Senior Republican French Hill has blamed President Donald Trump’s declining popularity for the Republican Party’s election wipeout this week, citing the president’s “unfavorability” as the reason why both chambers of Congress flipped blue.
French, an Arkansas congressman and the chair of the House Financial Services Committee, told Politico on Wednesday that “President Trump’s unfavorability had a lot of impact on races across the country.”
White House Press Secretary Katie Zacharia holds first press briefing in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House, Tuesday, October 13, 2026. (Official White House Photo by Andrea Hanks)
“I think that’s evident by some of the exit polling,” he noted. “We had, in my judgment, recruited good candidates who had good funding for their campaigns. But it was a wave election, and we lost a lot of really good, constructive members of the House.”
During the midterm elections, 41 Republican members of the House lost their seats to Democrat challengers, while Senate Republicans lost seven seats.
While Hill personally won his re-election campaign, he only narrowly avoided defeat — beating his Democratic challenger Chris Jones by less than 2%.
Trump’s Influence in GOP Will Inevitably Decline as ‘Lame Duck’ President
The congressman told Politico that as a result of the Republican Party’s resounding loss this week, Trump’s influence in the party would inevitably decline as Republicans search for their next leader going into 2028.
“He will be considered a lame duck,” said Hill. “And that often has members of both political parties looking out at who will be the standard-bearers in the 2028 presidential election.”
He concluded, “Certainly that will influence policymaking and politics inside the House and Senate.”
Prominent Republicans Call For Party to Move on From Trump Era
Several prominent Republicans called for the party to move on from the Trump era after this week’s midterm elections.
“If the GOP wants any chance in the future, it will have to kick Donald Trump out of the party,” warned former Republican congresswoman and Trump ally Marjorie Taylor Greene. “He has absolutely destroyed it.”
Kimberly Guilfoyle. Creative Commons Image.
While Florida Governor Ron DeSantis wasn’t quite as bold, he described the results of the midterms as “close to an extinction-level event for Republicans.”
“Everything is going to change now. We are moving into the post-Trump future rapidly,” said an unnamed Republican operative to NBC News. “It’s over for Trump, [House Speaker Mike] Johnson, [Senate Majority Leader John] Thune… This is a wipeout, and we are going to have a civil war.”
Another unnamed Trump ally told the news outlet that Trump’s administration was “effectively over,” and that the president would now be forced into “defense.”
Trump Denies Responsibility for Election Wipeout
While many Republicans have been quick to blame Trump and his unpopular war against Iran for the Republican Party’s wipeout in the midterms, the president himself has repeatedly denied responsibility.
“I wasn’t on the ballot, and if I were, we would have won IN A LANDSLIDE!” he insisted in a Truth Social post. “Thank you for your attention to this matter.”
Instead, Trump blamed Fox News, voters, and his own candidates for the Democratic Party’s victory while at the same time telling reporters he would go to war with Iran all over again if given the opportunity.
The president especially singled out Texas Governor Greg Abbott as a target for his attacks, accusing Abbott of being a “RINO,” or “Republican in Name Only,” and blaming him for his own defeat mere hours after releasing a glowing endorsement of the Republican governor and begging his supporters to vote for him.
Republican Party Lost Key Demographics After Disastrous War in Iran
Despite Trump’s insistence that he was not personally to blame, a whopping 60% of voters aged 18 to 29 told AP they voted to express opposition to Trump’s job in the White House.
Just 7% of young voters told AP they voted to express support for Trump.
60% of African American andBlackk voters also told AP they votedagainsto Trumpfors president, while 50% of Hispanic voters, 40% of white voters, and 47% of voters from other racial backgrounds said the same.
Poll data also indicated that Trump lost support from rural and small-town voters — a bloc that had previously served as a reliable pillar of his coalition — amid rising fuel prices, cost of living, and other economic issues stemming from his unpopular war against Iran.
The president also failed spectacularly to gain majority support among Jewish voters, who voted overwhelmingly (67%) in favor of the Democratic Party, despite the Trump administration’s repeated attempts to appeal to Jewish voters and portray Democratic opponents as jihadist terrorists.
About the Author: Charlie Nash
Charlie Nash is a journalist and author whose work has appeared in The Spectator, Mediaite, New Statesman, and the American Conservative, among other major publications. The Washington Post, Fox News, the Daily Beast, MS NOW, NewsNation, Hannity, and more have featured his reporting. You can follow Charlie on X at @CharlieNash and on LinkedIn.
