MONETABRIEF – Spain's prime minister has borrowed a rhetorical move from Sri Lanka's president, using a foreign election result to argue that the political tide has turned against the far right.
A day after the US midterms, Pedro Sanchez said the backlash against the far right "happened in Brazil" and "will soon happen in Spain", echoing Anura Kumara Dissanayake's October message to Brazil's Lula da Silva.
Senior Sri Lankan diplomats raised eyebrows when President Dissanayake said Lula's victory showed that people could not be "fooled by bankrupt political dynasties". It was a clear reference to the once-powerful Rajapaksa and Wickremesinghe families at home.
"Many congratulations, companheiro, for leading the march of progress yet again!" Dissanayake’s post said, using the Portuguese word for "comrade".
Some Foreign Ministry officials in Colombo privately voiced displeasure at the post on X. Their reaction underscored the resistance the leftist administration faced from entrenched, entitled diplomats more loyal to foreign powers and right-wing opposition parties.
Despite the local naysayers, Lula replied to Dissanayake, recalling a recent meeting in New Delhi and calling for closer technical cooperation between the two countries.
"The Brazilian people showed that it is possible to defend democracy against disinformation and extremism," Lula said in his reply.
In the US midterms, Trump's Republican Party suffered a historic defeat.
The Democrats won control of Congress, taking both the Senate and the House of Representatives in a stunning nationwide rejection of Trump. The result has put the brakes on the final two years of his presidency.
The Democratic landslide gives the opposition the power to block legislation, launch broad investigations into Trump's administration and stall his judicial and senior appointments.
The results reflected deep anger over living costs, tariffs and Trump's war on Iran, a conflict that has sent fuel prices soaring across the US and around the world, compounding dissatisfaction with an already deeply unpopular president.
"I feel like I could cry right now. This is so incredibly exciting. We can get our country back," Kathy Jackoway said in Texas, celebrating a win by Democratic Senate candidate James Talarico.
Trump struck a conciliatory tone despite his history of questioning elections, telling The New York Times he was "absolutely willing" to accept the results.
"I think the Democrats did a good job, I really do," the 80-year-old told Fox News, in rare praise for his political opponents.
"They fought hard."
But he sought to distance himself from his own party's poor showing, adding: "I don't view it as a hit on me."
He acknowledged that the Iran conflict had contributed to the defeat but defended the military campaign and suggested the two parties could find common ground on immigration, one of the most divisive issues of his presidency.
The Democrats overturned seats long held by the Republicans, scoring breakthroughs in South Carolina, North Carolina, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Texas and Maine.
The scale of the victory grew further when Abdul El-Sayed defeated former Republican congressman Mike Rogers in Michigan, making El-Sayed the first Muslim elected to the Senate.
"Michigan, we did it!" El-Sayed said in a speech at his election headquarters in Detroit.
Despite his conciliatory remarks, Trump insisted on social media that Republicans would have won "in a landslide" if he had been on the ballot, though he had repeatedly urged supporters throughout the campaign to "pretend I'm on the ballot".
He also repeated his threat to veto bills passed by the Democrats, posting a picture of a red baseball cap bearing the single word "VETO". (Colombo/Nov4/2026)