Are dark days ahead for Republicans after the midterm elections?

You have to hand it to President Trump. He has managed to offend Democrats, alienate independents, and now, just for good measure, turn off Republicans, too.

This is not exactly a brilliant political strategy with the midterm elections just a few weeks away.

As a headline in the New York Times put it: “Signs are emerging that dispirited Republican voters may stay home in November.”

Apparently, even some Republicans have had enough. They’re tired of the chaos, tired of the constant feuding, tired of the daily drama. In a word — make that two words — they’re tired of Donald Trump.

The Times quotes a former Republican member of the Michigan House of Representatives who put it this way: “People are tired. The whole divider-in-chief thing, it’s gotten to the point where it’s just exhausting.”

And it’s a safe bet that he’s not alone.

So what is Trump’s solution? He is telling Republicans to vote as if he were on the ballot. Careful what you wish for. Some Republicans may take his advice — and stay home.

That’s not exactly what Trump had in mind, but then again, nobody has ever accused him of underestimating his own popularity. Trump has always been his own biggest fan. You get the impression that he thinks that because he’s in love with himself, everybody else should be too.

We’ll know soon enough whether he can persuade disillusioned Republicans to show up on Election Day. His pitch is simple: Vote Republican or you’ll regret it. Because if Democrats take control of Congress, he warns, dark days are ahead.

Maybe. But here’s something we can say with considerably more confidence: If Democrats take the House — and possibly the Senate — dark days really will be ahead. This is especially so for Trump and for Republicans, who will suddenly discover what life is like when the other team gets to call the plays.

So what can the president expect if his party winds up on the outside looking in? Let’s start with impeachment. The smarter Democrats may recognize that impeaching Trump for a third time would be a political mistake. Even Americans who can’t stand Trump may have little appetite for another impeachment circus.

But the hard left won’t be interested in political wisdom. They will want to publicly humiliate Trump at any cost. And there’s a decent chance that House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), if he becomes speaker, will go wobbly. He will discover that standing up to his party’s loudest voices is harder than giving in to them.

As for high crimes and misdemeanors, Democrats will undoubtedly find something that fits their definition. Take your pick: deportations, presidential pardons, the demolition of the White House East Wing, the war in Iran.

And why stop with Trump himself? Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Attorney General Todd Blanche, FBI Director Kash Patel and assorted other Trump loyalists could find themselves in the congressional crosshairs.

Then come the investigations. Lots and lots of investigations.

The Trump family business. Jeffrey Epstein. Tariffs. The White House ballroom. The president’s attacks on his critics in the news media. Taxpayer-funded advertisements that just happen to make Trump look wonderful.

Democrats may even try to subpoena the president himself. Good luck with that. He’ll tell them what they can do with their subpoena before he even thinks about going to Capitol Hill to answer questions thrown at him by Democrats who loathe everything about him.

But they might have better luck dragging people around him before congressional committees, people like his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, who knows the kind of stuff Democrats would love to hear from her — while she’s under oath. Another long shot, bordering on no way she would talk. But Democrats won’t care — anything to make Team Trump miserable.

So, get ready for hearings, subpoenas, accusations, counteraccusations and enough political theater to keep cable news in business for another decade.

Of course, none of this is inevitable. Polls have been wrong before. They could be wrong again. But I wouldn’t bet on it.

Too many polls are telling us the same thing: Trump is about as popular — maybe even a little less popular — than the flu. And since midterm elections are essentially a report card on the president, Republicans have good reason to worry —especially when the president is determined to make the election all about himself.

And if the results are as bad as Republicans fear, we won’t have to wait long for the postmortem. It’ll probably begin about 10 seconds after the polls close.

Trump will blame the fake news media. He’ll blame rigged elections. He’ll blame RINOs, disloyal Republicans, lousy candidates and anybody else who happens to be within shouting distance.

But there’s one thing we can count on: Whatever happens on Election Day, Trump will find somebody to blame. And we all know who it won’t be.

Bernard Goldberg is an Emmy and an Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University award-winning writer and journalist. He is the author of five books and publishes exclusive weekly columns, audio commentaries and Q&As on his Substack page.