Indiana Republicans rejected an intense pressure campaign by President Donald Trump to redraw the state’s congressional maps, and CNN’s Harry Enten said that shows his grip on the GOP’s MAGA base is weakening.
The GOP-controlled state Senate voted against the mid-decade redistricting measure Thursday following months of pressure and violent threats against legislators, and Enten told “CNN News Central” the political loss flowed from his softening support within the Republican Party.
“I’m going to borrow a quote from my favorite ‘Rocky’ film, ‘Rocky IV’: ‘He’s not a machine, he’s not a machine, he’s a man, he’s a man,’” Enten said. “What are we talking about here? Strongly approve of Donald Trump – okay, this is 2024 Trump voters. In March, it was 66 percent. Look at where we are now: It’s just 50 percent of 2024 Trump voters strongly approve of him. Look, Trump voters still like Donald Trump, but they don’t love him as much, and that means there’s a permission structure to actually go against him, and that is exactly what you saw in Indiana.”
“As I said, he’s not a machine,” Enten added. “He’s not a machine, he’s a man. You can go against him as exactly they did in Indiana.”
The president pushed Republican state legislatures across the country to redraw their congressional maps in the middle of the decade with an eye on improving their chances for holding their congressional majorities in next year’s midterm elections, but Enten said that’s not a sure thing.
“Chance of winning the house in 2026: You go the day before the Election Day,” Enten said. “It was pretty tight between the Democrats and Republicans, right. Democrats with the 58 percent chance, Republicans with a 42 percent chance. But since Election Day, it’s all basically gone in the Democrats’ direction. They are the clear favorites to take back the House, three to one. That’s not a guarantee. But at this point, Democrats are in the driver’s seat.”
– YouTube youtu.be
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