President Donald Trump may have just suffered his "most significant blow yet," an analyst wrote Friday.
When Indiana's Republican-controlled legislature rebuffed his redistricting scheme despite intense pressure from MAGA allies, the implications extended well beyond electoral calculations. The 31-19 vote represented a coordinated challenge to the president's grip over his own party and his vision for consolidating power during his second term, The Atlantic's Jonathan Chait argued in his piece.
Chait called it a "mass revolt against the president."
The technical details of the rejected map matter less than the act itself, he said. Gerrymandering is common in America, even if mid-decade redistricting battles weren't mainstream. What made their rejection remarkable was their willingness to defy him.
"Trump’s authoritarian project relies on the cultlike hold he has over his party. Republicans have come to understand that the cost of defying Trump is the death of their political career. Trump has proved time and again that he will go to any lengths to destroy his intra-party critics, even if doing so harms the party," Chait said.
Indeed, Trump allies lobbed threats at defecting Republicans, who subsequently faced bomb threats and harassment targeting their homes.
This kind of pressure typically bends targets to Trump’s will. What politician is willing to sacrifice their career or their family’s safety for a single act of defiance?
"Yet the spines of Indiana Republicans stiffened where so many others snapped," Chait wrote.
That defiance came amid a long-held belief that Trump has "political immortality—his seemingly mystical bond with the party faithful and his phoenix-like return to the White House."
As such, Trump's future is now very much in doubt when it comes to controlling the party. Political challengers, including Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) and resigning Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) are signaling they may run for president.
"The wall and the backlash have risen in tandem, the latter faster than the former. And now, for the first time, it seems the wall itself is beginning to crumble," Chait concluded.
