Republicans craft alternate reality as their midterm hopes dwindle

Congressional Cowards is a weekly series highlighting the worst Donald Trump defenders on Capitol Hill, who refuse to criticize him—no matter how disgraceful or lawless his actions.

Things are looking bleak for Republicans as Election Day nears, with skyrocketing gas prices making Americans sour on the economy and ready to punish the Republican Party for it.

But GOP lawmakers are acting like the string orchestra that played cheerful music as the Titanic sank, declaring that everything is great and their party’s accomplishments this congressional term will carry them to victory in 44 days. 

Get a load of what House Majority Whip Tom Emmer said in a Friday appearance on Fox Business.

“I think you’ve got a problem. $4 gas, $6 diesel, 7% mortgages. It’s hard to argue that you’re better than them [Democrats] when it comes to the economy,” host Stuart Varney bluntly told Emmer.

“Well, we do have a lot to sell,” Emmer replied, with a face that suggested not even he believed his bullshit. “If you talk to Republicans on the House side, Stuart, we have accomplished a ton.”

As he sent the House home early, House Speaker Mike Johnson also declared that Republicans have made life more affordable and will continue to do so after they win in November.

“When we win the majority, when we keep the majority in Congress, in the next two years, you’re going to see a continued trend of working to bring down the cost of living, make affordability better for every American, and give them more jobs and opportunity, and broadening the pathway out of poverty for more and more people,” Johnson said Thursday on Capitol Hill.

Uh, buddy. Gas prices are at historic highs and inflation is rising, and it’s the result of President Donald Trump’s tariffs and war in Iran, both of which the Republican majority has refused to stop.

Polls show that voters widely disapprove of how Trump is handling the economy, inflation, and the war in Iran. 

So Republican leaders telling Americans that the GOP has made things better when voters are saying the exact opposite is … something. As actor Jason Bateman said in the 2004 comedy “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story,” “It’s a bold strategy, Cotton, let’s see if it pays off for them.”

Meanwhile, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise made a deluded prediction to Axios that Republicans will not only keep control of the House after the midterms but could even grow their majority.

“We could get to 225. It would be a good night for us if we did, but it’s possible,” Scalise said, an outcome that would mean Republicans gaining five seats on net. 

Scalise said that the way Republicans get that result is by making this a “contrast election” against the Democrats.

Of course, Republican ads are already attempting to make this a contrast election by spewing bigoted anti-trans bile and lying. And Republicans just held a two-day midterm convention in which they sought to paint all Democrats as scary communists. Yet after the convention wrapped, Democrats have seen their lead on the generic ballot grow sharply.

Ultimately, a consensus is building that Republicans are downright screwed as voter sentiment hardens in the final weeks of the election. Hell, even Trump appears resigned to losing the midterms.

Yet Republican leadership is whistling past the graveyard as Nov. 3 nears.

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