Donald Trump hosted a breakfast meeting with Senate Republicans this morning after the Blue Wave crashed down on his ugly face last night. Democrats scored huge wins across state and local elections around the country. Virginia elected our first-ever female governor and first-in-the-nation Muslim woman to hold state office. Virginians even elected Jay Jones, who was mired in a “scandal” in which he texted that Republicans should just f–king die. I’m so focused on Virginia because there were so many factors here: Northern Virginia is the DC Beltway, with tons of federal workers who have been furloughed because of the government shutdown, or seen DOGE slash their jobs or their departments. Well, as you can imagine, Trump has not taken any of the election results well. Last night, he ranted about “voter reform” and banning mail-in ballots. He also wants to terminate the Senate filibuster. That was a subject he brought up again this morning:
President Donald Trump on Wednesday said the government shutdown played a “big role” in Democrats’ victories Tuesday night and urged Republicans to kill the Senate filibuster to quickly restore federal funding.
“If you read the pollsters, the shutdown was a big factor, negative for the Republicans,” Trump said during a breakfast with Senate Republicans at the White House. “Last night, it was not expected to be a victory, it was very Democrat areas. I don’t think it was good for Republicans. I don’t think it was good for anybody. We had an interesting evening and learned a lot.”
He cited outside pollsters who have attributed the GOP losses to the fact that Trump wasn’t on the ballot, depressing turnout among the MAGA base. “I don’t know about that but I was honored that they said that,” he added.
Trump used his candid autopsy of the election results to urge Republicans to kill the Senate filibuster to quickly reopen the government and then enact their agenda, including a national voter ID requirement. He acknowledged that it’s an unlikely proposition as most Senate Republicans oppose the move but warned that he believes Democrats will do so the next time they’re in power.
“It’s possible you’re not going to do that, and I’m going to go by your wishes,” he said. “You’re very smart people. But I think it’s a tremendous mistake. It would be a tragic mistake, actually.”
On Wednesday, the shutdown stretched into its longest in U.S. history, with the previous 35-day shutdown set during Trump’s first term in 2019. Republican and Democratic lawmakers are locked in a stalemate.
“If you read the pollsters, the shutdown was a big factor, negative for the Republicans…” I can’t believe Trump is giving the Beltway media a permission structure to talk about how people blame Republicans for the shutdown! The media has worked hand-in-hand with MAGA Republicans to blame the shutdown on “evil Democrats,” but it turns out that voters cut through that noise and placed the blame squarely where it belongs: the Republican Party. The lesson is not “we must stop people from voting and end the filibuster.” The lesson is: if Republicans continue to do sh-tty things, voters will continue to punish them. The whole reason the shutdown is happening is because Trump and MAGA Republicans want to take away people’s healthcare. It really is that f–king simple.
Photos courtesy of Cover Images.
