Free Trade

How Did Republicans Lose This Badly? Voters Turned Against Trump's Tariffs.

It wasn't all about the war. Trump's signature economic policy is a big part of the reason why Republicans got trounced in the midterms.

Eric Boehm | 11.4.2026 1:25 PM

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(Illustration: Adani Samat. Photo: Aaron Schwartz - Pool via CNP/picture alliance / Consolidated News Photos/Newscom/Envato)

There is an oft-repeated political cliché that says tariffs are bad economics but good politics—the logic being: They might be costly, but they allow politicians to look like they are prioritizing domestic jobs and workers over foreign trade.

That line turned out to be only half right.

Voters turned decisively against President Donald Trump and Republicans in Tuesday's elections, delivering a historic beatdown that was the most lopsided midterm result since the post-Watergate wipeout of 1974. The results are so overwhelming that it's probably not accurate to blame any singular issue for the GOP's meltdown. It was a little bit of everything: the........

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