‘Victims of history’: Trump and congressional leaders face brutal post-election warning

President Donald Trump and congressional leaders in both parties are facing a blistering warning that they risk being swept aside if they continue ignoring the message voters delivered in last week’s midterm elections.

Daily Beast columnist David Rothkopf argued in a Wednesday analysis that Washington’s political establishment appears determined to carry on as though the sweeping Democratic victories never happened.

“Despite results that marked the biggest electoral shift in House races since the mid-1970s,” Rothkopf wrote, “we are seeing denialism on an epic and dangerous scale.”

The columnist singled out Trump for keeping his administration on the same course despite the Republican Party’s election losses.

“Trump has elevated the worst of his aides,” Rothkopf wrote, pointing to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Attorney General Todd Blanche as examples of officials he accused of doubling down.

He also lashed out at House Republicans for elevating Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), whom he branded a “troglodyte” and a “dimwit,” while blocking an attempt to impeach Hegseth.

Democrats weren’t spared either.

Rothkopf criticized establishment Democrats for clinging to party leadership and corporate donors, while pointing to the 11 House Democrats who missed the Hegseth impeachment vote.

The Daily Beast's chief global affairs columnist argued that voters had delivered an unmistakable rejection of politics as usual and warned that leaders who refuse to acknowledge it could pay a steep political price.

“It is now up to political leaders to determine whether they are willing to become agents of this change or whether they wish to become victims of history,” he concluded.