Why does Ben Shapiro say Republicans lost the 2026 midterms?

Ben Shapiro called the night a wipeout and said the president was effectively on the ballot. He traced a steady fall in Trump's approval from the April tariff announcement onwards, worsened by the Iran war. He argued voters judge by an overall sense that the president is disconnected from their everyday costs. His fix is to end the Iran war successfully, move away from tariffs, refocus on growth and deal with the look of corruption.

Shapiro said the Trump coalition shrank by about 20%, with the Hispanic vote falling from 48% into the 20s.
Shapiro sketched a possible 2028 Democratic map of around 382 electoral votes if Texas and Ohio stay competitive.
Shapiro said the US has not passed a major bill without reconciliation or a supermajority since the Bush administration.

▸In their words

“Trump couldn't even copy paste Trump's coalition in this particular election cycle.” Ben Shapiro · at 1:49:55 — open in the transcript →

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on All-In with Chamath, Jason, Sacks & Friedberg (2026-11-03). Read the whole episode summary →

▸More from this episode

Q1Which races were called during the All-In 2026 election night livestream?Q2What did Ted Cruz say would happen if Democrats win Congress in the 2026 midterms?Q3What does Rahm Emanuel want a Democratic Congress to do after the 2026 midterms?Q4How does Polymarket founder Shayne Coplan answer claims that election markets are manipulated?Q5What did Brad Gerstner say the 2026 election means for AI stocks and data centers?Q7Who did the All-In election night guests pick as 2028 presidential contenders?Q8What did Chamath and Brad Gerstner say about California's Prop 40 billionaire tax?

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