On Friday’s broadcast of HBO’s “Real Time,” Manhattan Institute Senior Fellow and City Journal Contributing Editor Chris Rufo predicted a poor result for Republicans in the 2026 midterms and said that “part of this is self-inflicted. If gas wasn’t $6, if there wasn’t a war with no end in sight in Iran,” their prospects would be better.
Rufo said Democrats likely will do well in the 2026 midterms, and that’s “a natural thermostatic effect. When Obama wins a big presidential election, has both houses of Congress, there’s a natural reaction from voters. Americans don’t like when a single party has all three, the House, the Senate, the presidency. And so, part of this is natural.”
He continued, “But we have to admit part of this is self-inflicted. If gas wasn’t $6, if there wasn’t a war with no end in sight in Iran, I think he’s disappointed some part of his base. He’s disaffected a lot of moderates. That’s the way the cookie’s crumbled, and they’re going to have to fight for all of those House seats, and I think even fight, and I think will retain the Senate.”
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