A Republican lawmaker's private comments about voter exhaustion with President Donald Trump have surfaced in an audio recording obtained by The Bulwark.

In the recording, Rep. Stephanie Bice (R-OK) can be heard lamenting Trump's effect on voters as she addressed a new message for those described as "exhausted" by the president: move over.

"I was at a board meeting yesterday with a group, and one of the execs said to me, 'I'm a Republican, I've been a Republican for a long time, but I have Trump fatigue,'" Bice said. "It's a fair statement, you know?"

Bice, who represents Oklahoma's 5th Congressional District, made the remarks while speaking to Republican students at Oklahoma State University on Thursday evening, where she raised concerns about what "Trump fatigue" could mean for the upcoming midterm elections. She told the students she worried that voters would either vote Democrat or stay home entirely — because of Trump. Her concern about turnout reflects a pattern familiar to both parties: the president's party has historically lost ground in midterm elections, when base enthusiasm and turnout often decide close races.

"The challenge that we have is that we have to get over the narrative that 'I don't like this guy so I'm going to vote for the Democrat,'" Bice said. "Because I'm telling you right now, I'm hearing it already."

She then laid out two predictions should Republicans fail to overcome the fatigue.

"They're going to vote for the Democrat and they may split [the] ticket and vote for me and a few others, or — this is my bigger fear right now — people don't go vote," she said.

Publicly, Bice is what The Bulwark described as an "unabashed Trump ally," and it was that persona a spokesperson sought to defend in a statement to the outlet.

"She was relaying a comment made by someone else and discussing the importance of Republicans turning out and voting for the entire ticket," said Wesley Harkins. "Congresswoman Bice strongly supports President Trump... Any suggestion otherwise takes her comments out of context."

According to The Bulwark, however, Bice spoke at length about the problems voters have with the low-polling president she "strongly supports." The gap between her public posture and private candor illustrates the political tightrope facing Republican incumbents in districts and states where Trump remains central to the party's identity.

"While many of Trump's problems stem from discontent with the economy and the ongoing war against Iran, Bice added that his focus on personal feuds with the Canadian prime minister and others weren't making things better and were likely making the situation much worse," The Bulwark reported.

Bice was recorded saying: "We're not helping ourselves today when we decide to rename Lake Ontario 'Lake America.' I mean, yeah, these are not — this does not help the case, right?"