Fox News’ senior political analyst attacks Trump over US election response
President's tweet shows him 'at his worst', says Brit Hume
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Your support makes all the difference.Fox News’ senior political analyst, Brit Hume, has attacked Donald Trump’s reaction to the defeat of his favoured candidate in Virginia’s gubernatorial race.
Mr Trump had urged voters to back Republican Ed Gillespie on Twitter, saying he would “totally turn around the high crime and poor economic performance” of the state.
But the President’s reaction to Mr Gillespie’s defeat by Democrat Ralph Northam showed him “at his worst”, according to Mr Hume.
Mr Trump said: “Ed Gillespie worked hard but did not embrace me or what I stand for. Don’t forget, Republicans won 4 out of 4 House seats, and with the economy doing record numbers, we will continue to win, even bigger than before!”
It echoed the President’s response after Luther Strange, his preferred pick for a senate seat in Alabama, lost the nomination race. Mr Trump deleted a number of tweets that were supportive of the establishment candidate.
Mr Hume said of the billionaire’s rebuke to Mr Gillespie: “Trump at his worst. Everything is always about him.”
Despite the criticism, Mr Gillespie did embrace a number of Mr Trump’s stances even if he did not welcome him into the state to rally voters on his behalf.
The President played a marginal role in Virginia, a state he lost to Hillary Clinton last autumn, largely because Republicans on the ground did not want him there as his approval ratings hovered near record lows. The White House instead dispatched Vice President Mike Pence to help Mr Gillespie.
The former aide to George W Bush and Mitt Romney largely reinvented himself as election day neared, with hard-edge attack ads focused on illegal immigration and preserving Confederate statues.
His strategy was criticised by Democrats and some Republicans as race baiting, but drew praise from former Trump strategist Steve Bannon and others.
Mr Northam said after his victory: “Virginia has told us to end the divisiveness, that we do not condone hatred and bigotry.”
Additional reporting by agencies
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