Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) on Wednesday spelled out why he believes Donald Trump could doom Republicans in the upcoming midterms, amid dismal polling for the president.
With GOP control of the House and Senate under threat this fall, Massie drew parallels between the current political climate and 2006, when Republicans lost their majorities in both chambers amid then-President George W. Bush’s increasingly unpopular war in Iraq.
In a video shared by MeidasTouch’s Pablo Manríquez, Massie told reporters “the thing that is the same is that there’s an unpopular war raging and Congress is not doing anything to rein it in,” pointing to opposition to Trump’s war on Iran, which the president launched in February and which shows no signs of ending.
“And so there are gonna be a lot of incumbents lose their race in margins” in the 2026 midterms, predicted Massie, who has become a fierce critic of Trump, particularly over the Iran war and his administration’s handling of files relating to late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, a onetime close associate of the president.
“Maybe it’s not a thing that moves 20% of people, but maybe it can move 5% of people and even if it’s the war that they dislike so much, it’s the consequences of war, which is the price of diesel and gasoline,” he added.
“And so it’s a big issue. I mean, this was Donald Trump’s election to lose, and he’s doing everything he can to lose it,” he said.
Massie lost his GOP primary to Trump-endorsed former Navy SEAL Ed Gallrein and will leave Congress in January.
On Tuesday, Massie introduced surprise articles of impeachment against Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) subsequently sent the House into an early recess, effectively delaying a vote on the resolution until after the elections.