Kaitlan Collins shredded a Republican congressman’s closing midterm pitch with one blunt truth bomb.
Rep. Chip Roy of Texas went on CNN’s The Source on Wednesday, six days before the midterms.
At one point, Roy, 54, urged President Donald Trump, 80, to talk less about his vanity MAGA projects, including his South Lawn helipad, and to stay on course by talking about lowering high prices.
Collins had set up the moment by questioning Roy on the cost of living.
Roy’s advice to Republicans was simple. “Talk about the fact we will get gas prices, diesel prices, home prices, food prices down if we cut spending, if we can increase refining capacity,” he said.
“But that’s what President Trump said two years ago,” Collins replied flatly, pointing to Trump’s 2024 promises to tame inflation, get gas to $2, and end foreign wars.
The national average for regular gas currently sits at about $4.29 a gallon, more than a dollar higher than a year ago.
Roy, who is not standing for re-election but failed in a bid to replace Ken Paxton as Texas attorney general, responded with a line that reminded Collins of another president’s words.
He asked for patience. Republicans had “only been in 21 months,” he said, and still had to “finish the job of reducing spending” and “finish the job with Iran.” After listing what he counted as wins on welfare, the federal workforce, taxes, and spending, he summed up his message for voters.
“These are all positive steps,” Roy said. “But yes, look, I say, tell them what the truth is: Let’s finish the job.”
Collins looked unimpressed, pointing to the last president who ran the same slogan.
“Well, you keep saying finish the job. That was President Biden’s line,” she replied staunchly. “It didn’t work.”
Collins was referring to Biden turning “Let’s finish the job” into a rallying cry during his 2023 State of the Union, hammering the phrase again and again as he built toward a second run. It became the slogan of his 2024 re-election campaign, which he abandoned that July after a disastrous televised debate against Trump.
Biden was replaced as Democratic nominee by his vice president, Kamala Harris, who lost the presidential election to Trump that November.
Roy pressed on anyway. “Yeah, well, my view is that we’ve had now 21 months of success in pushing the direction,” he said.
According to him, economic growth, private sector hiring, and the border are among the Trump administration’s wins.
He continued to attempt to defend his quote: “Give us two more years to be able to finish the job. Yes. To get spending down further, get interest down further, to get inflation down further and to get our refining capacity up, get gas prices down, get diesel prices down. And then the American people will be in a position to have massive prosperity for a generation to come.”
“Do you think it’s a good idea to brag about how big the profits are for Big Oil when Americans can’t afford gas?” she asked.
Roy defended Trump, crediting him for being “somewhat critical” of oil companies for “not passing through some of the profits they’ve got to drive prices down.”
Pump prices tell a different story. The national average for regular gas was $4.24 a gallon on Wednesday, according to AAA. That’s $1.20 more than drivers were paying a year ago, and the average hasn’t dipped below $4 since late July.
“So why should voters trust Republicans, when they’ve been in power saying that exactly, in 2026?”
“My argument would be, is that it takes time, and we’ve only been in 21 months,” Roy said. He added that Republicans also “need to finish the job with Iran,” a war he argued would help “end a lot of these endless wars.”
Then Roy changed course. “I think we need to hold them accountable,” he pivoted.
Roy’s own political future is already settled. He lost the Republican runoff for Texas attorney general to state Sen. Mayes Middleton in May and will leave the House when his term ends.
