Trump blasts Indiana Republicans who defied redistricting pressure.
In a blistering political offensive that reads like a campaign battle memo, former President Donald Trump has launched a full-scale assault against Indiana Republicans who dared defy his pressure campaign to redraw congressional maps mid-decade. Trump's fury erupted after Indiana Senate President Pro Tempore Rodric Bray announced Friday that redistricting efforts lacked sufficient support to proceed—a stunning rebuke of Trump's national strategy to lock in a permanent GOP House majority through aggressive gerrymandering.The former president specifically targeted Bray and Senator Greg Goode as 'RINO Senators,' his favorite epithet meaning 'Republican In Name Only,' while simultaneously taking shots at Indiana Governor Mike Braun, whom Trump claimed 'wouldn't be Governor without me (Not even close!). ' This Indiana showdown represents more than just local Republican infighting; it's the latest frontline in Trump's comprehensive war to expand Republican power state by state, with the former president warning that any party member opposing redistricting 'should be PRIMARIED' and removed from office.The strategic implications are profound: while Republicans have successfully pushed through aggressive maps in Texas, Missouri, North Carolina, and Ohio—and Democrats have countered with court-approved advantages in Utah and their own partisan redraw in California—Indiana now joins Kansas, Nebraska, and New Hampshire as Republican-led states resisting the redistricting frenzy. What makes this political theater particularly fascinating is the behind-the-scenes dynamics: Braun had initially called for a special session to pass a new map, creating the appearance of alignment with Trump's agenda, yet the Republican supermajority ultimately couldn't muster the votes in the Senate despite House support.Trump's response has been characteristically combative, demanding Indiana lawmakers 'DO THEIR JOB, AND DO IT NOW' while framing the resistance as potentially depriving 'Republicans of a Majority in the House, A VERY BIG DEAL!' The former president's argument grows increasingly contradictory, however, as he claims 'no one is complaining' about California's redistricting push to net up to five seats—even as his own Justice Department sues the Golden State over its Proposition 50 measure that voters overwhelmingly approved earlier this month. This Indiana standoff reveals the limitations of Trump's influence within his own party when local political calculations conflict with national ambitions, with several Indiana Senate Republicans publicly opposing the move despite high-level pressure.The spokesperson for Senator Goode perfectly captured this resistance, noting the senator 'would not take a public stance unless and until he saw an officially introduced map and legislation on the floor of the State Senate'—a stance reflecting traditional legislative process over political strong-arming. With seven of Indiana's nine U.S. House seats already held by Republicans, Trump's push for even greater advantage demonstrates his relentless focus on maximizing every possible edge, treating redistricting not as a once-a-decade process but as an ongoing political battlefield where territories must be constantly contested. This episode echoes Braun's earlier warning about facing 'consequences of not working with the Trump administration as tightly as we should,' yet ultimately reveals that even in deep-red Indiana, local political realities can sometimes trump Trump's demands.
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#redistricting
#gerrymandering
#Indiana Republicans
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