21 of Indiana's 40 Republican state senators resisted Donald Trump's pressure and voted against redrawing their congressional map to turn it solidly red.
The New York Times called the 19 to 31 vote “a highly public defeat for Mr. Trump.” That’s especially true given his repeated efforts to strong arm the opposing lawmakers into doing his bidding. “Mr. Trump had called some of them out by name on social media, openly questioning their loyalty to the party and pledging to back primary challengers against them,” The Times reported.
“As the debate turned more tense, several Republicans, both for and against the new map, reported threats or swatting,” The Times said. “Long-simmering ideological and stylistic divides among Republicans in Indiana spilled into the open, with many long-serving or institutionalist figures who opposed the map clashing with Trump-aligned conservatives who favored the plan.”
So, you have to give those nay-saying Republicans credit for doing the right thing and doing so under threat. According to The Times, Republican State Senator Greg Walker, who voted against the bill, reported a swatting incident at his home. Another Republican state senator, Spencer Deery, said he saw no justification that “outweighs the harms it would inflict” on faith in our elections and government. He also said, pointedly, “it’s time to say no to pressure from Washington, D.C.” and to “outsiders who are trying to run our state.”
Credit also goes to the protesters who seemed to pack the gallery and loudly voiced their opposition to the bill.
Sadly, Indiana’s Republican governor, Mike Braun, quickly threw his own state Republicans under the bus. “I will be working with the President to challenge these people who do not represent the best interests of Hoosiers,” he posted on Xitter shortly after the vote.
As for Trump, he pretended, “I wasn’t working on it very hard. … I wasn’t very much involved.” But it's clear he knows it was a big loss for himself. Between sh*tloads of bragging about how popular he is in Indiana, Trump said about one senator who opposed the bill, “He probably loses his next primary. That is, I hope he does. … Whenever his primary is … I’m sure he’ll go down.”
