GOP Rep. Mia Love concedes Utah race, blasts Trump: 'No real relationships, just convenient transactions'

Utah Rep. Mia Love, the only African-American woman among the House GOP ranks, conceded the race in the state's 4th Congressional District Monday to her Democratic opponent, but did not hold back a harsh critique of President Donald Trump and the GOP's outreach to minority communities in the process.

During Trump's post-election news conference earlier this month, he criticized Love for not embracing him or his policies strongly enough, saying "Mia Love gave no love. And she lost, too bad. Sorry about that, Mia."

Love said she was "somewhat surprised," at first when she heard the president's comments, but added that his comments gave her a "clear vision of his world as it is."

"No real relationships, just convenient transactions. That is an insufficient way to implement sincere service and policy," Love said.

Love also slammed the political outreach to minority communities and African-Americans from both parties.

"It's transactional, it's not personal. You see we feel like politicians claim they know what's best for us from a safe distance, yet they're never willing to take us home," Love told supporters Monday. "Because Republicans never take minorities, minority communities into their home and citizens into their homes and into their hearts, they stay with Democrats and bureaucrats in Washington because they do take them home, or at least make them feel like they have a home."

According to data compiled by ABC News, a total of 43 women of color won elections to the U.S. House this cycle. Just one of those 43 -- Washington's Jaime Herrera Beutler -- is a Republican.

But while she criticized the GOP's strategy in courting minority support, Love also offered a strong defense of conservative policies, and said that minority communities need to evaluate their consistent support for the Democratic platform.

"Minority communities need to ask themselves a question also, at what cost? What is the cost of staying with the Democrat Party that perpetually delivers exactly what you need to stay exactly where you are? To make poverty tolerable instead of temporary," Love said.

"I am a Republican, I know conservative policies work, they lift everyone, they lift the poor, the young, the vulnerable, the black and the white. Our conservative policies save our young and unborn children," she added. "When the pundits tell us that we're out of luck, the deck is stacked against us, we say no, no way, not in this country. Because under conservative policies the deck is not stacked against us and we all have a chance."

Love also said that with the loss she is "unshackled" and will speak her mind more forcefully and clearly than ever now.

McAdams, who currently serves as mayor of Salt Lake County, spoke with Love over the holiday weekend via phone and said there is "a tremendous amount of work to get done and we need bipartisan unity to do it."