Sean Hannity Calls Trump’s Midterm Rout ‘Normal’ After Earlier Blaming Iran War

Sean Hannity offered a more measured explanation for the Republicans’ crushing midterm losses after initially saying the Iran war had cost the party. On his Monday-night Fox News program, the host argued that the results were not unprecedented, describing midterm setbacks as a familiar feature of American politics. “Obama, Clinton, Ford, Reagan all suffered huge midterm losses,” Hannity said, adding that other presidents, including Lyndon Johnson, Dwight Eisenhower and Franklin D. Roosevelt, had also faced serious reversals. He concluded that the latest results were “kind of more normal than not.” That comparison drew scrutiny because the scale of the current losses may exceed some of the examples he cited. Ronald Reagan’s Republicans lost 26 House seats in 1982, while the article says the party is on track to lose more than 40 this time and has already lost seven Senate seats. The latest results also appear far from routine in the Senate. CNN analyst Harry Enten said Democrats could gain around 44 or 45 House seats and might flip nine Senate seats if they hold leads in Alaska and Mississippi. The article notes that the last comparable House result came in 1948, during Harry Truman’s presidency. Hannity’s tone had been different on election night. When Fox colleague Bret Baier asked whether the Iran war had cost Republicans, Hannity answered, “I think 100 percent. I don’t think there’s any doubt about it.” He also acknowledged that voters were not feeling the benefits of President Donald Trump’s economic agenda, saying that if people did not feel those benefits, “then it is a problem.” Republicans began election day controlling the House, Senate and White House. With Democrats poised to take both chambers, the article describes Trump as facing a Democratic Congress for the final two years of his term. Hannity’s changing emphasis—from the war and economic dissatisfaction to historical precedent—has put his comments under fresh attention.