New York Times White House Correspondent Zolan Kanno-Youngs says Republicans are facing a tough decision and probably a delicate dance around how much to include an unpopular president in their re-election campaigns in 2026.
“We're talking about eight Republican seats, two Democrats, that … people are focused on and on the senate side of the capitol, we have battlegrounds … from the middle of the country going east: Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, New Hampshire, Maine, Ohio, Iowa, Texas, Minnesota,” said CNN “Inside Politics” anchor Dana Bash.
Even President Donald Trump admitted his Republican Party was struggling to go uphill in 2026, without admitting that part of the problem is his deep unpopularity with American voters.
“We’ll see what happens,” Trump told a reporter, when asked about the upcoming midterms. “We should win, but, you know, statistically, it’s very tough to win. Yeah, it doesn’t make sense … All we’re going to do is we’re going to try our best to win.”
“That comment from the president was interesting, too, because this administration really has tried to get an edge, not just through talking about the issues and rallying voters, but through redrawing the maps, through pushing for redistricting to gain a partizan edge as well,” said Kanno-Youngs. “I think that effort they put in, particularly in Texas, speaks to the anxiety that comes with incumbency. Historically, the incumbent party suffers losses in the midterms. And you know that some in the White House are aware of that and are anxious about that.”
“And not just that, but also this conversation around affordability and prices,” Kanno-Youngs continued. “The president, as the leader of the party, ran on driving down prices and making the economy better for working class Americans, for all Americans. And you have real economic frustration right now in the country. People are really frustrated. And you've heard that at town halls as well in recent months. When members have decided to go out and do those town halls. I see how Republicans want the president to be on the ballot, you know, figuratively. But there's challenges to that, too, when you look at the issues.”
“There’s significant implications for him if Democrats take the House,” Associated Press White House reporter Seung Min Kim told Bash. “Obviously if you’re in the majority in the House you have subpoena power, control of the House, control of the agenda. So how involved Trump gets next year and how much of his political capitol he puts on the line is critical.”
Watch the segment below:
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