. The report recounts Democratic victories in both chambers of Congress, then examines how Trump had personally framed the stakes.

"What I'm asking you to do is pretend that I'm on the ballot," Trump says in a campaign clip. Later, the report displays his post-election social media response: "I wasn't on the ballot and if I was, we would have won in a landslide!"

Chang's explanation goes beyond that contradiction. He traces the result through Republican strongholds where different local weaknesses accompanied broader concerns about inflation, living costs, gasoline prices, tariffs and foreign policy.

In Texas, the report examines Democrat James Talarico's Senate victory over Republican Ken Paxton. In South Carolina, it highlights debate difficulties for appointed incumbent Darline Graham, defeated by Annie Andrews. One clip shows Graham saying: "National security is not my thing, not my area of expertise."

Kansas supplies an economic dimension. Chang links hardships among farmers to Democrat Adam Hamilton's upset, placing rural financial pressures alongside the national affordability debate rather than treating the outcome solely as a reaction to Trump's personality.

Broadcast projections near the end bring those state-level stories together, confirming Democratic congressional control. But Chang closes with an important distinction: losing Republican majorities does not remove Trump's presidential powers. Democrats can constrain his legislative agenda; he still retains the veto.

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The numbers

The analysis drew about 192,000 views since yesterday, placing it among Canada's most-watched new news videos.

subscribers

4,780,000

no significant change in the last 7 days

total views

3,382,631,994

views per day

4,356,369

typical day: 2,133,627

the video

views

191,888

likes

3,262

days online

0

subscribers: this channel and similar channels

TMZ

5,200,000

Daily Mail World

5,030,000

Global News

4,930,000

CBC News

4,780,000

Associated Press

4,710,000

Reuters

4,380,000

As of November 5, 2026 · Data source: Trari Social News, Trari Traffic Trends and Ranking Platform, Google YouTube

Subscriber, view, like and comment counts are YouTube's. Rates, usual days, rankings, comparisons and categories are Trari's own calculations.