Sen. Ted Cruz called Republicans' midterm losses a "Watergate-level repudiation," saying voters rejected the party over rising living costs while criticizing President Donald Trump's tariffs and the prolonged war with Iran.
"2026 was not simply a blue wave; it was a blue tsunami. It was an ass-kicking. It was not simply a bad 2006 midterm election. It was a Watergate-level repudiation," the Texas Republican wrote Wednesday in a lengthy post on X.
Republicans needed to confront the reasons for their defeat rather than blame the outcome on a failure to get supporters to the polls, he added.
"When all the votes were counted, the problem wasn't turnout. Instead, our voters, Republicans, Libertarians, Independents, showed up and voted, and rejected our candidates, voting Democrat instead," he wrote.
Meanwhile, Cruz said voters' leading concern was the cost of living, but "too many Republican politicians seem like they didn't understand or they didn't care."
He directly criticized two central elements of Trump's economic and foreign policies.
"Tariffs have made everything too expensive, and the Iran war has dragged on too long," Cruz wrote. "It should have been brief, decisive, and over. It needs to end, and we should never, under any circumstances, give the Ayatollah billions of dollars."
Cruz also warned that Democrats would use their victories to pursue policies he opposes on taxes, energy, immigration, and transgender issues.
He predicted "open persecution, and nonstop retaliation" against Trump, his family, administration officials, and business leaders, singling out Elon Musk as a potential target.
"Make no mistake. Nationally, the radicals are in charge. The communists and the Islamists who have taken over the Democrat Party have now taken over the United States Congress. They will be unleashed," Cruz wrote.
Cruz said his response would involve opposing Democrat proposals he considers harmful while working across party lines when possible. He pledged to "work with Democrats when they're willing to be reasonable."
Cruz said the consequences were particularly significant in Texas, a longtime Republican stronghold where the GOP lost every statewide race on the ballot, including Gov. Greg Abbott's reelection bid and Ken Paxton's Senate campaign.
"If the newly elected radicals push policies that hurt Texas, raising taxes, destroying jobs, opening the border, releasing violent criminals, threatening our children, undermining our constitutional rights, I will fight with all of my strength to defend Texas and to defend the Constitution," he wrote.
Cruz also called for rebuilding the Republican Party "as a true blue-collar party, not by embracing socialism, but by being real free-market conservatives," he wrote.
Despite the defeats, Cruz expressed confidence that Republicans could regain their standing in his home state.
"Texas will be red again," he said. "We have not suddenly become a bunch of tofu-eating, gun-banning, tutu-wearing pinko commie liberals. That ain't us. Texas is still Texas."
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