'It's still alive' - Joe Biden says Democrats can still hold the House as he flies to Egypt

President Joe Biden on Thursday evening said Democrats still have a hope of holding on to the House, with control still in the balance despite Republican gains.

'It's still alive,' he told reporters as he left the White House for a major trip to Egypt and on to Asia for a series of major international summits.

'It's still alive. But it's like drawing an inside straight.'

The poker term means holding four out of the five cards needed for a 'straight' - a run of five cards in numerical sequence - and hoping the dealer delivers the right card. 

Republicans have secured at least 211 House of Representative seats - seven short of the 218 needed for control according to projections by Edison Research.

It means they are inching towards securing the House, and a chance to halt Biden's legislative agenda as well as launch a slew of investigations into his administration and his family finances. 

An expected 'red wave' did not materialize, leaving Democrats with a slim chance they could still retain control.

Their prospects look better in the Senate, where John Fetterman flipped a Republican held seat in Pennsylvania, beating TV physician Dr. Oz. 

President Joe Biden spoke to reporters as he left the White House on Thursday evening, saying Democrats had not yet given up on holding the House. 'But it's like drawing an inside straight.'

Republicans have made gains in the House but have not yet reached the 218 seats needed to take control of the lower chamber and stifle Biden's legislative agenda

Even so, Biden this week called House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy.

'I said if you win the majority, congratulations,' Biden told reporters.

He was leaving for Egypt and the COP 27 climate summit. After that he flies to Phnom Penh, Cambodia, for the Association of South East Asian Nations summit, followed by a G20 summit on the Indonesian island of Bali.

One of the key moments will come on Bali where he is due to meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping. The two have a long history together but this will be their first meeting as presidents.

And the good set of midterm results means they meet with both having strengthened their domestic standing. 

The president had framed the election as a test of American democracy at a time when hundreds of Republican candidates embraced Donald Trump's false claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen. 

Biden held a rare press conference on Wednesday, hastily called after Democrats' didn't suffer the expected wipeout.

'Here’s what we do know: While the press and the pundits are predicting a giant red wave, it didn’t happen,' he said.

Control of the Senate also hangs in the balance with Democrats also confident that can hold a slim majority, after already flipping Pennsylvania. Final results will not be known for weeks

A crippling cost of living crisis and Biden's negative popularity numbers were expected to translate into a good night for Republicans, Democratic support was stronger than expected.  

It meant Biden was able to say again that he intends to run again in 2024 and to celebrate a decent set of results. 

'While any seat lost is painful — some good Democrats didn’t win the — last night — Democrats had a strong night,' he said. 

'And we lost fewer seats in the House of Representatives than any Democratic President’s first midterm election in the last 40 years.'

So far 398 of the 435 House seats have been called, with Republicans standing at 209 to Democrats' 189. Republicans are still expected to take the upper chamber, though with a more narrow majority than they had hoped for. 

'You did it, Joe! Couldn't help myself,' Harris told a crowd of raucous DNC volunteers at Washington, D.C.'s Howard Theatre, adding her signature laugh

In the Senate, Republicans have 49 seats to Democrats' 48. Nevada is trending toward Republicans while Arizona is trending toward Democrats, meaning the fate of the Senate could all come down to a December 6 runoff in Georgia. 

Biden appeared with his vice president earlier in the day as they celebrated the results. 

'You did it, Joe! Couldn't help myself,' Kamala Harris told a lively crowd of Democratic Party volunteers at Washington, D.C.'s Howard Theatre. 

So far Republicans have also lost two governors' seats and three legislative chambers, underperforming the opposition party's historical trends in midterm elections. 

'All you heard from the press and opponents was Democrats are facing a disaster,' said Biden. 'Remember that? Well, most polls, all those polls, God love 'em.'