Opinion | Donald Trump is left without a lifeboat after the blue tsunami - Toronto Star

The anti-Trump mid-term result wasn’t just a historic rebuke. It was also a correction in the universe.

U.S. President Donald Trump watches as the last piece of steel is hoisted for construction of the White House ballroom during an event on November 04, 2026 in Washington, DC.

Vinay Menon is the Star’s pop culture columnist based in Toronto. Reach him via email: vmenon@thestar.ca

Pick your animal metaphor to describe Donald Trump today.

Lame duck? Cornered rat? Lone wolf? Black sheep? Orange ostrich? The talking heads on cable news are not easily shocked. But as the midterm election results rolled in on Tuesday night, the anchors looked stoned.

They uttered words such as “unbelievable,” “astonishing,” “surreal,” “incredible,” “mind-boggling” and, most often, “wow.”

At one point, after fondling the touchscreen on a giant interactive map, CNN’s John King squinted across the studio like he spotted a gremlin juggling knives.

Front page of the New York Post, on 4 Nov. 2026.

Wednesday’s front page of the New York Post, Trump’s favourite paper, sported an illustration of the doofus-in-chief leaning to the left, mouth open, arm defensively in the air as a cresting wave crashes down: “BLUE TSUNAMI … Trump suffers historic rebuke as Dems romp in midterms.”

The blue tsunami rushed into the reddest parts of America. Wow, indeed.

A Republican senator is not in Kansas anymore for the first time since 1932. Watching Texas vote in a Dem senator and governor was as unimaginable as watching the Leafs win the Cup. For the first time in 30 years, Republican Susan Collins is no longer the senator from Maine. Now she is free to write “deeply concerned” personal letters from her solarium of inertia.

The Democrats now control the House and Senate. It’s as if Harry Potter moved into Malfoy Manor. Everything will soon change. Oversight. Investigations. Subpoenas. Washington’s big legal firms probably added phone banks as the weasels in Trump 2.0 scrambled to lawyer up.

Let’s not get into the weeds today. Let’s stay in the high grass.

This election wasn’t just a historic rebuke of the most corrupt and incompetent president in U.S. history. It was also a correction in the universe — a triumph of all that is good and decent and right.

The Democrats fielded an All-Star team of candidates who connected with voters. They flipped seven Senate seats like flapjacks: James Talarico (Texas), Adam Hamilton (Kansas), Troy Jackson (Maine), Roy Cooper (North Carolina), Sherrod Brown (Ohio), Josh Turek (Iowa), Annie Andrews (South Carolina).

Meanwhile, Trump’s Fantasy Football picks — most of whom could not get an interview at Best Buy — crashed and burned. Darline Graham will soon be a question on “Jeopardy!” the returning champ can’t remember.

Will Ken Paxton now bribe imaginary realtors and crypto investors? Vivek Ramaswamy, saddled with the most punchable face since Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli, is running out of political options after losing as a presidential candidate, DOGE goon and now candidate for Ohio governor.

This venal asshat couldn’t win an election against Count Binface.

The blue tsunami left Trump without a lifeboat. He lives behind a reality distortion moat in a floating state of delusional overconfidence. He believed anyone he endorsed was a shoo-in, even if it was a shoe. He fancies himself a kingmaker. But on Tuesday, voters treated him like a court jester.

U.S. President Donald Trump on Nov. 4, 2026. “The Democrats now control the House and Senate. It’s as if Harry Potter moved into Malfoy Manor. Everything will soon change,” writes Vinay Menon.

Speaking of losers, Elon Musk is on a real streak.

Last year, he pumped more than $20 million into the Wisconsin Supreme Court race and his candidate was beaten like a rented mule. During these midterms, Elmo splurged nearly a half billion to save Republicans.

He tried to buy Texas and failed spectacularly. This anti-social nihilist might as well have bundled $500 million into a rocket ship and sent it to Mars.

Let Tuesday’s election be a lesson to billionaires everywhere.

Elon Musk arrives for the 2022 Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in 2022.

Dark money lost. Bad candidates lost. Attack ads lost. Gerrymandering lost. Fear-mongering lost. Racism lost. Cynicism lost. Despair lost. Dear Leader lost.

Another hopeful outcome? The results were too big to rig, too unmitigated to litigate. In the wee hours on Tuesday, that zombie Tina Peters and the MyPillow Guy probably rushed into the White House private residence with their hymn book turned to “Election Fraud.”

But Trump, flaked with Big Mac debris and in a fugue state as he watched his sombre peeps on Fox News look and sound like they were covering his funeral, probably waved away his dutiful deniers. He was in no mood to sing.

He can’t lie about this election. By Wednesday, he even lost interest in conjuring a mendacious psychodrama in California or Alaska. It’s pointless. It’s over.

As a morose Scott Jennings put it on CNN as it became clear the evening was turning into nightmare fuel for conservatives: “It’s called a country ass whoopin’.”

And as the blue tsunami rushed into Trumpville, Pete Hegseth misted his hair with pomade and guzzled Jack Daniels out of a paper bag. Stephen and Katie Miller spooned on white sheets in disbelief at the historic victories of people of colour. Kash Patel berated his teddy bear. Todd Blanche asked ChatGPT to calculate his disbarment odds. RFK Jr. searched for a roadkill snack.

And, somewhere, Melania couldn’t stop laughing.

This election was proof you can only push people so far until they push back.

It was a correction in the universe narrated by chyrons.

Opinion articles are based on the author’s interpretations and judgments of facts, data and events. More details

Vinay Menon is the Star’s pop culture columnist based in Toronto. Reach him via email: vmenon@thestar.ca