GOP facing 2026 nightmare as Trump spirals

The David Pakman Show - February 17, 2026

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Republicans are in full panic mode right now, and it is not subtle. They are looking at the midterms and realizing Donald Trump could cost them the House and possibly the Senate. The Senate map may look safer on paper, but if Democrats take both chambers, Trump faces nonstop investigations and oversight, and that destabilizes everything. Behind closed doors, GOP senators are admitting they do not have a clear message to counter his liabilities. They cannot point to major legislative wins, the House majority is razor thin, the economy is still a problem for voters, immigration tactics are unpopular, and scandals keep dominating the news.

Then you have the cognitive questions getting louder. Trump appeared to forget that he had already endorsed Clay Fuller just 13 days earlier in a race to replace Marjorie Taylor Greene in Congress. He had issued a written endorsement, yet spoke publicly as if he had not decided. That is not a small slip. Add to that his false claim that he was totally exonerated in connection to Jeffrey Epstein, which never happened. The pattern people see is confusion, deflection, and instability.

Now even Marjorie Taylor Greene is criticizing Trump. She says his bullying style and constant insults are turning the right into a movement defined by personal attacks, and that it could cost Republicans the midterms. The irony is obvious because she rose within that exact culture. But her break signals something deeper. When a movement is built around loyalty and dominance, cracks eventually form.

Trump’s approval is sitting around 34 percent, with 53 percent disapproving. That is a deep net negative. The most serious erosion is on the economy, which was supposed to be his strength. Republican advantages on cost of living and economic management have shrunk dramatically. Even immigration and crime are weaker than before, and voters rank affordability higher. Democrats now lead on the generic ballot less than nine months before the midterms.

After years of hyping Jeffrey Epstein conspiracies and promising hidden evidence, Dan Bongino now says the FBI does not have the tapes or the client list people expected. He says redactions were appropriate. That raises a simple question: If the evidence was never there, why promote it for years? And if it was, what changed? When populist narratives rely on promised revelations, failing to produce them creates a credibility problem that is hard to escape.

On Truth Social, Donald Trump declared voter ID will happen whether Congress approves it or not, accused Democrats of cheating, and attacked Wes Moore and Bill Maher in personal terms. The posts focus more on loyalty and grievances than policy. At a time when his approval is weakening, the tone feels reactive and defensive, and Republicans know it.

Finally, Ruth Ben-Ghiat joins us on Substack Live to discuss how Donald Trump’s escalating rhetoric, institutional pressure, and personality cult dynamics fit into historical patterns of authoritarianism.

On today’s bonus show:

Rev. Jesse Jackson dies at 84, Stephen Colbert says CBS blocked his James Talarico interview, Colorado could remove all penalties for prostitution, and much more...

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