The GOP took a big hit in the 2025 election cycle, and I firmly believe it could have been avoided.
Donald Trump seems to be on the same page, although we are looking at this from two different responsibility angles.
JD Vance also chimed in, so let’s see how we can save 2026.
So, before I get into their comments, I want to explain why I am expressing so much urgency after what happened on Tuesday night.
Historically, the first mid-term election for a new president is an electoral bloodbath, and it is usually not even close. Since the late 1930s, we have seen exactly two presidencies not lose the midterm elections.
Because of that, I think we needed to be on the attack right out of the gate, identifying candidates and sending a unified message, but the RNC more or less checked out after the 2024 election and did nothing, and these are all Trump’s hand-picked people running the show.
In a year when we could have had New Jersey and New York, we blew it. The RNC did nothing in New Jersey, and we wound up with Curtis Sliwa running in New York City.
Vice President Vance thinks people like me are panicking over this and just need to take a step back and relax.
On Tuesday night, Vance stated, "I think it's idiotic to overreact to a couple of elections in blue states, but a few thoughts.”
Vance continued, "We need to focus on the home front. The president has done a lot that has already paid off in lower interest rates and lower inflation, but we inherited a disaster from Joe Biden, and Rome wasn't built in a day. We're going to keep on working to make a decent life affordable in this country, and that's the metric by which we'll ultimately be judged in 2026 and beyond."
So, again, why was he not out on the campaign trail pushing these messages, especially in New Jersey?
Trump believes he knows why they lost those elections… because they were pushing the wrong message.
Trump stated, "Almost 2 million American-born workers are employed today, more than when I took office. That's nine months ago. Can you imagine? And I tell Republicans, if you want to win elections, you gotta talk about these facts. You know, it's so easy to win elections when you talk about the facts.”
He then added, "These are things you have to talk about. It doesn't just happen, you got to tell them. It's wonderful to do them, but if people don't talk about them, then you can do not so well in elections."
I ask of him the same question I asked of Vance. Why did Trump not campaign? Why did the RNC not have surrogates in these elections hammering these points? If we don’t get some urgency and we don’t see it immediately, 2026 will not be pretty. So, how about everyone in the party get out there and start spreading that message!
