Former House Speaker Kevin McCarthy argued that the Democratic lawmakers want to “confuse” voters over the Trump administration’s deportations, which they are strategically doing ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
McCarthy’s assessment comes as some Democrats have targeted the deportation of illegal immigrants by the current administration, as Rep. Richie Torres (D-NY) claimed that President Donald Trump could imprison anyone by labeling them “a non-citizen gang member.” The former House speaker, however, argued that since Democrats lost voters in the 2024 election cycle over immigration, the party is now trying to “reframe” their argument and “change the topic.”
“It’s due process, you should be fearful even as an American, they want to confuse the issue, and it is talking points,” McCarthy assessed on Fox News’s The Ingraham Angle. “You played an excellent clip where you showed a number of Democrats in different parts of the country on different shows all using the same phrases: Gestapo, scare tactics, pull up in vans. Like, somehow, a citizen should be afraid, and they try to confuse people, not telling you that somebody is a murderer or someone’s MS-13. No, they waive that all away, but that’s really who they’re working for.”
McCarthy also pointed to the Fighting Oligarchy tour that Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) are conducting across the country, pointing out that the tour’s stops are being done in congressional districts that the Democratic Party wants to flip next year. He stressed that Democrats are trying to “build” to these flips, citing how the 2026 midterm elections are “just around the corner.”
When asked about Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell’s criticism of Trump’s tariffs, McCarthy contended that multiple companies have already invested “billions” into the United States because of Trump’s threat of tariffs. He then accused Powell of “scaring America” with his prediction of Trump’s tariffs creating a recession, calling this a tactic “out of the playbook of the Democrats.”
DEMOCRATIC PASSIONS CATCH FIRE OVER DEPORTED ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT
Trump took a shot at Powell on Thursday morning, claiming that the country is “getting RICH ON TARIFFS” and that chairman’s termination “cannot come fast enough.” He also said he spoke with “the highest level Japanese Trade Representatives” and the president of Mexico on Wednesday, about a week after he delayed most of his mass tariffs last week, and is set to speak with Italy on Thursday.
The Washington Examiner’s Joe Concha has argued that Trump’s “long game” is starting to form with negotiations, which could create a “massive free trade zone” with all countries in the event that Trump’s gamble pays off. If it does, the 2026 and 2028 elections could be “ugly” for the Democratic Party due to many lawmakers opposing the president’s tariffs.
