Trump's Cooties Caused Another Domino To Fall— And MAGA Should Be Terrified

On Tuesday Omaha Voters Had A Message For The Republican Party

On Tuesday, despite a huge finance gap, Democrat John Ewing ousted Omaha’s 3-term Republican mayor Jean Stothert. It wasn’t that close either— 45,336 (55.5%) to 36,307 (44.5%). Trump’s chaotic, corrupt, failed administration is going to do that to Republicans up and down the ballot this year and next. As Stothert pointed out to anyone who would listen, she had nothing to do with Trump. Congressional Republicans though, have everything in the world to do with Trump; they are his enablers. And they’re going to pay an awesome price in the 2026 midterms despite Elon Musk’s millions in an environment where no amount of money can outrun a fed-up electorate demanding change. 

The Republican brand, tethered to Trump’s authoritarian, grift-encumbered baggage and his catastrophic legacy, is becoming toxic— even in places where it once had deep roots. Meanwhile, from coast to coast— and especially in between— Democrats have been seizing on the result, framing it as a harbinger of doom for congressional Republicans. In swing districts in Pennsylvania, Michigan, Arizona, Georgia… where GOP incumbents, stained by their loyalty to Trump, now face perilous reelection fights, GOP incumbents and candidates are going to have to balance loyalty to the cult leader with the own career trajectories.

And, as is inevitable in the build up to a wave election cycle, the party in power has begun fighting a serious civil war. Trump’s weak enforcer in the House, MAGA Mike Johnson, is mistrusted and even increasingly disliked by all factions. Last night, a top GOP staffer told me “He works for Trump, not for us. The bloom is off the rose now.” Olivia Beavers reported that “some House Republicans say they don’t know if they can trust their leader’s word. The relationship between Johnson and rank-and-file lawmakers will be crucial as Republicans look to pass extensions to expiring tax cuts as well as new breaks such as ‘no taxes on tips’ while also pushing through cuts to Medicaid and food aid. Johnson has a razor-thin 220-213 majority in the chamber, and he will have to pass the party-line measure with no help from Democrats. He also will need to persuade House colleagues to get on board even as Senate Republicans could make major changes to the bill. The tensions, which started in the restive conservative wing of the party last year, have now spread more broadly, according to more than 20 House Republicans who recounted episodes or experiences that have led them to be skeptical of what Johnson says. The complaints center on issues related to the current budget negotiations and past votes related to the bill, as well as other incidents involving the speaker and lawmakers.”

“You can’t serve Donald Trump,” my GOP staffer friend said, “and keep any sense of integrity or maintain trust at the same time. This is the most chaotic session since I started working here.” And Republican members from all factions agree. Eli Crane, a far right MAGA extremist, one of the craziest of the crazy, told Beavers that “I’ve seen that on more than one occasion where the speaker will come in, have a conversation, and the group believes there is some sort of consensus and then finds out later that there really wasn’t.”

The House plan aims for at least $1.5 trillion in deficit reductions over a decade and allows $4 trillion in tax cuts.

The degree of frustration differs from member to member. The most critical said there is a clear-cut pattern of Johnson saying one thing and doing another. Others wondered whether he was making promises he knew he couldn’t keep or if they were a product of dealing with competing factions. And some questioned whether his efforts to please colleagues hurt his ability to deliver tough news. Members who put it most mildly described miscommunications or disconnects in what the speaker pledged.  

… Still, even some Republicans who are fans of Johnson are predicting a messy collision of expectations in the final stages of the budget bill.

“I trust Mike Johnson’s heart. He’s a good Christian man,” said Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE) in a recent interview. But, he said, “I think all of us are going toward this finish line with two different preconceived expectations.”

Critics contend that Johnson sometimes tells one group of lawmakers what they want to hear, in contradiction with the message another group is getting. That has become a source of tension in the budget bill.

“Lots of assurances were made when the [budget] framework passed, and now the chickens are coming home to roost, and the people who were given those assurances don’t feel like the assurances were kept,” said Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), one of Johnson’s loudest critics, who tried unsuccessfully to oust him as speaker last year.

“Overall, I am very disappointed in his leadership and his honesty,” said Rep. Max Miller (R-OH), another member who has repeatedly criticized Johnson. 

…Two House Republicans said that in a meeting in early February, ahead of one of the budget framework votes to advance the agenda, leaders tried to assuage the concerns from some moderate lawmakers that planned spending reductions were too deep. Johnson and Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-LA) gathered more than a dozen GOP members in Scalise’s conference room and left several members in that meeting with the impression that the $1.5 trillion in spending cuts wasn’t a real number and that the Senate would ultimately change it, in what one member described as a “wink and nod” meeting. 

A person close to House GOP leadership dismissed suggestions that anything was ever promised or agreed to. Rather, the person said the expectation was that Senate Republicans would negotiate with House Republicans on the budget numbers rather than do their own thing.

The perceived assurances to moderates rankled conservatives, who have been trying to lock in deeper cuts. Rep. Mike Lawler, a New York moderate, told freshman Texas Rep. Brandon Gill that GOP leadership had told him that the $1.5 trillion in promised cuts would be less severe, according to two House Republicans familiar with the matter. Gill, who is part of the ultraconservative House Freedom Caucus pushing for that level of spending cuts at a minimum, raised the alarm with his fellow group members as well as with leadership. Johnson, confronted on the matter, said Lawler was taking his comments out of context, the two lawmakers familiar with the matter said. 

Integrity doesn’t seem to be a virtue congressional Republicans even value any longer. Democrats are emphasizing what Ewing’s win made unmistakably clear: integrity still does matter to voters. While Republicans tie themselves in knots defending Trump’s every lie, conviction and coup attempt, many Democrats are winning by showing up with relative honesty, competence and a commitment to public service over party loyalty. Ewing ran on restoring trust— on bringing transparency, accountability, and decency back to local government— and voters responded. And by no means does that message doesn’t stop at Omaha’s city limits.

Democrats are wasting no time drawing the contrast. They’re connecting the dots between local frustrations— over book bans, abortion bans, rising authoritarian rhetoric, corruption beyond anyone has ever seen before— and the national GOP’s embrace of MAGA extremism. Candidates are already using Ewing’s upset as proof that the so-called red firewall is crumbling, and that even in purple and red districts, voters are tuning out the fearmongering and tuning in to bread-and-butter issues like healthcare, inflation, wages, as well as  democratic norms.

In truth, it’s not so much a blue wave that’s building, nor even an anti-red wave; it’s an overdue reckoning. Voters have seen what Trumpism delivers: chaos, cruelty, corruption… And they’re done. Jean Stothert was just a hapless domino. If congressional Republicans keep doubling down on Trump, the 2026 midterms should be a bloodbath for their party. Yesterday, Elliott Morris reported that “despite Trump's low approval rating and the Democrats' strong generic ballot results, the party holds only slim advantages in voters' trust to handle individual issues.

Don't lose sight of the fact that this time, the backlash isn’t just coastal— you may have noticed it’s coming from the heartland. Not for this GOP-light Inside-the-Beltway garbage, but for political leaders who have real alternatives to offer working families, not just performative attacks on Trump and his party.