ABC's Jonathan Karl makes incorrect statement about midterm history
ABC's Jonathan Karl incorrectly said no president since John F. Kennedy had seen his party gain Senate seats in his first term, but Republicans gained two seats in 2018 under President Trump.
ABC News Washington correspondent Jonathan Karl wrongly told viewers on Sunday that John F. Kennedy was the last first-term president to pick up Senate seats when it actually happened as recently as the last midterms.
"It looks like Dems could pick up maybe even a couple of seats in the Senate. No first-term president has picked up Senate seats in the midterms since JFK," Karl said. "Is it going to happen this time?"
Karl was not corrected by any of the panelists on "This Week," ABC's longtime Sunday political show.
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ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl. (Getty Images)
"History says it won’t happen," USA Today Washington, D.C., bureau chief Susan Page added.
In 2018, Republicans added two seats during then-President Trump’s first term, thanks in part to a favorable map that saw far more Democrats defending seats than Republicans. The GOP flipped seats in Florida, Indiana, Missouri and North Dakota, while Democrats gained seats in Arizona and Nevada. Democrats won back the House of Representatives that year for the first time since losing control in the 2010 midterms, leaving Congress divided under Trump.
The GOP also gained two seats in 2002 during then-President George W. Bush’s first term, in addition to picking up House seats, a rare feat for an incumbent president's party. Richard Nixon's Republicans also pulled off the feat in 1970.
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ABC News did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In 2018, Republicans added two Senate seats during then-President Trump’s first term. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)
RealClearPolitics president and co-founder Tom Bevan scolded Karl for the misinformation.
"Other than DJT in 2018, GWB in 2002 and Nixon in 1970, he's spot f-----g on," Bevan wrote. "It literally happened in THE LAST MIDTERM ELECTION."
Karl’s gaffe came after months of political pundits predicting a red wave, only to see mood of the electorate possibly shifting in the closing months before November. On Thursday, the Cook Political Report deemed Senate control this fall a "toss-up," following recent polls that suggested several Republican candidates are trailing their Democratic opponents in key races.
Cook recently changed the Pennsylvania Senate race between Republican Dr. Mehmet Oz and Democratic Lt. Gov. John Fetterman from a "toss-up" to "lean Democrat."
Jonathan Karl was ABC News’ Chief White House Correspondent during the 2018 midterm elections. (Jenny Anderson/ABC via Getty Images)
Republicans are vying to take back control of the Senate and the House of Representatives this fall, expecting that President Biden's continuously low approval rating – often a harbinger of doom for an incumbent's party in the midterms – and the Democrats' major spending bills will encourage Americans to give them control of Congress.
While attending the Northern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce luncheon Thursday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., didn't sound confident going into the midterms: "I think when all is said and done this fall, we’re likely to have an extremely close Senate. Either our side up slightly or their side up slightly."
Fox News’ Aubrie Spady contributed to this report.
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