A conservative columnist warned on Monday that her Republican colleagues just made a "tacit admission" about the 2026 midterms that could blow up in their face.
S.E. Cupp, a columnist for CNN, said during a segment on "The Source" with host Kaitlan Collins that Republicans have all but admitted that they don't stand a chance during the midterms with their push for mid-cycle redistricting. While those efforts seem to have paid off so far, Cupp warned that they could energize the Democratic base in a way that thwarts all the time Republicans spent trying to rig the election in their favor.
"Here'sthe thing that I think isimportant to point out if youcare about democracy," Cupp said. "The republicans havedone what they've done becausethey've been allowed to. Butit's also a tacit admissionthat they know they cannot winwithout rigging it. They're out of ideas. They'renot even attempting to win newvoters or win back the votersthat they've been losing sincegaining them in 2024."
Several Republican states from Texas to Louisiana and Tennessee have adopted new election maps ahead of the midterms in an effort to preserve the Republican majority in the House of Representatives and the Senate.
Cupp warned that voters can see through the Republicans' plans, and that may cause them to backfire in November.
"So this is the giddiness and the crowing I'm seeing from republicans about the state of the redistricting math and how it's helping Republicans," she said. "What they're not saying out loud is what I think a lot of voters can see, which is you had to rig it to make yourself competitive. And I don't even know if this will still make themcompetitive. They might actuallybe handing Democrats anadvantage by really ginning upthat base, firing them up to goand vote."