It might be too much to expect MAGA world to realize that its incessant attacks on its enemies and welcoming embrace of the fringiest of figures might not play well with voters. What, after all, would MAGA be without enemies and fringe figures?
Nonetheless, a few prominent MAGA voices suggested Wednesday that the party’s anti-trans vitriol and demonization of immigrants may not make for a winning campaign platform, an epiphany stemming from Democrats’ nationwide victories on Tuesday evening, when voters roundly rejected what’s been going on during the first nine months of Trump’s second term.
It appears that Trump’s allies are looking for somewhere to focus their messaging after the party’s pretty universal Election Night shellacking. And they’re looking toward the Democratic socialist in New York they’ve spent the last several months demonizing and attempting to turn into a national MAGA foil, Zohran Mamdani, as well as Democratic candidates in Virginia, New Jersey and elsewhere who ran on a platform of affordability and spoke to voters directly about their skyrocketing cost of living concerns.
Both the Democratic candidates for governor in New Jersey and Virginia pulled off double digit victories in their respective states with cost of living messaging. Democrats also were able to flip 13 seats in the Virginia House of Delegates on such a platform. And Mamdani, of course, built his entire political rise the past several months on a message of affordability — freezing the rent on rent-stabilized apartments, opening city-run grocery stores and making it free to ride city busses. It was a message that he successfully used to defeat not just his Republican opponent but also the city’s current (scandal-plagued) mayor and, most impressively, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the head of a New York political family dynasty who was widely considered the frontrunner when he entered the race last spring and who President Trump pseudo-endorsed in the waning days of the general election.
White House deputy chief of staff for legislative, political and public affairs James Blair announced to Politico on Wednesday that Trump would now pivot to focusing on affordability issues across the country.
“The president is very keyed into what’s going on, and he recognizes, like anybody, that it takes time to do an economic turnaround, but all the fundamentals are there, and I think you’ll see him be very, very focused on prices and cost of living,” Blair said during an interview Wednesday.
He went on to gently criticize Republican gubernatorial candidates in New Jersey (Jack Ciattarelli) and Virginia (Winsome Earle-Sears) for focusing on the wrong things:
“Jack didn’t really talk about that,” Blair said. “He talked about taxes, and he won the tax vote, but he didn’t address those key issues of affordability very effectively. He was mostly talking generically about change to Jersey. And I’m not denigrating Jack, but it was not in line necessarily with what voters were saying. Two, in Virginia, over half of Winsome Sears’ ads talked about transgender. And it’s not even the top five issues, according to voters.”
Former 2024 Republican primary presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who is running for governor in Ohio and remains an ardent Trump supporter, posted a video on Twitter Wednesday acknowledging that “we got our asses handed to us” in Tuesday night’s elections and suggested MAGA should start focusing on affordability as well, and “cut out the identity politics.”
“No. 1, our side needs to focus on affordability. Make the American dream affordable. Bring down costs — electric costs, grocery costs, health care costs and housing costs — and lay out how we’re going to do it,” he said.
“And No. 2: Cut out the identity politics,” Ramaswamy said. “It doesn’t suit Republicans. It’s not for us. That’s the woke left’s game, not ours. We don’t care about the color of your skin or your religion. We care about the content of your character. That’s who we are.”
— Nicole LaFond
Kansas Redistricting Push Faces Roadblock
The Trump-backed redistricting campaign in Kansas has hit a roadblock after the GOP House Speaker Dan Hawkins announced this week that Republicans do not have the votes needed to convene a special session.
The redistricting push in Kansas is part of the Trump administration’s larger pressure campaign to gerrymander congressional maps in red states to ensure Republicans maintain control of the House in the midterm elections.
“Planning a Special Session is always going to be an uphill battle with multiple agendas, scheduling conflicts and many unseen factors at play,” Hawkins said on Tuesday.
The decision to press pause on a potential redrawn map comes as the nation witnessed major Democratic wins on Election Night, which some experts say may make some red states reconsider their interest in following President Trump’s gerrymandering pressure campaign because the move could ultimately make some safe Republican districts more competitive.
— Khaya Himmelman
Trump Wants Filibuster Abolished in Wake of Election Losses
President Trump seems convinced that the reason Republicans did so bad in Tuesday night’s elections is because Americans blame Republicans for the ongoing government shutdown, which is the longest in U.S. history as of this week. He posted as much on Truth Social as the night wrapped up.
During a call with Senate Republicans on Wednesday morning, Trump reportedly told senators that they would become “do nothing” Republicans if they didn’t figure out a way to get rid of the filibuster in the Senate, which is the rule that makes it mandatory for legislation to have 60 votes in support in order to pass. Per Axios:
“If you don’t terminate the filibuster, you’ll be in bad shape,” the president told GOP senators during the televised portion of the breakfast remarks.
— Nicole LaFond
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