So much for Trump’s mandate
Republicans are so inept they likely won’t get their Project 2025 agenda through by 2026. We’re already seeing the unprecedented failure of Trump’s outlandish cabinet nominations. However, one thing the Right is good at is sowing doubt. The slightest self-doubt makes the difference between a clean golf swing and a shank. So, let’s keep our heads down and focus.
Shouting may be involved. Arguments with two individuals recently led me to the shocking realization about the impact rightwing propaganda has on voters, such as the Kamala Harris DEI lie, mistrust in our legal system, and immigration. Similar to 2016, these lies made the difference with 116,000 votes in swing states that would have given Harris the win.
Now Republicans are sowing doubt with the lie that they got a mandate in the 2024 elections. The Senate and House were always going to be tough with more Democratic seats up for grabs than Republican seats. Yet Democrats gained two House seats giving GOP Speaker Johnson the smallest majority in history. We held our loss in the Senate to four seats.
The reverse will occur in the 2026 midterm elections, when Republicans will be defending 22 of the 35 senate seats and Democrats will be defending 13, and the POTUS party usually loses Senate seats in midterms. It will be tough. But it’s doable.
Trump could attempt to disrupt the 2026 midterm elections with martial law stunts. But are Republicans willing to wage a fake civil war and leave the country exposed to real external threats? And, if Trump tries to get a third term in 2028, changing the Constitution requires two-thirds majority by Congress. If they overreach they will fail.
Still, many blindly believe Reagan era lies, that “Small Government is better.” The “Welfare Queens” are now “Communists.” Immigrants are now “Anchor babies, rapists, and murderers.” Conversely, they have faith that Republicans will only target the “rapists and murderers” and not deport millions of immigrant workers, or that Republicans would never enact a federal abortion ban, ignoring Republican hypocrisy.
During the shouting match, my friend mocked my assertion that Russia interfered in the 2024 elections as being the same as MAGA’s Big Lie. I screamed that the FBI announced that 60 bomb threats at Georgia polling places came from Russia. I shouted that billionaires spent millions on propaganda to sway voters, and that legacy media is owned by rightwing interests. When I said Trump killed the border bill to keep immigration an election issue, his response was, “that was last year!” Duh! I yelled. Killing the bill worked to sway the elections!
Finally, I explained that Jack Smith assembled two separate grand juries, the second one AFTER the SCOTUS immunity ruling, both of which issued indictments based on evidence in Trump’s federal election interference case. Mind you, this person’s own son is a Maryland District Attorney, but he still had doubts. None of this is the same as claiming, with no evidence, that the “Deep State” stole the 2020 election.
In the end, the light bulbs going off over his head were worth all my shouting. Let’s get loud and take the cue from the GOP and start shouting easily digestible slogans the Right can understand: “Trump is a Tyrant.”
Chicago native Lorraine Evanoff earned her degree in French from DePaul University then became a Certified Financial Manager. She worked as a finance exec in film production for seven years in Paris, then in Silicon Valley during the dot-com era, and later for various Hollywood production companies, notably as CFO of National Lampoon. She is currently living in Los Angeles with her husband.