Republicans are on course for a midterm bloodbath as the country’s mood darkens over rising gas prices and persistent economic concerns, a bad sign for the party in power.
The American people entrusted the GOP with control of the government by soundly rejecting Kamala Harris and giving them majorities in both houses of Congress in November 2024, but now all of those gains could be squandered if President Donald J. Trump isn’t able to pull a rabbit out of his hat in Iran, where the prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz has already sent prices soaring.
In a bad omen for the party, even Fox News is now acknowledging the potential of an electoral shellacking in November, with Chief Political Analyst Brit Hume grimly predicting the loss of the House of Representatives and possibly the Senate if things don’t turn around. He says Republicans would be walloped if the midterms were held today.
(Video Credit: Fox News)
“Let’s just talk about the midterms generally and the way things stand, and we’re gonna be a full court press, a sprint to November, people go away for the summer, a lot of things are baked in the cake about how they feel about the economy and other things, what are your thoughts?” anchor Bret Baier asked his longtime colleague.
Hume laid out the dire situation during Wednesday’s edition of “Special Report” after Trump’s announcement that the U.S. blockade of the Islamic Republic’s shipping could last months sent oil prices soaring to their highest level since 2022.
“Well, I think people are concerned about the economy, and the Republicans are likely to pay a price for that,” Hume responded, stating the obvious that there is no way of avoiding voter backlash over rising energy prices.
“There’s some hope I think among Republicans that if we get a successful outcome of this war in Iran or above Iran really, that the gasoline prices and other fuel prices will come down, people will feel better about the economy, that the Trump program will bring about some strengthening growth, that some of the measures he’s taken in terms of taxes and regulation will pay off, and that they’ll have a chance of doing well in the midterms,” he continued.
“But I think the House is a longshot for them because the margin is so tiny and historical precedent is so strong that the in-party loses in a new president’s first term and I think if the election were held today, given that how in the middle of this conflict that the House would be obviously gone and there’s a good chance that the Senate would go, too,” Hume added.
“But the war outcome, I think, will produce a reset, for better or for worse, for each party,” he said. “If it turns out well, I think the president would have a lot to run on, and the party would swing behind that because they’ve been behind this war. If it turns out in a way that is unconvincing to people that it was worth it, woe be unto the Republicans.”
The GOP currently holds a slim 217-212 majority in the House and a 53-47 one in the Senate. To retain control, they will already have to buck history with the president in power’s party traditionally losing seats in Congress in midterm election cycles – and that’s without sky-high gas prices.
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