Former MSNBC host Chris Matthews said during a recent cable news appearance that Democrats have a good chance of picking up 15 to 20 House seats in the 2026 midterms, which would propel them back into the majority in the lower chamber come next Congress.
“I think the Democrats have a very good chance of picking up maybe not the 30-plus seats they normally get [in] off-year elections, but maybe 15 to 20 seats, which is plenty enough to take over the House of Representatives, and they get the subpoena power in their hands,” Matthews said during his Wednesday morning appearance on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
“And people like Jamie Raskin, when they get that subpoena power, look out, Donald Trump,” the former host added, referring to Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.).
Matthews argued that Medicaid cuts within President Trump’s “big, beautiful bill,” which is currently moving through the House, will help Democratic Party lawmakers politically in the next election cycle.
“Not just poor people that get Medicaid, it’s middle-class people that resort to Medicaid for long-term care. It’s the only way you can get long-term care for Alzheimer’s patients,” the ex-MSNBC host said Wednesday morning.
“And this is real, and this is real with people, and it’s why Trump carried Pennsylvania a couple times, because he said … ‘I’m not going after Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid,’” Matthews said. “And now, just a couple weeks ago, he said ‘I’m not touching Medicaid,’ and he’s done it, he’s broken his word, with the working people of the states like Pennsylvania.”
Some centrist Republicans have expressed concerns about the impact of Medicaid cuts within the legislative package, along with the proposed rollback of green-energy tax credits.
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