From ‘new era’ to ‘no to war’: World leaders react to Democrats’ sweeping US midterm wins

World leaders have reacted to the outcome of the US midterm elections, with South African President Cyril Ramaphosa saying the results would introduce a “new era in world relations”, while Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez described the Republican defeats as a setback for the far-right. Iran’s chief negotiator with the United States, Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf, said American voters had rejected war and warned Washington against going against public opinion.Ramaphosa, speaking to reporters on Wednesday, said the Democratic Party’s victories in both chambers of Congress reflected the will of the American people."We have seen that the Democrats have taken control of the Senate and of the House, and the people of America have spoken," he said.Sanchez also commented on the results, saying American voters had rejected policies that “only impoverish”, as well as hate, sexism and climate change denialism.In a post on X, the Spanish prime minister said, "Yesterday, American society voted against the policies that only impoverish. Against hate. Against machismo. Against climate denialism and against the privileges of the elites. It happened in Brazil. It just happened in the US. And it will happen soon in Spain."He added that the far-right wave was losing momentum, saying, "The ultra wave that Feijóo and Abascal are trying to ride is no longer growing: it is crumbling."Ghalibaf, meanwhile, linked the Republican losses to public opposition to the war with Iran. His remarks came after US President Donald Trump acknowledged that the conflict had contributed to his party's poor performance in the midterm elections."Conscience or the cost of living, Americans said NO TO WAR, and we endorse this message," Ghalibaf said in a post on X."If the US govt betrays their public will to serve international paymasters and blackmailers, it will learn our NO comes with a Nightmare," he added.The reactions followed a major Democratic victory in Tuesday's midterm elections, with the party winning control of both the House of Representatives and the Senate. The results are set to usher in a period of congressional resistance to Trump's administration.The elections reflected voter frustration over high prices, the war with Iran and concerns about government corruption. Democrats made gains across the country, flipping seats in states that had voted Republican for decades and that Trump had won by double-digit margins in the 2024 presidential election.Among the notable victories was James Talarico's Senate win in Texas, where no Democrat had won a statewide office in more than 30 years. Annie Andrews also defeated Republican Sen. Darline Graham in South Carolina. Trump had backed the losing candidates in both races.In Michigan, progressive Democrat Abdul El-Sayed defeated Republican Mike Rogers. Republican Sen. Susan Collins of Maine also lost her re-election bid to Democrat Troy Jackson.The results pointed to a shift among sections of the coalition that had helped Trump return to the White House two years ago. According to the AP Voter Poll, younger voters and Latino voters moved away from Republicans. About one-third of Hispanic voters said they had backed the Republican candidate in their local US House races.The outcome marked a setback for Trump, who spent much of the final month of the campaign holding rallies to mobilise Republican supporters but was unable to prevent significant losses for his party.You use AI every day. Now get your AI Quotient. Take the AIQ test.