Trump tells AP he won't accept blame if GOP loses House

Facing the prospect of bruising electoral defeat in congressional elections, President Donald Trump said Tuesday that he won't accept the blame if his party loses control of the House in November, arguing his campaigning and endorsements have helped Republican candidates.

In a wide-ranging interview three weeks before Election Day, Trump told The Associated Press he senses voter enthusiasm rivaling 2016 and he expressed cautious optimism that his most loyal supporters will vote even when he is not on the ballot.

The AP asked Trump "if Republicans were to lose control of the House on November 6th or a couple of days later depending on how long it takes to count the votes do you believe you bear some responsibility for that?"
Elaborating, Trump added: "And I will say that we have a very big impact. I don't believe anybody's ever had this kind of an impact. They would say that in the old days that if you got the support of a president or if you've got the support of somebody it would be nice to have, but it meant nothing, zero. Like literally zero. Some of the people I've endorsed have gone up 40 and 50 points just on the endorsement."
Asked if it was appropriate to insult a woman's appearance, Trump responded, "You can take it any way you want."
"I'm not running," he said. "I mean, there are many people that have said to me ... 'I will never ever go and vote in the midterms because you're not running and I don't think you like Congress.'"
He added: "Well, I do like Congress." If Democrats take the House and pursue impeachment or investigations including seeking his long-hidden tax returns Trump said he will "handle it very well."
Trump said that Washington lawyer Pat Cipollone will serve as his next White House counsel and that he hoped to announce a replacement for U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley in the next week or two. He again repeated his frustration with Attorney General Jeff Sessions over the special counsel investigation, saying he could "fire him whenever I want to fire him, but I haven't said that I was going to."