MAGA Suddenly Worried It’s Not Talking About Affordability Enough

It might be too much to expect the MAGA world to understand that its incessant attacks on its enemies and welcoming embraces of its most fringe figures may not sit well with voters. After all, what would MAGA be without enemies and outcasts?

However, several prominent MAGA voices suggested Wednesday that the party's anti-trans criticism and demonization of immigrants may not be a winning campaign platform. The epiphany came on the heels of a national Democratic victory Tuesday night, in which voters soundly rejected what had happened during the first nine months of Trump's second term.

Trump's allies appear to be looking for something to focus their messages on after the party's fairly widespread bombardment on election night. And they look to the Democratic socialist in New York who they've spent the last few months demonizing and trying to turn into a national anti-MAGA figure, Zohran Mamdani, as well as Democratic candidates in Virginia, New Jersey and elsewhere who have run on a platform of affordability and spoken directly to voters about their soaring concerns about the cost of living.

Both Democratic candidates for governor in New Jersey and Virginia achieved double-digit wins in their states with reported cost of living issues. Democrats were also able to win 13 seats in the Virginia House of Delegates on such a platform. And Mamdani, of course, has built his entire political rise in the last few months on a message of affordability—freezing rents on rent-stabilized apartments, opening city grocery stores and providing free rides on city buses. It was a message he successfully used to defeat not only his Republican opponent, but also the city's current (scandal-plagued) mayor and, most impressively, former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, the head of a New York political family dynasty who was widely seen as the front-runner when he entered the race last spring and whom President Trump pseudo-endorsed in the final days of the general election.

This was stated by Deputy Chief of Staff of the White House for Legislative, Political and Public Affairs James Blair. Politician On Wednesday, Trump said he would now focus on affordability issues across the country.

“The president is very interested in what's going on and he recognizes as much as anyone that the economic turnaround will take time, but all the fundamentals are there and I think you'll see him very, very focused on prices and the cost of living,” Blair said in an interview on Wednesday.

He went on to mildly criticize the Republican gubernatorial candidates in New Jersey (Jack Ciattarelli) and Virginia (Winsom Earl-Sears) for focusing on the wrong things:

“Jack didn't really talk about it,” Blair said. “He talked about taxes and won the tax vote, but he didn't address key affordability issues very effectively. He mostly talked in general terms about the Jersey transition. And no disrespect to Jack, but that wasn't necessarily what voters were saying. Second, in Virginia, more than half of Winsome Sears' commercials were talking about transgender people. And it's not even in the top five most important issues according to voters.”

Former 2024 GOP presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy, who is running for governor of Ohio and remains an ardent Trump supporter, posted a video on Twitter on Wednesday admitting that “we got our asses kicked” in Tuesday night's election and suggested MAGA should also start focusing on accessibility and “get away from identity politics.”

“Number 1: Our side needs to focus on affordability. Make the American dream affordable. Lower costs – energy costs, food costs, health care costs and housing costs – and lay out how we're going to do it,” he said.

“And No. 2: abandon identity politics,” Ramaswamy said. “This doesn't sit well with Republicans. This isn't for us. This is the woke left's game, not ours. We don't care about the color of your skin or your religion. We care about the content of your character. That's who we are.”

—Nicole Lafond

Kansas reallocates checkpoint restrictions

The Trump-backed redistricting campaign in Kansas stalled after GOP House Speaker Dan Hawkins announced this week that Republicans did not have the votes needed to call a special session.

The redistricting in Kansas is part of a larger pressure campaign by the Trump administration to gerrymander congressional maps in red states to ensure Republicans retain control of the House in the midterm elections.

“Planning a special session will always be an uphill battle with multiple programs, scheduling conflicts, and many unseen factors,” Hawkins said on Tuesday.

The decision to put pause on a possible redrawing of the map comes as the country witnessed big Democratic victories on election night, which some experts say could cause some red states to reconsider their interest in continuing President Trump's pressure campaign, as the move could end up making some safe Republican districts more competitive.

— Chaya Himmelman

Trump wants to abolish the Filibuster after election defeats

President Trump appears convinced that the reason Republicans did so poorly in Tuesday night's elections is because Americans blame Republicans for the ongoing government shutdown, which this week is the longest in US history. He posted as much on Truth Social as the evening.

During a call with Senate Republicans on Wednesday morning, Trump reportedly told senators they would become “do nothing” Republicans unless they found a way to get rid of the Senate filibuster. This rule requires a bill to have 60 votes to pass. According to Axios:

“If you don't stop the filibuster, you're going to be in bad shape,” the president told GOP senators during the televised portion of his breakfast speech.

—Nicole Lafond