Top Trump ally warns Republican Party 'dead' if it loses key voting bloc ahead of midterms

Republican Sen. Bernie Moreno of Ohio, a close Trump ally in the Senate, is cautioning that the party's grip on white working-class voters is slipping as the midterms approach, and that losing them would be disastrous. Moreno told Fox News Digital that holding this group is essential, saying Republicans would be "dead as a party" without it.

Moreno argued that Republicans had neglected working Americans before Donald Trump's 2016 win, and that the party might have collapsed had Trump not prevailed. Democrats, in Moreno's telling, then left a gap that Trump filled.

The bloc once leaned Democratic, and helped the party dominate Congress until the 1990s. Trump cemented a realignment already underway; according to various exit polls, Trump took between 66% and 67% of these voters in each race from 2016 through 2024.

Some Democrats concede they have struggled to connect with working-class voters. After the 2024 losses, Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut circulated a memo urging economic populism, writing that Democrats need to win back their standing as the working class's party. Republicans also face headwinds, with affordability dominating voter concerns.

Summarized by PolitiKool from Fox News’s reporting. Read the full story at Fox News →