Fox host deals midterm news Republicans FEARED MOST

Brian Tyler Cohen (0:01)

One Fox host issues some bleak news for Republicans ahead of midterms, and I've got two interviews, the Democratic nominee for the most flippable district in Pennsylvania, Bob Brooks, and the independent candidate running for the Senate in Nebraska, Dan Osborn. I'm Brian Tyler Cohen, and you're listening to No Lie.

I imagine it's not lost on Republicans that this news is being delivered on Fox of all places.

Brit Hume (0:25)

Overall, Brad, I would say that the Republicans don't have much going for them in this cycle. The polls all suggest that. The mood of the country suggests that. They do have more money than the Democrats do, which could be spent wisely, one would imagine, to help them. But this 69 percent number that you show there on cost of living, I don't think much is going to change on cost of living over the next month. It could change a little, things have turned around a bit in the Strait of Hormuz.

But I think this—Republicans have to worry about is that opinions have solidified and not in their favor. And that number suggests that that may be the case.

Brian Tyler Cohen (1:09)

And look, Fox's Brit Hume is correct here. At this point, the economic environment is largely baked in. So Republicans can take their desperate half measures, like suspending gas tax in their states until after the midterms, or like Trump claiming that as soon as the war ends, gas will totally be lower than ever. But at this point, the economy is the economy, and the Republicans are saddled with it. But here's the part that everybody should remember. There is an entire political party that had the ability to fix this. Not four weeks before the election, but for the last two years. And yet it was always more important for Republicans to pander to Trump. So when Trump launched a trade war that sent costs surging, Congressional Republicans had the ability to stop him. The power to impose tariffs literally belongs to Congress, but they didn't want to run afoul of Trump, and so they let him. When Trump launched an actual war with Iran, which sent gas and fertilizer prices surging, Congressional Republicans again had the ability to stop him. The power to declare war also lies with Congress. But again, they didn't want to run afoul of Trump, so they let him. On all of these issues where Trump is the least popular, remember that there is an entire branch of government whose whole job is to serve as a check on another branch. And yet, at literally every single turn, they contracted their own power out to Trump. So when Republicans like Maria Salazar release an ad with tough talk for Trump on immigration, or when Republican Byron Donalds is running for governor in Florida scrubs Trump from his website, or when Republican Mike Rogers running for Senate in Michigan says that we suddenly need an end to the war, that's all well and good, but waiting until four weeks before an election to find your tongue ain't going to cut it. And while they might think that their voters are stupid enough to believe it, not stupid enough that they won't realize what these Republicans are trying to do now that they've gotten their hands on a poll. So I get that Trump gets all of the attention and that midterms are a referendum on the president. But in this case, remember that Republicans have full control of government and all the power in the world to reign him in anytime they wanted to. And the only person who did on any issue was like Thomas Massey on the Epstein files. And guess what he got for that? Excommunicated from the party and ultimately lost his primary. So these Republicans saw the cost of speaking out and they chose their jobs over serving their constituents, which, hey, is totally their prerogative. But they've precluded themselves from being able to play make believe now that they have to actually win an election and pretend that they have a spine.

And in practice, here's what that looks like. One right wing host tweeted, Yesterday, Iowa House Republicans were informed by their own pollsters that if you are in a plus 15 district, you're within the margin of error. And if you're in a plus 10 district, you're underwater. And that this might end up being an even worse midterm environment than 2006

Grim, if you are a Republican. Not sure suspending the gas tax now, four weeks before the election, is going to do the trick in that environment. And frankly, when even Fox News, which, mind you, is a network designed to serve as a safe space for Republicans, start saying this stuff out in the open, it's pretty clear which way the winds are blowing. Our job, though, remains exactly the same. Run like you are 15 points behind, take nothing for granted, ignore the polls, check your voter registrations, and make yourself responsible for three other people who otherwise would not have voted. Because most countries in the world do not have a path back from autocracy. We do. And so we should stop at nothing to make sure that we make the most of it.