As a striking Fox News poll suggests the GOP midterm position is deteriorating, a voting rights expert walks us through what Trump is really gearing up to attempt this fall—and how to defeat it.
Donald Trump exploded at Senate GOP leader John Thune during a Wednesday rally, demanding that Republicans pass voter suppression legislation immediately. This prompted an angry response from Thune, which in turn triggered MAGA rage in response. It’s no accident that this comes amid new polls showing the GOP midterm position deteriorating, including in a major Fox News survey. Trump thinks voter suppression can save the party. This is all coming to a head because the House just passed something, and the pressure on the Senate is getting brutal.
This whole situation has gotten weird and complex
They just listened to the parliamentarian and trump tried to fire her, but couldn’t. I think you have your facts wrong.
Yes, they resisted for now. But respectfully, I think believing in some magical power of the parliamentarian epitomizes institutional thinking, and ignores asymmetric problems in fighting fascism. A democratic institution has to resist every fascist attempt at takeover to survive; a fascist attempt to take over only has to succeed once. And the parliamentarian is an incredibly weak link in our institutional chain, while other stronger links like an independent DOJ and Supreme Court, have already fallen.
Thune didn’t fire her yet because he is an old-school Republican trying to maintain traditional GOP power structures. But think back: in 2020, even the House was not overwhelmingly MAGA, with traditionalists holding power, and the Senate was barely Ted Cruz. By 2024, the House was overwhelmingly MAGA, and the Senate had plenty of MAGA. The Senate GOP now thinks they retain independence but fears the bad polls, and shows how afraid they are by still hiding behind Thune who is the lighting rod for Trump. And Trump will keep pushing, endorsing opponents, and sic-ing MAGA’s base on resisting senators. He’s a narcissistic sociopath and will never accept, “no.”
Eventually Trump will push hard enough and the Senate will be weak enough to elect a Mike Johnson figure who is as completely broken and spineless. We have to hold out until 2028 before the GOP loses the Senate, most likely. Then they will do what Trump does via his other captured institutions - break the law and let others fight about it in court while he wields and consolidates power. A parliamentarian isn’t even a speedbump at that point.