Democrats post early gains in record-turnout midterms as Trump criticizes Fox News

Democrats began notching victories on the night of the 2026 midterm elections, which will decide control of Congress for the rest of President Donald Trump's term, the Anchorage Daily News reported. Before those results arrived, Trump spent part of the evening criticizing Fox News.

The election followed record early turnout. More than 57 million Americans had voted by Monday, according to the University of Florida's Election Lab, as cited by the Florida Phoenix, Arizona Mirror and Washington State Standard. That figure exceeds the midterm early-voting record of nearly 46 million set in 2022.

Those outlets reported that forecasters had favored Democrats to retake the House, where the party needed a net gain of three seats if it also held a vacant, heavily Democratic Florida district. The Cook Political Report projected a Democratic Senate pickup in North Carolina and rated six Republican-held seats as toss-ups: Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, Maine, Ohio and Texas. The outlets noted that Trump's average approval stood at 37% on Monday, according to The New York Times, near his second-term low.

Several legal disputes surrounded the vote. A federal judge on Sunday dismissed a Justice Department lawsuit seeking to halt certification of Alaska's Senate race, and the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday rejected the administration's final bid to make California set aside about 20,000 ballots it suspected were cast by noncitizens, the outlets reported.

On election night, Trump posted on Truth Social that he could not stand the voice of Jessica Tarlov, the liberal co-host of Fox News' "The Five," and insulted her intelligence, according to the Anchorage Daily News. Co-host Greg Gutfeld later read on air a text he said came from Trump criticizing Tarlov's remarks about high gas prices. Tarlov responded on X that the president should get better at dealing with reality, the paper reported.

Trump also attacked the network's polling. "The FoxNews Poll, always the worst, is so insulting with the questions they ask," he wrote, according to the Anchorage Daily News. He pointed to falling Fox ratings and criticized Fox Corporation's donations to Democrats. Fox Corp. CEO Lachlan Murdoch has acknowledged the ratings decline but attributed it to viewer fatigue, the paper reported.

Karoline Leavitt, Trump's former press secretary and now a paid Fox News contributor, defended him during the network's coverage, suggesting voters may have listened to the "lying media on the other side," the Anchorage Daily News reported.

Full results could take weeks. After the 2022 midterms, House control was projected eight days after Election Day, the States Newsroom outlets noted.

Compiled by True News from reporting by Anchorage Daily News, Florida Phoenix, Arizona Mirror and Washington State Standard. Each outlet's original story is linked below.

Originally published by True News: https://truenews.bagleyenterprises.net/stories/753