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Turning Point Needs Your Help to Unleash Ballot Chasers on Dems
Retiring Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., says a rough night for Republicans on Tuesday could spark a battle over the direction of the party — and he wants a seat at the table.
Appearing Sunday on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Bacon was asked by host Jake Tapper whether a poor midterm showing could mark the “beginning of the end for the MAGA movement.”
“I do think there will be a debate in the party, and I think we need it,” Bacon responded.
The Nebraska Republican, a retired Air Force brigadier general, made clear which side of that debate he plans to be on, positioning himself as a defender of the GOP’s traditional, Reagan-era platform.
“I support the long-held Ronald Reagan principles,” Bacon said, citing “free trade, free markets, economic freedom, standing up to bullies like Russia and China.”
“I think the Republican Party, I think America yearns for those principles,” he continued. “And I surely would like to see a debate, and I know I want to be a part of it.”
Bacon zeroed in on tariffs, arguing they have hurt Republicans politically in competitive Midwestern districts. He said President Trump is “underwater quite a bit” in the region’s purple areas and called tariffs “a tax on consumers,” saying they have left the party in “a weird spot.”
His proposed fix: a return to the free-trade conservatism of the “Milton Friedman” and “Eisenhower-Reagan” era.
Bacon also argued that Republicans in swing districts like his own need to make the case to voters that they will serve as a check and balance in Washington.
The five-term congressman has increasingly broken with the White House in recent months. He has criticized the administration’s messaging on the war in Iran, and in early September backed Sen. Thom Tillis’ push to remove Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. In an October interview with Tapper, Bacon called the president’s recent handling of the Russia-Ukraine war “disgraceful.”
Bacon announced in June that he would not seek reelection. His Omaha-area seat, long one of the most competitive in the country, is now one Democrat Denise Powell is favored to flip.
The congressman’s comments have fueled speculation about his own ambitions. Asked about 2028 on Sunday, Bacon said he did not want the conversation to be “about me,” noting wryly that the last sitting House member to go straight to the White House was James Garfield. Still, Bacon said on the “Our Republican Legacy” podcast in September that he “would love to” run for president.
Bacon’s remarks come as the GOP faces a challenging political environment heading into Election Day. Recent polling shows Republicans trailing Democrats, and forecasters have given Democrats the edge in the battle for both chambers of Congress.
Trump, for his part, has spent the final days of the campaign barnstorming key states and is scheduled to deliver a closing argument Monday at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool, focused on the agenda he and congressional Republicans have advanced during his second term.
Whether Bacon’s call for a reckoning gains traction may depend entirely on what voters decide Tuesday. If Republicans outperform expectations, the MAGA wing will likely see vindication. If they fall short, Bacon has made it clear he intends to make his voice heard.
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Turning Point Needs Your Help to Unleash Ballot Chasers on Dems
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