Texas Senator Ted Cruz has offered a grim prediction about the outcome of a midterm election if it were held today.
Cruz, one of Donald Trump's closest allies in the Senate, noted in an episode of a popular podcast that aired Sunday that 'if the Election were held today, there would be a very good chance we would lose the House and we could lose the Senate as well.'
The former presidential candidate was questioned on the TRIGGERnometry show about recent odds showing plummeting support for Republicans holding the Senate - down 32 points from three months ago to just a 50 percent chance.
Cruz said that in his 'experience, prediction markets reflect the conventional wisdom at the time,' before adding that he didn't 'disagree with the proposition that politically, where we are right now is a challenging position for Republicans.'
The former presidential candidate also noted that his party has 'a remarkable record of success, much of which has not been communicated to the voters.'
Trump is coming under intense pressure to end the war in Iran, and on Tuesday, it was reported that the President's team has submitted a 15-point peace plan and requested a 30-day ceasefire while negotiations take place.
Pentagon chiefs have ordered 2,000 paratroopers to the Middle East, along with 4,500 Marines, bringing the total force for a potential ground invasion to some 7,000 soldiers.
Trump is keeping his options open for a ground invasion, as Iran on Wednesday rejected the 15-point peace plan, instead demanding reparations and transit fees for the Strait of Hormuz.
Texas Senator Ted Cruz, a Republican, on the TRIGGERnometry podcast
A screengrab of Kalshi betting odds showing the chance of Republicans holding the Senate in the midterms, as seen on an episode of the TRIGGERnometry podcast
Brent crude prices see-sawed from $101 down to $94 on Tuesday evening before settling at $96 on Wednesday as markets reacted to the invasion threat and Iran's rejection of the peace plan.
Twenty-eight percent of respondents to a recent Daily Mail/JL Partners poll cited the war as the top reason they disapprove of the job Trump is doing, up from the 20 percent who selected the Middle East in early March.
The poll found that Trump's approval rating has slipped to 42 percent, down from the 44 percent approval he received on March 3, just days into the Iran conflict. Trump held a 48 percent approval rating as recently as late January.
America's war with Iran has also emerged as a fissure among the leading voices in the Republican party, Trump's administration, and the conservative ecosystem as a whole.
The latest Daily Mail/JL Partners poll also showed that Trump administration officials who have taken the biggest hits in popularity are officials connected to the Iran war.
Pete Hegseth, the War Secretary, is now the joint-most unpopular Cabinet secretary, with a net approval rating of minus 10.
Only 29 percent of those polled approved of his job performance, while 39 percent disapproved, and the rest were unsure.
Hegseth's net approval rating has plummeted 10 points since February 28, the day of the first strikes against Iran.
TRIGGERnometry podcast cohosts Francis Foster (L) and Konstantin Kisin (R)
Meanwhile, Marco Rubio maintains his position as the most popular member of the Cabinet, with a net approval rating of plus 1.
However, Rubio, a main proponent of the Iran war, has also taken a hit, dropping eight points from February 28.
Tulsi Gabbard, the Director of National Intelligence, has dropped seven points in that time to a net approval rating of minus four.
There has been speculation about Gabbard's position after Joe Kent, who worked for her as Director of the National Counterterrorism Center, resigned in protest against the Iran war last week.
In a blistering resignation letter, Kent wrote: 'Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.'
Gabbard issued her own statement saying her job was to give the president the 'best information available' to base his decisions on.
She wrote: 'After carefully reviewing all the information before him, President Trump concluded that the terrorist Islamist regime in Iran posed an imminent threat and he took action based on that conclusion.'
However, prediction markets are now suggesting Gabbard is likely to be out by the end of the year.
