Political prospects for President Donald Trump and the Republican Party overall are starting to fall apart, and according to a new analysis from MS NOW, they have no one to blame but themselves due to a series of "embarrassing" fumbles.
The piece — hailing from progressive pundit and longtime Rachel Maddow producer, Steve Benen — primarily cites Trump's plan to push for an unusual slate of redistricting efforts in red states. This effort was heavily tied to the GOP's overall 2026 midterm prospects, as they were intended to help the party create more favorable congressional districts and hold onto the House despite souring voter prospects.
However, that map ran into a serious legal roadblock when a panel of three federal judges ruled that the redistricting effort was unlawfully conducted to change the racial makeup of the districts, not just their partisan makeup. While the final word on the map is pending an appeal to the Supreme Court, if it is ultimately struck down, Benen noted that it would be entirely down to the "inept lawyering by Trump’s Justice Department.”
"Such a development would carry dramatic consequences, but just as notable is the familiarity of the circumstances," Benen wrote, arguing further that numerous Trump administration schemes are falling apart due to their own "rookie mistakes" and "incompetence."
"The Justice Department’s case against former FBI Director James Comey also appears to be in serious jeopardy of collapsing, in large part because the prosecution was put in the hands of a rookie who’s made rookie mistakes," Benen continued (it did). "This is just the start of a longer list. The White House has seen a variety of presidential nominees fail in recent weeks because of the officials’ incompetence. FBI Director Kash Patel has struggled through a series of embarrassing missteps resulting from his own incompetence. The White House’s trade tariffs have been executed in brazenly incompetent ways. The Kilmar Abrego Garica case has been hampered by prosecutorial incompetence. Elon Musk’s failed DOGE experiment was so incompetent that it repeatedly stepped on its own tail."
Each of these issues comes as Republicans are seeing their political prospects dwindling, while Democrats gain considerable momentum ahead of predicted gains in the 2026 midterm elections. Some frustrated insiders have already branded Trump a "lame duck" president and are considering resigning from Congress early.
"Over the course of 2025, Trump and his inner circle made a series of decisions to strip the administration of competent professionals and qualified experts," Benen concluded. "The results weren’t just predictable, they were also inevitable."