Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) on Friday warned Republicans the party could face a “bloodbath” in November if voters aren’t feeling optimistic about the economy and the direction of the pandemic.
Speaking on CNBC’s “Squawk Box,” Cruz said the presidential election is extremely “volatile” and that President Trump could still get reelected by a “big margin” if voters feel like the U.S. is recovering from the pandemic-induced economic shutdown.
But he warned the party could also face landslide losses similar to what happened in the midterms following the Watergate scandal and Richard Nixon’s resignation.
“I am worried. It’s volatile, it’s highly volatile … if people are going back to work, if they’re optimistic, if they’re positive about the future, we could see a fantastic election — the president getting reelected with a big margin, Republicans winning both Houses of Congress and I think that’s a real possibility,” Cruz said.
“But I also think if on Election Day people are angry and they’ve given up hope and they’re depressed, which is what [Speaker Nancy] Pelosi and [Senate Minority Leader Charles] Schumer want them to be, I think it could be a terrible election. I think we could lose the White House and both houses of Congress, that it could be a bloodbath of Watergate proportions.”
Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden has opened up a 9.7-point lead over Trump in the RealClearPolitics average of polls, his largest lead in months.
Biden has also opened up healthy leads in key battleground states, including Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania, and the president is polling weaker than expected in states that weren’t expected to be in play, such as Ohio, Iowa and Georgia.
Republicans are growing worried that Trump could face a big loss on Election Day that costs the party their majority in the Senate. Senate Democrats are raising enormous sums of money and are running strong in states Trump won easily in 2016, including South Carolina, Iowa and Alaska.