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McEnany sounds alarm: Midterms ‘will be hard’ for Republicans

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by Ryan Mancini - 04/04/26 12:10 PM ET

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by Ryan Mancini - 04/04/26 12:10 PM ET

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Former White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Saturday warned that the November midterm elections “will be hard” for Republicans as the GOP seeks to keep control of Congress.

She defended her former boss, President Trump, on “Fox & Friends Weekend” while discussing the tough road Republican lawmakers have ahead with the midterms approaching.

“I think there’s a sense he’s doing things,” McEnany, who is now a Fox News host. “Not to put too rosy a picture on it though, midterms will be hard for Republicans. It’s just historically difficult to win when you’re in power, but I would like my odds more with this president than prior presidents.”

Fox News correspondent Kevin Corke added, “That and a little voter security will go a long way. Just saying.”

House Republicans have had trouble touting their successes and have had to scramble for a midterm strategy amid a freshly changed environment. The U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran has muddled Trump’s “America First” policy and caused gas prices to skyrocket, undermining his State of the Union address in February when he acclaimed lower gas prices.

Trump has also put all of his support behind the Republican-led Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) America Act, which would require proof of citizenship to register to vote in elections and the presentation of an ID to cast a ballot.

With his own history claiming without evidence that U.S. elections are rampant with voter fraud, particularly around his 2020 election defeat, Trump has set out to make the bill his top legislative priority.

Trump told the House GOP’s annual issues conference in Florida last month that voters “are demanding it.“

“They don’t talk about housing,” he said. “They don’t talk about anything. That’s what they talk about. And if you send it up there, you will win the midterms and you will win every election for a long time.”

Former White House Director of Legislative Affairs Marc Short, however, warned that affordability will grow to become a “challenge” for Republicans. He argued that the topic was one of top issues that carried Trump into the White House in 2024.

This comes as House Republicans see an unprecedented 36 of their colleagues planning to leave at the end of their current terms.

Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.) last week became the latest GOP lawmaker to announce his exit. He said he wanted to conclude his term to “allow a new guard of conservative leaders to step forward and chart a path forward for Missourians.”

Some active Republican lawmakers have also warned about the path they have to keeping Congress within their control past November. Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) said that if the conflict with Iran goes on, the midterms could be “disastrous” for the GOP.

“I think if you add in high gas prices, high oil prices, and if we are still bombing Iran with kinetic action — people don’t want to call it war — if there’s still kinetic action that causes oil to be over $100, I think you’re going to see a disastrous election,” he said.

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