Washington (AFP) — US President Barack Obama has taken responsibility for his party’s crushing defeat in last week’s midterm elections, he said in comments broadcast Sunday.
The president had previously stopped short of explicitly shouldering the blame for his Democratic party’s drubbing at the polls on November 4.
But in an interview with CBS News, Obama acknowledged that “the buck stops right here at my desk,” echoing a refrain made famous by late US president Harry Truman.
“Whenever, as the head of the party, it doesn’t do well, I’ve got to take responsibility for it,” Obama said.
The Republicans snatched control of the Senate, tightened their grip on the House of Representatives and won key Democrat governorships in the midterms.
