Strong, vocal Trump support will leach into the ether and help the big blue wave. [View all]

[applegrove]

Trump Flexes Hold on GOP Even as It Braces for Midterm

May 17, 2026 at 5:53 am EDT By Taegan Goddard 40 Comments

https://politicalwire.com/2026/05/17/trump-flexes-hold-on-gop-even-as-it-braces-for-midterm/

“President Trump’s push to oust Republican lawmakers who have crossed him claimed its most prominent name yet in Louisiana this weekend, reinforcing Mr. Trump’s dominance in the party, even as the G.O.P. braces for a potential backlash to his presidency in the midterm elections,” the New York Times reports.

“For the second time this month, Republican primary voters sent a message about the price of defying the president, this time by retiring Senator Bill Cassidy, who voted to convict Mr. Trump in his impeachment trial after the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. The outcome in Louisiana on Saturday followed losses by a group of Indiana state lawmakers whom the president targeted for political payback. And it arrived just ahead of another big test on Mr. Trump’s retribution tour: a House primary in Kentucky on Tuesday.”