For many Americans, the last decade of politics has tested their patience — and the laws of physics.
Donald Trump’s rise from reality star to president has been marked by jaw-dropping moments that seemed to bend the conventions long held not only by conservatives and Republicans, but by the world as we know it.
His unseemly personal peccadillos didn’t hurt him. His ugly attacks on people usually spared by smart politicians — and decent people — like veterans, disabled people, women and children didn’t turn off a majority of voters. His open grifting and profiteering off of his own impeachments and mugshot didn’t keep him from reelection — nor did those criminal convictions.
Nor did instigating an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, in which his supporters attacked police officers and American democracy itself.
But last night, the laws of physics proved immutable, to the relief of millions of Americans.
Gravity is, in fact, real.
It turns out, you can’t start a war in the Middle East in an election year after promising you wouldn’t.
It turns out, you can’t raise gas prices as a result of that unpopular war and then tell people to suck it up — it’s patriotic.
It turns out you can’t raise the cost of goods on everything from groceries to energy with tariffs — a tax on consumers — and then tell people affordability is “a hoax.” Again, in an election year.
It turns out you can’t openly use the presidency to line your own pockets and the pockets of your family; you can’t party with caviar bars and live zebras and brag about how much the oil companies are making off the ill-advised war no one voted for while most Americans are struggling to feed their families.
It turns out you can’t break a bunch of core promises to voters — to end inflation, to end forever wars, to release the Epstein files, to name just a few — and expect them to take it on the chin.
It turns out unelected tech bros can’t just buy elections, even with nearly half a billion dollars.
And it turns out, you can’t ask voters to pretend you’re on the ballot with just 30% approval.
On Tuesday night, voters all over the map, including in the reddest of states and counties, sent a message to Trump and the Republicans who enabled him that they were done with the nonsense, the self-dealing, the broken promises, the open corruption, the let-them-eat-cake largesse and the focus on everything but the things that matter to them.
To say Democrats overperformed is an understatement. With wins everywhere from Texas to South Carolina, Dems took back the House and the Senate with seats to spare and won a majority of governors races. It’s harder to find the places where Republicans actually had some wins — and can they really brag about winning in Florida, the president’s home state?
Sen.-elect James Talarico won in Texas by a whopping 12 points.
Sen.-elect Adam Hamilton won by four points in Kansas.
Sen.-elect Troy Jackson won by eight points in Maine.
Sen.-elect Annie Andrews won in South Carolina by three points.
The question now is, will Trump and MAGA learn the very clear lesson voters taught them? Will Republican lawmakers begin to pry Trump’s bloated fingers off their party as the sun sets on his second term? Will they reject Trump’s culture wars and return to the principles that drew Americans to the right in the first place?
Trump seemed to believe “total immunity” wasn’t just a legal application but a political one. It turns out, it wasn’t. Not even he was immune from his own bad decisions and the will of the people.
S.E. Cupp is the host of “S.E. Cupp Unfiltered” on CNN.