If US president Joe Biden was looking for an excuse not to run in 2024, he didn’t get it in the midterms. Democrats not only avoided the dreaded “red wave”, but also managed to retain control of the Senate, held Republicans to a razor-thin majority in the House, and swept key gubernatorial contests.
Despite once-in-a-generation inflation and Biden’s stubbornly low approval ratings, Democrats defied expectations and enjoyed the best midterms of any president’s party in decades.
Biden’s victory lap was made even sweeter by the defeat of the most high-profile Trump-supporting candidates, sparking widespread criticism of the former president from within conservative circles.
