President Donald Trump pleaded ignorance Sunday when asked about a Texas Republican he endorsed just days ago losing big in a deep red district Trump carried by more than 17 percentage points.

Trump posted his support for candidate Leigh Wambsganss on Friday, writing, “I am asking all America First Patriots in Texas’ 9th State Senate District to please make a plan to GET OUT AND VOTE on Election Day, Saturday, January 31st, for a phenomenal Candidate, Leigh Wambsganss.” That Friday post was one of several he made about the race — in an effort to get Texas Republicans to rally behind Wambsganss. Wambsganss ended up losing by double digits to Democrat Taylor Rehmet, a local union leader.

When asked about the trouncing at Mar-a-Lago on Sunday, Trump scrambled to distance himself from the unflattering result.

“I don’t know,” Trump said. “I did not hear about it. Somebody ran it where?”

Several reporters clarified that they wanted his reaction to the Texas race.

“I’m not involved at that. That’s a local Texas race,” Trump said.

Another reporter added, “You endorsed the Republican —” when Trump cut him off.

“You mean I won by 17 and this person lost? Things like that happen,” the president said.

“Does it worry you —” a reporter began.

“Well, you don’t know whether or not it’s transferrable, but I’m not on the ballot, so you don’t know whether or not it’s transferrable.”

Trump continued, “You put the Democrats in you’ll end up with open borders again, you’ll end up with crime all over the place. We have no crime anymore. I mean, think of it, the country has the lowest crime it’s had a 125 years. In recorded history. The year 1900, that’s a long time ago. So, it’s very good. No, I don’t know anything about it, I mean I know there’s a race going there. That’s too bad. What can I say? I have nothing to do with it.”

Ken Martin, the chair of the Democratic National Committee, said in a statement Saturday, “In a Trump +17 district, Republicans had to go all out and still lost this race. Tonight’s results prove that no Republican seat is safe.”

Political pundits have claimed the Republicans face a reckoning in the upcoming midterm elections over Trump’s unpopular policies on deportation and affordability.

Saturday’s result is sure to invite speculation that Trump will get involved in the high-stakes Texas primary for U.S. Senate — a race which some believe could swing control of the chamber. Trump has hesitated to endorse Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX), or either of his two main challengers — Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX) and Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton (R-TX). But on Sunday, Trump was asked whether he planned to back one of the candidates, and responded that he was “giving it very serious thought.”

“My problem is, I’m friendly with all of them,” Trump said. “Those of the hard ones — I like all of them. All three. You’ll be seeing soon, okay? They say whoever I endorse wins. That’s probably right.”

Watch the clip above via Fox News.

The post Trump Flails After Candidate He Endorsed Got Clobbered in Texas District He Won By 17 Points: ‘I Had Nothing to Do With it!’ first appeared on Mediaite.

(AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)

After a dismal pre-opening projection, and then a much sunnier mid-weekend forecast, MELANIA’s opening weekend box office topped the latter, but fell short of the former.

Industry reports out Sunday reveal that the new documentary about First Lady Melania Trump pulled in $7.04 million over the weekend while playing in 1,778 North American theaters. That figure is well ahead of the $3-5 million which was initially projected earlier in the week, but does represent a solid dip from where the box office haul was expected to land after a better-than-expected performance on Friday and early Saturday.

As of Saturday afternoon, MELANIA was projected to finish in third place over the weekend with $8.1 million in ticket sales — a figure which caught industry observers off guard.

“No one saw that coming, with many suggesting Melania was a bomb before it even opened based on empty, or nearly empty, seat maps in cinemas across the country,” The Hollywood Observer’s Pamela McClintock wrote.

But the final total of just above $7 million will reinforce the idea among some critics that MELANIA should ultimately go down as a box office bomb. Amazon plunked down $40 million to make MELANIA (with at least $28 million going to the first lady herself), and $35 million to market it.

The film was almost universally panned by critics, but received high audience response scores on several websites — although many of the user reviews on the website Rotten Tomatoes appear to have come from brand new accounts.

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The post JUST IN: Final Numbers for MELANIA Slide After Rosy Saturday Projection, Doc Pulls in Just Over $7M in First Weekend Box Office first appeared on Mediaite.