Senator-elect Scott Colom vows to ensure Trump keeps his promises | 2026 US midterm elections

After recently becoming the first Democrat from Mississippi elected to the U.S. Senate in more than four decades, Scott Colom vowed to ensure that Donald Trump “delivers on the commitments” he made during his bid for a second presidency in 2024.

Colom, while interviewed Sunday by CNN host Dana Bash, alluded to various campaign promises made by Trump — including lowering consumer prices, stopping the seemingly endless wars waged under other presidential administrations and fully releasing records related to the prosecution of Jeffrey Epstein, the late accused sex trafficker whose social circle encompassed the U.S. and global elite.

But prices for fuel and other goods soared when Trump and Israel launched war in Iran in February, a months-long conflict — and critics said many of the so-called Epstein files were excluded from the presidential administration’s allegedly incomplete disclosures.

Voters “elected me to make sure he delivers on the commitments he made in 2024,” Colom said. “Well, I want to work…to actually achieve that.”

Colom also said he intended to support efforts to pass legislation restricting stock trading by members of Congress, saying it was important for Americans to know that lawmakers on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. are “not making money instead of looking out for them.”

“We (need) to look out for our families — not D.C. families,” Colom said.

In a separate interview with NBC News’ Kristen Welker on Sunday, Colom added: “I’m not here to look out for billionaires. I’m here to look out for workers.”

Colom’s remarks came after he unseated incumbent Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith in the Nov. 3 midterm elections to become the first black U.S. senator from Mississippi since 1875 — during the Reconstruction period after the American Civil War.

Colom’s triumph over Hyde-Smith came about three years after she blocked the former state’s attorney’s nomination to a federal judgeship during Joe Biden’s presidency, which interrupted Trump’s two terms in the White House. His victory, in many ways, punctuated a midterm “blue wave” that saw Trump and his Republican Party lose control of Congress to their Democratic counterparts for the second half of his second presidency beginning in January.

While the outcome of Alaska’s U.S. Senate race is still unclear as of Sunday, the seat Colom was elected to is among eight seats Democrats flipped in that chamber of Congress. Democrats also picked up more than three dozen seats in the House of Representatives in the midterms while significantly expanding their control over state governors’ offices, raising hopes among party supporters that it could hobble Trump’s agenda for the remainder of his term.

Trump responded to the new political reality for the remainder of his presidency by reminding the public that he has veto power that he can use to dictate policy on issues such as the war in Iran.

Asked by Bash about the historical significance of his victory over Hyde-Smith, Colom replied: “It shows that we have come a long way in the journey of people being judged by the content of their character and not by the color of their skin.

“I had faith that Mississippians would give me a chance … if I could get my values ​​and a vision for our state out there,” Colom said. “And – you know – Mississippi proved me right.”

Colom appeared on both networks remotely from Atlanta, where he found himself stranded after his flight to Washington, D.C., was canceled in the chaotic aftermath of Friday’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) nationwide stopover.

From the Atlanta airport Saturday evening, Colom documented other travelers’ frustrations on social media.

The senator-elect said one traveler even referenced his viral campaign ad criticizing Hyde-Smith for once suggesting that those worried about rising beef prices could switch to cheaper protein sources.

The campaign ad’s slogan was: “Choose another protein?…I’d rather choose another senator.” »

As midnight passed at the airport, Colom wrote that another passenger made a joke at the expense of Trump’s Transportation Secretary, Sean Duffy, saying, “Pick another flight?…Pick another Transportation Secretary.”