Republicans Are in Denial About Tuesday
What happens when your party gets killed in an election but you can’t admit that anything is actually wrong?
Denial is a river that runs through Bucks County
“What happened last night was blue states and blue cities voted blue,” declared House Speaker Mike Johnson Wednesday morning. “No one should read too much into last night’s election results.”
Off-year election results have limited value when it comes to predicting how an opposition party will fare in the following cycle, to be sure. Even so, the speaker was engaging in what could charitably be called wishcasting.
This year’s races, which saw the collapse of the supposed 2024 Trump coalition in multiple states, probably ought to prompt at least some reflection on the national mood among GOP pols. Ten or more years ago, it probably would have done just that. But the morning after Tuesday’s elections, Republicans like Johnson were doing everything but reflecting on the national mood. Because, whether they’re all in on the MAGA project of reshaping government and American life or just too frightened of offending Trump, they are duty-bound to avoid that sort of thing.
“Yep. Democrat states elected Democrat governors,” Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) told me. By the time I caught up with him, this had become a familiar narrative; it had taken shape by mid-morning on Wednesday, with Vice President JD Vance and Johnson doing much of the shaping.