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The Indiana GOP's defiance shows how Trump is losing juice
His unpopularity is increasing and his threats are starting to ring hollow.
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Donald Trump believes he should rule like a king; he thinks that any vote cast for anyone other than him and his sycophants is illegitimate. This was clear before his attempted coup in 2020, and it’s been even clearer since then.
The president has openly plotted to steal the 2026 House elections. He’s urged Republican legislators in red states to rush through unprecedented mid-decade gerrymanders, disenfranchising Black and brown voters in an effort to lock in a permanent Republican majority. The Texas state legislature rushed to give Trump the extra five GOP seats he wanted, and after a setback in the lower courts, the thuggish right-wing hacks on the Supreme Court jumped in to do Trump’s bidding. Missouri Republicans have also been dutifully playing their part by trying to gerrymander away a Democratic seat.
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Elsewhere, though, Republicans have been surprisingly hesitant about redistricting. Most notably, last week the Indiana Senate struck down a map that would have given the GOP two more seats in the House. All 10 Democrats voted against the measure, as did 21 Republicans. Only 19 Republicans voted against it, which means that a majority of Republican senators defied Trump.
This was a remarkable setback for Trump, who orchestrated a barrage of physical and political threats against Republican lawmakers in the state. His defeat underlines his weakening influence — and vividly demonstrates that his losses are not simply partisan losses.
Rather, every time Trump loses, democracy wins.
Trump turns on his party
Trump demands absolute loyalty and offers zero loyalty in return. As a result, he often treats supposed allies and co-partisans with the same callous disdain as he treats enemies. During the 2020 coup attempt, for instance, he infamously supported calls for the mob to hang his vice president, Mike Pence.
Pence is a former governor of Indiana, and his fate foreshadowed that of his fellow Hoosiers. In the months running up to last week’s redistricting vote, Trump denounced and demonized Republicans in the state who wouldn’t immediately follow his orders.
“It’s weak ‘Republicans’ that cause our Country such problems — It’s why we have crazy Policies and Ideas that are so bad for America,” he declared in one Truth Social rant. In another he called Indiana Senate President Rod Bray a “Total RINO.” He also