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Gitanole · 10-28-2026 08:08 AM

Republicans are already starting to blame each other as the midterm election spirals further out of their control.

Everyone is bracing for President Donald Trump’s ire if the party loses big in November. House Republicans are planning to accuse the Senate side. Trump political aides have taken to directly calling campaigns they feel aren’t performing well enough. National GOP operatives are quietly furious at lackluster candidates who didn’t do enough to prepare for a tough year despite early warnings. And some GOP candidates are pointing the finger back at their own party committees.

It’s a vicious cycle, according to more than a dozen top GOP operatives and lawmakers who spoke to Politico, some of whom were granted anonymity to candidly discuss private conversations.

“If it happens, there will be plenty of blame to go around,” said Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-N.J.), who is in his own tighter-than-comfortable race.

That Republicans have already spent significant time gaming out the aftermath and how to insulate themselves from the fallout of what they fear will be significant GOP losses illustrates how precarious the current landscape is for the party. That’s even as top Republicans publicly insist they are bullish on keeping control of both chambers in Congress.
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House Republicans are annoyed with Senate Republicans for fumbling a once-safe GOP map as well as creating top-of-the-ticket drag for them with bad candidates in some key states—but senators privately put the onus on Trump for forcing out better Republican incumbents and then backing flawed GOP candidates, including Ken Paxton in Texas, according to three GOP senators and a national GOP operative.

The top Senate GOP Super PAC and Trump’s MAGA Inc. have spent nearly $200 million alone to save Paxton, who’s locked in a tight race with Democrat James Talarico.

Trump, for his part, has already landed on who to blame in the event of a Paxton loss next month.

“If Ken Paxton loses, it will be because of WEAK and INEFFECTIVE Political Hacks like John Cornyn and Karl Rove, who have ineffectively opposed me for my entire political career,” Trump (80) wrote on Truth Social Thursday afternoon.
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Even top House Republicans expect to lose the House majority at this point.

A growing group of Hill Republicans argue the blame rests with Trump, and his decisions to get the U.S. into an open-ended war with Iran that has driven up fuel prices, while enacting a slew of tariffs and other policy moves that have riled farmers.

“I’ve talked to some who are making these decisions: The biggest problem is the president’s polling numbers and unfavorables,” retiring Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.) recently told Politico.
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Some rank-and-file Republicans are frustrated the NRCC didn’t pivot faster to trying to shore up at-risk GOP incumbents across the map as the landscape deteriorated in August and September. “The leadership at the NRCC is living in a bubble,” another House Republican said. “We’re getting killed out here.”
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GOP lawmakers and operatives working to defend the party’s majorities in Congress have been discussing amongst themselves how to avoid being thrown under the bus come November 3, according to a dozen of the people interviewed.

The rising tensions have also turned up in the rather intense shadow leadership race underway within Speaker Mike Johnson’s circle and the senior ranks of the House GOP, with opposing camps preparing to blame each other, according to five of the people. GOP Whip Tom Emmer has said publicly that some of the GOP redistricting efforts won’t work, and Republicans won’t win all those seats.

Trump officials have also been feeling the pressure, sometimes calling campaigns to try to revive lagging operations or attempting to install new staff within them, according to two Republicans familiar with the matter.

In another stunning move, Trump officials are warning Republicans that pro-Trump super PACs can only help so much and the candidates need to shift their strategy to a positive message and a list of key deliverables for voters—or they will lose.
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“We’re running for our lives,” another House Republican in a tough race said. “Those are two totally different approaches. And we have two weeks.”
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https://www.politico.com/news/2026/10/19...p-01124859

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[Image: angry-trump.jpg?id=29971396&widt...C0%2C0%2C0]

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