Soon-to-be-former Rep. Chip Roy (R-Texas) delivered a damning critique of his own party on the House floor Thursday following its drubbing in last week’s midterm elections.
Roy, a leading member of the far-right House Freedom Caucus who unsuccessfully sought the GOP nomination for Texas attorney general rather than reelection to Congress, torched Republicans for putting their pursuit of power ahead of people’s needs.
He also slammed his party for failing to campaign on what he spun as the benefits of Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Republicans “spent our time trying to focus on political power rather than focusing on the people who send us here to represent them,” said Roy.
“That’s what happened, and it pisses me off,” he continued. “The arrogance. The arrogance of the powers that be, the masters of the universe, who tell you that that’s what you have to do. And when you pursue political power over the people, you lose, and that’s what happened. That’s what happened.”
Roy also ripped his party’s decision to nominate scandal-plagued Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton for the U.S. Senate.
Paxton lost to Democrat James Talarico last week.
“And as I said, putting at the top of the ticket of the biggest Republican state in the nation, someone who was indicted and impeached by the Republican Texas House. Somebody tell me why Republicans lost last Tuesday? I’ll say it’s because they were focused on themselves and the ruling class and not the people,” Roy said.
He echoed his comments in an Instagram post, writing: “I’m pissed off at a Republican establishment that chose to chase power and play politics instead of delivering for the American people. Our focus ought to be simple: Preserve the American Dream for our kids and grandkids so they can buy a home, start a business, afford healthcare, and live free.”
Roy warned in November 2025 that Republicans would face an electoral “bloodbath” if they weren’t “rip-roaring coming through, behind the president to save this country.”
“If we sit back on defense and if we side with the moderates and if we undermine President Trump, then it will be a bloodbath in the midterms and that will do nothing to advance the agenda for a free country,” he said at the time.
Although Trump was not on the ballot last week, he repeatedly urged voters to cast their ballots as if he were. The GOP’s crushing defeat has been widely interpreted as a resounding rebuke of the president.