Trump strong armed the Indiana GOP into coming back to do the redistricting he ordered with his MAGA army doing the dirty work. Here’s one guy’s thinking:
On Monday I spoke with a Republican member of Indiana’s legislature who opposes President Donald Trump’s push for the state to redraw its congressional map to gain two GOP seats and help the party hold its House majority in next year’s midterm elections. Trump, with support from Indiana’s Republican governor, Mike Braun, has vowed to back primary challengers against members of the GOP who are, for now, blocking the redistricting plan. The lawmaker I spoke with asked that I not publish his name. He isn’t worried about Trump’s political wrath; he doesn’t plan to run for reelection. His fear of speaking out is much more personal: “I’d rather my house not get firebombed,” he told me by phone.
Note that he’s not running for re-election. He’s frightened anyway. And that’s not irrational.
Meanwhile, others aren’t buying it:
Sen. Greg Walker, R-Columbus, said he turned down an invitation to visit the Oval Office last week and is accusing the White House of violating federal law in its push to pressure Indiana Republicans to redraw the state’s congressional districts ahead of next year’s midterm elections.
Walker, a Republican who has been an outspoken critic of early redistricting, said he was contacted by a White House official on Nov. 17 and was invited to visit President Donald Trump in the Oval Office on Nov. 19, the day after the Indiana General Assembly’s Organization Day.
The state senator said he declined the invitation and believes it violates the Hatch Act, which restricts certain political activities by federal employees. Walker said he would have reported the alleged violation to federal authorities “if I thought that there was anyone of integrity in Washington that would follow through on my accusation and actually cause someone to lose their job over it.”
“I refused (the invitation), but the underling who reached out to me is trying to influence the election on my dime,” Walker told The Republic. “That individual works for me. He works for you. He’s on my payroll, he’s on your payroll, and he’s campaigning on company time. That’s a violation of the Hatch Act. He’s a federal employee. He works in the White House. But does anyone care about the rules anymore? Not that I can tell.”
[…]
The Oval Office invitation came two days before Walker became the sixth GOP senator to be targeted in a swatting incident since Indiana Senate leaders said they were rejecting Trump’s push for congressional redistricting.
Click the link to read more of his comments because it’s so refreshing to see a GOP office holder expressing what is obvious to everyone but Trump’s most sycophantic toadies. It gives you hope that
On Thursday, President Donald Trump once again found it acceptable to use the r-word, directing it towards Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, in a Truth Social post which also attacked Somali immigrants in the state.
“The seriously [r-tarded] Governor of Minnesota, Tim Walz, does nothing, either through fear, incompetence, or both,” Trump posted.
For Republican Indiana State Senator Michael Bohacek, Trump’s most recent use of this anti-disability slur was “the final straw” in his decision not to support Indiana redistricting in support of Republicans winning more seats. On Friday, Rep. Bohacek posted the following on Facebook:
Many of you have asked my position on redistricting. I have been an unapologetic advocate for people with intellectual disabilities since the birth of my second daughter. Those of you that don’t know me or my family might not know that my daughter has Down Syndrome. This is not the first time our president has used these insulting and derogatory references and his choices of words have consequences. I will be voting NO on redistricting, perhaps he can use the next 10 months to convince voters that his policies and behavior deserve a congressional majority.
Cue the shrieking about “woke” and political correctness. But one hopes that if there is any decency left among Republican voters that they’ll cringe when they see Trump’s crudeness. (Yeah … I know.)
This is the real political violence that’s happening in our country right now. Yes, there are lone actors out there making violent political statements about various issues. There’s always been an element of that in our political culture. But this is a systematic reign of violent intimidation and terror being visited upon independent thinkers in the Republican party by other members of their party at the direction of the President of the United States. Unless more of these people stand up to it it’s going to get worse with potentially catastrophic consequences. That man who said he’s afraid of having his house firebombed wasn’t kidding.