'Five-alarm fire': GOP insiders admit party is headed for a midterm 'bloodbath'
12 December
U.S. President Donald Trump gestures during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., August 26, 2025. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
When MAGA lawmakers appear on Fox News, Fox Business or Newsmax TV, many of them put on their game face, praise Donald Trump's presidency, faithfully recite GOP talking points and insist that recent Democratic election victories are no big deal. But behind closed doors, according to The Hill's Julia Manchester, there is a lot of anxiety about the 2026 midterms.
Manchester spoke to some of them for an article published on December 12. Interviewed on condition of anonymity, they spoke candidly about Democratic off-year victories in November and December and voiced their concerns about next year's elections.
A GOP source described by Manchester as someone "close to the White House" told The Hill, "There's a lot of digging our heads in the sand and acting as if we don't have a five-alarm fire going off. I've been in a lot of conversations where people are wondering where the hell the RNC (Republican National Committee) is and local in-state GOP parties. I'm worried that way too many people are still celebrating the victory of Donald Trump and forgetting that we still have other races to win."
Another Republican source, also described by Manchester as someone "close to the White House," told The Hill, "We have an uphill battle, but between redistricting and actual mobilization that I hope happens within our party, the midterms will hopefully be less of a bloodbath."
A Republican strategist argued that voters will need to see some benefit from Trump's policies, including a $12 billion farm aid package, before the midterms.
The strategist told The Hill, "These policies have to go in place and things have to start coming down by, I would say, July. We do have a good argument, and we do have good discussion points. But they're hard to talk about in soundbites."
Read Julia Manchester's full article for The Hill at this link.