US President Donald Trump on Monday cast doubt on the legitimacy of the midterm election results after Republicans recorded historic defeats across the country, including in party strongholds such as Texas and South Carolina.

From his name not being on the ballot to the Iran war, Trump had listed a range of reasons for the Republicans' poor showing in the midterm elections.

In an interview with The New York Times as the results began trickling in, Trump said that because his name was not on the ballot, he was unable to successfully transfer the excitement and "love" generated at his rallies to the candidates fielded by his party. He claimed this had contributed to poor voter turnout.

He then blamed the choice of congressional candidates, alleging that they had not campaigned under his leadership. Trump also targeted Fox News, saying the network had consistently hosted Democratic analysts and describing the pollsters appearing on it as "terrible".

He also pointed to the Iran war and high gas prices as factors behind the Republicans' poor performance, before shifting the blame to the voting system.

In a Truth Social post on Monday, six days after the elections, Trump questioned whether anyone believed the election had been conducted honestly. He also questioned how opinion polls could have been so inaccurate.

"Does anybody really believe that this 'Election' was honest? How could the Polls be so wrong???" Trump asked.

The president claimed that some batches of early votes were so large that victory became impossible regardless of turnout. He further alleged that voting machines had a greater influence on the outcome than voters.

"It's all about the machines, which are far more important than the voter!" he added, signing off as "President DJT."

His remarks revived his practice of questioning electoral outcomes involving losses suffered by him and other Republican candidates. Trump had made similar unsubstantiated claims after losing the 2020 presidential election to former President Joe Biden, alleging without evidence that widespread ballot fraud had caused his defeat.

Dozens of lawsuits challenging election procedures were subsequently unsuccessful. Those claims culminated in the January 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol by a mob of Trump supporters after he addressed a rally outside the White House.

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