Trump attacks members of his own party and shouts at CNN’s Jim Acosta in wild press conference
The president will address reporters Democrats took control of the House and Republicans flipped several seats in the Senate in the midterm election.
In a press conference the day after midterm election results that saw Democrats take control of the House and Republicans flip several seats in the Senate, President Trump called out several Republican who refused to embrace him and ended up losing their re-election campaigns, including Virginia Rep. Barbara Comstock and Utah Rep. Mia Love.
"Peter Roskam didn't want the embrace. Erik Paulsen didn't want the embrace." Trump said. "Mia Love gave me no love."
Among the Republicans Trump rebuked by name was New Jersey Senate candidate Bob Hugin, who failed to unseat embattled Democrat incumbent Bob Menendez in New Jersey Tuesday night.
"They decided for their own reason not to embrace, whether it's me or what we stand for," Trump said. "What we stand for meant a lot to most people, and we had tremendous support in the Republican party."
Later in the press conference, Trump also bashed retiring Arizona Republican Sen. Jeff Flake, who has been an outspoken critic of the president's rhetoric but has largely supported his agenda.
"I retired him. I'm very proud of it. I did the country a great service," Trump said. "I'd like to call it another word, but we're going to treat him with great respect… Jeff Flake, that's another beauty."
Pennsylvania Republican Rep. Ryan Costello, who announced in March that he wouldn't seek re-election in the newly re-drawn Sixth Congressional District, wrote on Twitter it "angers me to the core" after Trump mocked and roasted members of his own party.
Trump had kinder words for Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi, a frequent target of the president and Republicans who is likely to become Speaker of the House following Tuesday night's election results.
"She works very hard, and she works long and hard… I give her a lot of credit," Trump told reporters, adding he thinks the two can work together on many issues. "I really respected what Nancy said last night about bipartisanship."
Trump's press conference also went off the rails during a question asked by CNN chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta,who pressed the president on his description of a caravan of migrants moving through Mexico as an invasion. A White House aide attempted to forcibly remove Acosta's microphone.
"You are a rude, terrible person. You shouldn't be working for CNN. You're a very rude person," an angry Trump told Acosta. "The way you treat Sarah Huckabee is horrible…you shouldn't treat people that way."
Trump also railed against NBC News White House correspondent Peter Alexander ("I'm not a big fan of yours either, to be honest.") and American Urban Radio Networks reporter April Ryan.
"Sit down. I didn't call on you," Trump said when Ryan interrupted the Daily Caller's Saagar Enjeti. "It's such a hostile media."
Trump also accused PBS White House correspondent Yamiche Alcindor, who is African-American, of asking a "racist question" when she pressed him on whether he was emboldening white nationalists by declaring himself a nationalist.
"That's such a racist question… I love our country. You have nationalists, you have globalists. I also love the world, and I don't mind helping the world. But we have to straighten out our country first," Trump shot back. "But to say that, what you said, is so insulting to me. It's a very terrible thing you just said."
"The President's ongoing attacks on the press have gone too far. They are not only dangerous, they are disturbingly un-America," CNN said in a statement following Trump's press conference. "A free press is vital to democracy, and we stand behind Jim Acosta and his fellow journalists everywhere."
Trump had already made several comments about the results of the midterms on Twitter. In one tweet, Trump said he viewed a night where Democrats gained control of the House a "tremendous success." In another, he congratulated potential Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, one of his frequent targets, and wrote that "she has earned this great honor."
"We've never seen a president so happy to lose the House of Representatives," Jim Acosta, CNN's chief White House correspondent, said ahead of Trump's press conference.
Trump also threatened House Democrats, who have promised to use their new majority to offer oversight of the president and his administration. If Democrats do end up launching new investigations on Trump's government, the president said he'd be forced to use the Republican majority in the Senate to investigate them over baseless claims that they leaked classified information.
"Two can play that game!" Trump wrote.
>> READ MORE: Election 2018 takeaways: A realignment, a split, and messages for 2020