-Democrats will retain control of the Senate
after news organizations
projected wins for Democratic candidates
in Nevada and Arizona,
defying all the predictions of a red wave
and humiliating Republicans, especially Donald Trump,
who has been having a full-blown meltdown
Now that Republicans are turning on him and blaming him
for their party's catastrophic performance.
For more on this, it's time for "A Closer Look."
♪♪
I don't have to tell you that going into these midterms,
Republicans were very confident.
They predicted a red wave that would hand them
control of both the House and Senate
and deliver a strong repudiation of Joe Biden's presidency.
Some even went further in predicting a red wave
and said it would be much bigger than that.
-Look, I think we're going to see a wave election.
I think it's going to be a tsunami.
-Hot just a wave, but a red tsunami.
-We're not just going to see a red wave,
we're going to see a red tsunami.
We're not just going to see a red wave.
We're going to see a tsunami.
-[ As Cruz ] "It won't just be a red wave.
It'll be a red tsunami.
In fact, it'll be a red monsoon combined with a red hurricane
and a red cyclone that hovers over the Pacific Ocean,
sucking red sharks out of the water
and dumping them all over America
in what can only be described as a red sharknado."
[ Laughter ]
[ Normal voice ] Although I will say,
Ted Cruz does have the facial hair
of a guy who's been stranded on a desert island
after getting caught in a tsunami.
It looks like he's starring in a direct-to-video remake
of "Castaway," except in Cruz's version,
Wilson kills himself after a week.
[ Laughter ]
[ As Cruz ] "I didn't need you, Wilson."
I got to say, it never gets old watching Ted Cruz
get absolutely humiliated.
The only person who loves it
more than I do might be, I don't know, Ted Cruz?
It's clearly his calling in life and he's so good at it.
Donald Trump spent his entire presidency
trying to get Congress to pay for his stupid wall.
They could have raised that money in one day
if they just made Ted Cruz sit in a dunk tank.
Do you know how much they could have brought?
There would have been enough money left over
for a second, smaller wall
to make sure nobody [bleep] with the first wall.
[ Laughter ]
Anyway, while Cruz
was confidently predicting a red tsunami,
his Senate counterpart, Florida Senator Rick Scott,
who was in charge of taking back the Senate for Republicans,
was getting even more specific,
claiming Republicans could end up with
as many as 55 seats after all was said and done,
and even named specific states
where he thought Republicans could upset Democrats.
-There's every reason to believe
that we're going to pick up at least one,
but I think we can pick up four or five seats this year.
If you're Republican, you want to be a U.S. senator
and you want to try to change the direction of the country,
this is the year you want to run.
Herschel Walker has already beaten Warnock
in Georgia, in the polls.
Adam Laxalt's already ahead of
Cortez Masto by four points in Nevada.
We will beat Kelly in Arizona.
I think we'll win New Hampshire.
-Am I crazy to think that the Republicans could
win a Senate seat in Vermont in 2022?
-You're not crazy.
-You know, if you really want
to know whether or not you're crazy,
maybe don't ask Rick Scott.
"If you ask me, all of you Earth people are crazy."
[ Laughter ]
Also, just in general, when you start a sentence with
"Am I crazy?" on Fox News, the answer is almost always yes.
It would make a great title for most of their shows.
Although in fairness, saying the words "I am crazy"
is a pretty good indication that you are,
no matter where you say it.
For example, right now there are
a bunch of Jets fans sitting around saying,
"Am I crazy or are we going to win the Super Bowl this year?"
And look, the Jets are good. I'm not denying that.
But that doesn't mean they're not still the Jets.
I said as much to our security guard, Jim, this morning,
and then he told me that NBC has a new policy
where talent has to ride to work in the trunk.
And he also told me "I need to
keep my [bleep] mouth shut, desk boy."
I think he's sensitive
because he already bought tickets to the Super Bowl
and the green and white face paint.
[ Laughter ]
Which is an unprofessional thing to wear to work,
but obviously...
[Quietly] I'm not gonna tell him that!
Anyway, as you probably know by now,
none of those predictions came true.
Republicans lost all of those races except for Georgia,
where the race will head to a runoff after Herschel Walker
finished second behind Raphael Warnock.
