‘Knee pads are in the mail’: Republican gov mocked after backing failed Trump ploy

President Donald Trump’s push for Indiana Republican state lawmakers to redraw the state’s congressional districts failed spectacularly on Thursday after the majority of GOP state senators rejected the proposal, leading Indiana Gov. Mike Braun to voice his disappointment on social media in a post that was resoundingly ridiculed for its inaccuracies.

“I am very disappointed that a small group of misguided State Senators have partnered with Democrats to reject this opportunity to protect Hoosiers with fair maps and to reject the leadership of President Trump,” Braun wrote Thursday in a social media post on X.

“Ultimately, decisions like this carry political consequences. I will be working with the President to challenge these people who do not represent the best interests of Hoosiers.”

Braun’s post was immediately slapped with a “community note,” a crowd-sourced fact-checking service on X, which disputed Braun’s description of the dissenting GOP state senators as being a “small group,” given that 21 out of the 40 GOP state senators voted against the redistricting effort.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom joined in the dog pile as well, hitting Braun with a dig over his loyalty to Trump and his endeavors.

“Your knee pads are in the mail,” Newsom wrote Friday in a social media post on X. “Xoxo.”

Trump appeared to issue a threat to Indiana lawmakers that should they rebuke his plan, federal funding would be withheld from the state, at least according to a now-deleted post from Indiana Lt. Gov. Micah Beckwich (R), and in follow-up comments Beckwich made to Politico. Trump also announced that he would campaign against disloyal Indiana Republicans in their primaries next year.

Much has been said about Trump being firmly rebuked by Indiana Republicans, with some – such as prominent conservative Jeffrey Blehar with the National Review – citing the incident as proof that Trump had lost his near-total control of the GOP.