§82 —
On Loser
Democrat
NOT ON THE BALLOT
Now the other column. In 2018, his first midterm, the House vote went 53.4 to 44.8 against his party, and the House went with it 1. In 2020 he finished on 232 electoral votes to Joe Biden's 306, a total he had called a landslide when he won by the same amount in 2016 2.
And a year ago today, on the night of November 4, 2025, with the returns going against his party, he posted the explanation himself: "TRUMP WASN'T ON THE BALLOT, AND SHUTDOWN, WERE THE TWO REASONS THAT REPUBLICANS LOST ELECTIONS TONIGHT" 3. He attributed it to pollsters. He was not on Tuesday's ballot either. The explanation is a year old and still in the drawer, and this morning's count is on the front page, held against what he did in every race in 2024. He picked the word. He picked it on September 11.
Sources
- 2018 House vote: Democrats 53.4 percent, Republicans 44.8 percent, and Democrats took the majority — Wikipedia, citing the Clerk of the House ↑
- Biden set to finish with 306 electoral votes, "a total Trump called a landslide when he won by the same amount in 2016" — Associated Press via Fox 13 ↑
- Truth Social post of 4 November 2025, attributed by Trump to "Pollsters" — Gray News/AP ↑
Republican
LOSER
Give the word its due: it is a whole theory of politics in two syllables. The country divides into people who win and people who do not, and he says which. On the morning of September 11, 2013, he wrote: "I would like to extend my best wishes to all, even the haters and losers, on this special date, September 11th." It stayed up two years, until he led the Republican field, then vanished 1. By September 2016 one count had 43 of these greetings 2. In April 2025 the chair of the Federal Reserve became a "major loser," and the Dow fell 971.82 points 3.
In October 2023 his former chief of staff, the retired general John Kelly, said in a statement that Trump "rants that our most precious heroes who gave their lives in America's defense are 'losers' and wouldn't visit their graves in France"; his campaign called the stories debunked and made up 4. That is the arrangement. The word works for as long as the man holding it stays off the list.
Sources
- "I would like to extend my best wishes to all, even the haters and losers, on this special date, September 11th"; the original tweet of 11 September 2013 vanished in 2015 with Trump leading the Republican field — CBS News ↑
- 43 tweets addressed to "haters and losers" counted by 9 September 2016 — Bustle ↑
- Dow down 971.82 points, 2.48 percent, after Trump called Powell a "major loser" — CNBC, 21 April 2025 ↑
- John Kelly's statement of October 2023, confirming comments The Atlantic reported in 2020, and the Trump campaign's reply — NBC News ↑
“I looked up the word. I've got a tweet from September 11th, a Fed chair, and a statement from a retired general about graves in France. Forty-three tweets by 2016 alone, and I'm sure I missed some, I'm slow. Sorry, one thing before you go. A year ago today he said Republicans lost because he wasn't on the ballot. So when he's off the ballot, they lose, and that's his explanation. I keep reading that one. He wasn't on this one either.”— Lou
“Loser. That's the whole vocabulary. Two columns, winners and losers, and one guy holding the pencil. And you know what I noticed? The pencil doesn't write his name. He gets 232 electoral votes, that's not a loss, that's a theft. His party takes a beating a year ago today, that's because he wasn't on the ballot. He wasn't on the ballot Tuesday either. Funny how that works. Go look at the front page, then tell me who taught you that word.”
“The president uses "loser" as a term of art, in the competitive sense, and I'd caution against reading it as a comment on anyone in particular, including anyone who may or may not appear in this morning's numbers, which are preliminary, and which he was not on.”