As Americans head to the polls for midterm elections Tuesday, the outcome could have significant consequences for Canada. CTVNews.ca will have live results, breaking updates, real-time election data and on-the-ground reporting from key battleground states. WASHINGTON - When U.S. President Donald Trump began holding rallies to drum up support for Republican candidates running in the midterm elections, he told supporters, “just pretend I’m on the ballot,” urging Republicans to turn out and vote to protect his “America First” agenda. He warned that “the Democrats want to blow all of this up by electing communists, jihadists,” and framed this vote as “the most important midterm election in the history of the U.S.A.” On that point, Republicans and Democrats agree. These elections are a referendum on the party in power and the president’s policies. Final polls show many voters are angry. Trump promised no more “forever” wars, and said he would bring costs down. While his supporters credit him for tax cuts and border security, many say his tariffs-taxing imports from Canada and other countries - and the Iran war, have driven up prices on gas and diesel, making everything more expensive. At his rallies however, it’s a different reality. The president tells his supporters, it was “The Democrats caused the high prices, the Democrats caused affordability problems ... and we’re fixing them.” Some of the strangest moments have come from Trump’s repeated focus on the physiques of some of his candidates. In Ohio, Trump said he was “examining” Republican John Husted’s physique. “I looked at his ass and I’ve never done that with a man before ...women, yes, men no,” he said. He also mocked Democrat James Talarico, who has a good shot at winning a Senate seat in Texas, saying, “you ever see him go to a barbecue and he’s trying to show, I love the meat ... And then you see him, where is he? He’s behind the tent puking.” Today marked his closing pitch to voters. After criss-crossing the nation, Trump chose the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool as his final venue. He spoke about his beautification projects, talking about resurfaced granite, paint, and replacing grass for more than 20 miniutes. Trump blamed vandalism for the troubled renovations that have gone over the US$1.5 million budget, and showed pictures of the site before and after the renovations. Eventually the president returned to the midterm elections, summing it up this way... “For some reason the sitting president doesn’t win the midterms, but we gave it a very strong shot.”
