WATCH: A Prescription for a Battered GOP: Return to the People, Break With Special Interests

• November 13, 2026

Summary

Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, discussed Republicans’ midterm losses and the party’s path forward in an interview at The Forum.
Roy said corruption, powerful special interests, and failures to address affordability caused Republicans to lose sight of voters.
Roy urged Republicans to rebuild trust with Make America Healthy Again voters and focus on effective institutions before the 2028 election.

Following the significant losses in the midterm elections, Republicans across the country are searching for where the party went wrong, how to make the best of the next two years with Democrats in the majority, and how to come back stronger in 2028. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, sat down with the Daily Signal to discuss the midterm results and give his prescription.

“I’ve been trying to be a team player,” Roy told the Daily Signal in an interview at The Forum.

“I went out and I campaigned. I campaigned for a lot of candidates that I thought were flawed. I went out and did what I thought was best because, you know, every vote is going to matter,” he continued.

“But on November 4th, you wake up and you start focusing on how the party is going to go going forward. I think the party needs to return to the people and get away from the special interest in Washington, not just a throwaway line. People are sick and tired of the big money interests in this town making the decisions for the people,” Roy continued.

Roy noted that it wasn’t “just the war.” Government corruption and affordability were top concerns for voters in the midterm elections.

“It was also this aura of corruption, the fact that people think that this town is built around self-dealing, that you can’t attack and go get health care freedom because the big health care interests have too much power,” he said. “We lost sight of the people. You should keep your eyes focused on the people and our Republican form of government.”

Roy said leaders should focus on “God and the people first” and added that Republicans “got a little arrogant and lost sight of the fact that people were suffering.”

“They can’t afford health care, they can’t afford housing, they can’t afford, in their eyes for their kids, the American dream. And that adds up.”

Roy also discussed his own future, how Republicans can regain the trust of Make America Healthy Again voters, and how to meet voters where they are in 2028.

“Our institutions need to be strengthened. Our government needs to be small but effective. Our churches need to be engaged. Our institutions need to lead—but they need to lead with their eyes focused on the people and not earnings per share or whatever.”

Virginia Grace McKinnon | Journalism Fellow

Virginia Grace McKinnon is a journalism fellow for the Daily Signal.

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