And now Republicans have also lost the race
for control of the Senate after news organizations
projected Democratic wins in the key states
of Arizona and then Nevada.
-Fox News alert, the Democrats
will maintain control of the Senate.
The Fox News Decision Desk has called Nevada's nail-biting
Senate race in favor of
incumbent Democrat Catherine Cortez Masto
over Republican challenger Adam Laxalt.
That gives the Democrats the 50 seats
they need to retain the majority control.
-What? But the space lizard and his Sasquatch friend
told me there would be a red tsunami.
[ Laughter ]
But man, for the news to come from Fox of all places --
they're the ones who told us there'd be a red wave
in the first place.
This is like your weatherman
telling you it's going to rain all weekend,
and then after you cancel all your plans,
tells you it's actually 75 and sunny,
so fold up those umbrellas, or if you don't know how,
just leave it at the top of the stairs like an insane person.
"Am I crazy or can I just leave this on the steps?"
You guys remember that?
That's what we here at "Late Night" call a classic vid.
-Classic Vid!
[ Airhorns sounding ]
-Do we have to put the stamp over my face?
The vid's there.
[ Laughter ]
Man, I really hope Republicans
weren't watching Fox News on Saturday
when that call happened.
Of course, that's impossible.
If you know any Fox News viewers,
they're always watching Fox News.
One time, I visited my grandma and the only way to get her
to stop watching Fox News was to change her channel
on her old-ass TV with a pair of pliers
and then bury the remote in the backyard.
Oh, but she was wily.
She was out there all night digging holes,
looking for that remote.
When my grandpa saw her digging a hole out the window
"in the backyard, he said, Oh, it's not all bad.
Now we have someplace to bury her."
[ Laughter ]
That story's not true.
Every one of my grandparents is long dead.
[ Laughter ]
So Democrats have defied the odds and defied history
to produce one of the best midterm performances
for the party in power in political history.
And now that reality has set in,
Republicans are furiously pointing fingers at each other,
looking for someone to blame.
And honestly, it is kind of fun to watch.
-Donald Trump kept saying, "We're going to be winning
so much, we'll get tired of winning."
I'm tired of losing. I mean, that's all he's done.
-Donald Trump cost us the president--
and the Senate twice in a row.
-Our voters didn't show up. We didn't get the voters.
It's a complete disappointment.
-We're not a cult.
-We're not like, okay,
there's one person who leads our party.
-If the voters conclude that you're putting your own ego
or your own grudges ahead of what's good for the country,
they're going to look elsewhere.
-Trump is the past.
-Let's not vote Mitch McConnell into leadership.
He doesn't deserve to be majority leader
or minority leader.
-Josh Hawley tweeted last night, "The old party is dead.
Time to bury it. Build something new."
-McConnell spent close to $400 million
on these Senate candidates.
I don't know what goes on behind the scenes,
but that is a lot of money,
and we didn't pick up a single seat?
So either some of these candidates are garbage
or the money's not being well-spent.
-Oh, I know. It's both.
You spend your money poorly and you spent it on garbage.
Don't feel bad about it. We've all done it before.
Lord knows I've taken an Ambien and gone on eBay,
and three days later I get a package
with a baseball signed by Lou Gehrig's friend, Kevin.
[ Laughter ]
Ol' sweet Kevin.
Alabama Congressman Mo Brooks,
who was once a huge Trump supporter
and even spoke at the Capitol on January 6th
called Trump "dishonest, disloyal,
incompetent and crude," which is true,
but Trump didn't prove that last week.
It's just last week, there were consequences.
It's like your nephew telling you today
he has doubts about the future of crypto,
when you definitely remember
this was his profile picture last month.
Really looking forward to seeing you at Thanksgiving, Kyle.
I'm guessing this year, you're not gonna tell me
it's a shame NBC pays me in American dollars.
[ Laughter ]
Kyle's a lot.
Still, it's so great to watch these
[bleep] turn on each other like a bunch of roommates
who got a pet cougar and now they're all like,
"Has anyone seen Dave?"
[ Laughter ]
Also, just a quick aside,
my favorite part of that montage came next,
when Fox host Jesse Watters
wondered what happened to all the money
Donald Trump raised.
