Karoline Leavitt says Trump was crushed because Americans ‘forgot about his good policy and listened to the lying media’

Former White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt blamed Republicans’ crushing midterm defeat on voters forgetting Donald Trump’s policies and listening to what she called the “lying media”. Democrats won control of both chambers of Congress, in a result that reflected voter frustration with the cost of living, fuel prices, the Iran war and immigration enforcement.

Leavitt recalled gasoline costing $1.99 a gallon in some states before the US launched its Iran operation in February. The conflict led to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, a route for about a quarter of the world’s seaborne oil, and the US average petrol price rose to $4.12 a gallon from $3.05 a year earlier, according to the AAA. Trump acknowledged the war contributed to the losses but said he did not regret the invasion; he also claimed Republicans would have won by a landslide if he had been on the ballot.