Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado refused to give a grade to President Donald Trump’s performance in the 2026 midterm elections and instead cited losses among Republicans, including hers, due to poor messaging, ineffective legislation, and Senate problems.
In a video clip taken from an interview conducted following the Nov. 3 vote, Boebert dodged the question regarding the president’s contribution to the results.
“Real quick, if you were grading Trump on this election, what grade would you give him this for a report card?” the interviewer said.
“I think you’ve got better questions than that,” Boebert responded. “I believe in you. I think you could give me something a little more complex and interesting.”
The interviewer tried again: “Did you think that he helped you get elected or, you know, did he help your election chances or hurt him?”
Boebert shifted the focus to the GOP itself.
“I think we hurt ourselves in a lot of ways,” she said. “A lot of it was messaging. A lot of it was us not passing good enough legislation. A lot of it was the Senate. So, I mean, there’s a lot of variables here.”
The clip concludes with the interviewer beginning another question: “Do you think the party…”
Boebert did not criticize Trump in the course of the conversation. She pointed out flaws in the GOP instead.
Boebert, who has been one of the most vocal advocates of Trump in Congress, is expected to have narrowly lost her bid for re-election to Democrat Eileen Laubacher in Colorado’s 4th Congressional District. CNN projected Laubacher to be the winner Monday, with Laubacher ahead 48.8% to 47.9%.
This comes as a shock. The District, which includes the Eastern Plains and is centered around Douglas County, is the most Republican congressional District in Colorado and has been rated “Solid Republican” by the non-partisan Cook Political Report. Trump won it by more than 18 points in 2024, and Boebert won it that year by about 11 points. The District hasn’t elected a Democrat since 2008.
Boebert relocated to the 4th District for the 2024 election after narrowly surviving her 2022 re-election effort in the 3rd District by 546 votes.
Laubacher, 58, is a retired Navy rear admiral who served on the National Security Council during the Biden administration.
Boebert’s relationship with Trump has been strained for much of the year. Trump’s first veto of his second term prevented a bill she authored from becoming law, and in the spring he told reporters he was considering backing a primary challenge to her after she campaigned in Kentucky on behalf of Rep. Thomas Massie, an opponent of Trump’s. He also called her “weak,” although just days before the election he supported her, calling her a “MAGA Warrior.”
Boebert’s loss has been part of a Democratic wave that has given the party control of both the House and Senate. Democrats have flipped seven Senate seats – North Carolina, South Carolina, Ohio, Texas, Kansas, Iowa, and Maine – according to an NPR analysis of AP race calls. It has been the first time since 2006 that the minority party has controlled both chambers on a single night.
Mike Johnson, the speaker of the House, blamed Republican losses on enduring historical trends, telling supporters that retaining the House would have required defying more than a century of midterm history.
Boebert, however, saw things differently, citing the GOP’s failures in Washington.