-Trump's sitting on a massive war chest in Mar-a-Lago.
Where'd that money go? We don't know.
-No, I think we all know. It's in his giant coat.
"Hey, Mr. Trump, we can't find all the money
you raised for GOP candidates."
"Well, best of luck in your search.
I'm gonna go out for a walk."
"In that coat? It's like, 95 degrees."
"But the weather can turn.
So I'm going to keep the coat on,
because I misplaced my umbrella four years ago."
Now, obviously, these results have been
especially devastating for Trump,
whose hand-picked election denier candidates
lost all across the country.
And Trump was banking on a huge sweep
for his clown car of bozos and freaks
so they could help him win back power.
Mo Brooks said earlier this year
that "Trump had repeatedly and recently raised the idea
of attempting to rescind the 2020 election results
and reinstall him as president.
It was a stunning allegation that would show Trump
not only attempted to subvert the 2020 election
while in office, but that he is extracting promises
from allies to try again if they take power in 2023."
Trump actually thought that was possible.
How does he think that would work?
Does he just think Congress can pass a bill
that says Joe Biden has to leave and then Joe would just do that?
Because if we have learned anything about Biden
from these midterm results,
it's that he's much savvier than he appears.
We said this last week. We'll say it again.
Biden's Mr. Magoo bit where he forgets where he is
or what he's doing might just be an act to cover for the fact
that he's actually a political mastermind.
If Trump actually tried to have Biden
removed from the White House, Biden would probably
do something like pretend to get stuck on stage
or, you know, trip on the stairs three times in a row.
And then he'd say something like,
"Excuse me, Donald, could you help me up?
I'm a frail old man."
And then as soon as Trump gives his hand to Biden,
Biden would grab him by the arm
and just throw him over his shoulder,
put him in a headlock and say, "I'm going to fold you like
an umbrella, bitch!"
Now...
predictably, with the GOP turning on him,
Trump is lashing out with a series of absolutely insane
and typo-riddled social media posts.
Trump has been attacking fellow Republicans
like Florida Governor Ron DeSantis,
claiming the election was stolen
and even insisting that there should be a do-over.
-Former President Trump is already laying
into Florida Governor Ron DeSantis,
as it becomes possible, the two men may face off
in a 2024 GOP primary,
Trump posting to his Truth Social platform,
claiming it was he who saved DeSantis' campaign in 2017
and accusing him of lacking loyalty and class.
-Trump also weighed in on the midterm results
on his Truth Social website --
in one post, he claimed New Hampshire's Republican
Senate nominee lost his race
for not staying strong and true about the Big Lie.
-He said that because Arizona is likely to
still be counting at the end of the week,
that must mean they want more time to cheat.
-Trump took to Truth Social with a tirade,
writing in part,
"They stole the electron from Blake Masters."
He he wrote the word "electron," as in a subatomic particle.
Adding, "Do election over again!"
Exclamation point.
-How is it possible that he typed
"electron" instead of "election"?
I would say that maybe Trump got screwed
by autocorrect on that one, but then, is it really possible
that Trump's autocorrect hasn't learned the word "election"?
It's literally all he tweets about --
not tweets, whatever they call them on Truth Social --
bloops, bleeps, derps?
May I suggest brain farts?
I think that would be better than saying "a post."
Just imagine Wolf Blitzer saying,
"The former president
with a new brain fart on Truth Social,
claiming the electron has been rigged."
Whatever, I'm shocked Trump is capable of
spelling the word "electron" even by accident,
since there's no way he knows what it is.
"We all love --
We all love electron, don't we, folks?
He's the bad guy from the Avengers movies, right?
'The Rise of Electron.'
One of my favorite of all -- of all the ages,
was the Age of Electron."
Trump is reportedly on the verge of announcing
that he'll run for president again in 2024,
but Republicans are already turning on him
and turning on each other.
Voters rejected Trumpism and the MAGA movement yet again,
just as they did in 2018 and 2020,
and now Democrats have defied history
and will control the Senate for the rest of Biden's first term.
Trump is probably at home right now trying to psych himself up,
staring in the mirror, telling himself over and over again...
-You're not crazy.
This has been "A Closer Look."
♪♪