Ted Cruz: GOP faces ‘bloodbath of Watergate proportions’ if voters are angry and depressed on Election Day

Texas senator warns of disaster for Republicans if voters are unimpressed by economy and pandemic response

Senator Ted Cruz did not mince his words in an appearance on CNBC on Friday, warning fellow Republicans that they could face an electoral “bloodbath” on 3 November if voters are not feeling optimistic.

In an interview on Squawk Box, the Texas senator said that if the electorate does not think that the economy and the response to the pandemic are moving in the right direction, it could spell disaster for the party.

However, he also characterised the situation as “volatile” saying that things could still swing in Donald Trump’s favour.

“I am worried. It’s volatile, it’s highly volatile ... if people are going back to work, if they’re optimistic, if they’re positive about the future, we could see a fantastic election — the president getting re-elected with a big margin, Republicans winning both houses of Congress and I think that’s a real possibility,” Senator Cruz said.

“But I also think if on Election Day people are angry and they’ve given up hope and they’re depressed, which is what Pelosi and Schumer want them to be, I think it could be a terrible election. I think we could lose the White House and both houses of Congress, that it could be a bloodbath of Watergate proportions.”

The 1972 election saw Richard Nixon re-elected as president with a remarkable 520 electoral college votes and 60.7 per cent of the popular vote. Only the District of Columbia and Massachusetts did not go red on election night.

However, following the Watergate scandal and Nixon’s resignation, the Democratic Party reclaimed most of the south and east of the country. In 1976, Jimmy Carter was elected president with 297 electoral college votes and 50.1 per cent of the popular vote.

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden currently has a 9.6 point lead nationally over Mr Trump in the RealClearPolitics polling average.

In the key battleground states, RCP has Mr Biden up on average in Florida (3.7 points), Pennsylvania (7.1), Michigan (6.7), Wisconsin (5.5), North Carolina (1.4), and Arizona (2.7).

Congressional Republicans are increasingly worried that a presidential election loss for Mr Trump could translate into down-ballot voting for Democrat candidates, costing the party its Senate majority and shoring up the Democratic majority in the House of Representatives.