A top Senate Republican warned that the same voting bloc that has propelled the GOP to power over the last decade is at risk of turning its back on the party during this election cycle.For decades, White, working-class voters often aligned themselves with the Democratic Party, giving Democrats a stranglehold on Congress until the 1990s and often favoring the Democratic candidate atop the presidential ticket.President Donald Trump’s entrance onto the political scene and victory in 2016 solidified a shift that was years in the making, giving Republicans a strong base of working-class support.But with the state of the economy, Sen.
Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, a top ally of Trump’s on Capitol Hill, warned that the GOP’s steady base could head for the exits.FOX NEWS POLL: SQUEEZED BY COSTS, FRUSTRATED VOTERS TURN TO THE DEMOCRATSPresident Donald Trump arrives to speak during a campaign rally at F&M Bank Arena in Clarksville, Tenn., on Oct.10, 2026.
(Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)"This is the whole deal," Moreno told Fox News Digital."It's the whole deal.
If we don't hang on to those working-class voters, we're dead as a party.That's why I say with no hyperbole, if President Trump hadn’t won in 2016, the Republican Party would be dead.
Because the Republican Party had abandoned working-class Americans.""Ironically, the Democrats abandoned working Americans, and there was a void — President Trump filled it," he continued."That's why he won."Trump has consistently performed highly with White, working-class voters each time he has run for office, scoring between 66% and 67% of their vote between 2016 and 2024, according to a variety of exit polls.REDISTRICTING GIVES REPUBLICANS AN EDGE, BUT AFFORDABILITY WILL DECIDE THE MIDTERMSSome Democrats acknowledged that after the 2024 election, their party had a problem with engaging the working class.
Sen.Chris Murphy, D-Conn., circulated a memo that urged Democrats to embrace economic populism following stunning lo...