Trump’s Rage over Midterm Woes Badly Unnerves GOPers: “He’s a Bully” | The New Republic
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Trump’s Rage over Midterm Woes Badly Unnerves GOPers: “He’s a Bully”

As Trump’s angry demands for voter suppression really start aggravating Republicans, a veteran congressional observer explains the deeper pickle they’re in—and what will happen next.

Donald Trump frowns glumly
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For weeks, Donald Trump’s fury has been growing at Republicans for failing to pass voter suppression legislation, demanding that they end the filibuster to do so. In a late-night tirade, he urged them to attach the SAVE Act to a must-pass defense spending bill, a dramatic move that reveals his deep frustration with them. As everybody knows, Trump sees restricting voting as the only way to stave off a midterm calamity. Meanwhile, in a striking piece, NBC News reports that Trump’s angry pressure has left Senate Republicans at wit’s end. They privately fear Trump is laying the groundwork to pin a midterm fiasco on their failure to pass something. They also blame Trump for letting this obsession take his focus off costs. One GOP Senator even tells NBC: “He’s a bully, and he’s f------ things up as fast as he can.” We talked to congressional scholar Norm Ornstein. He walks us through the details of the GOP predicament, decodes the real reason Republicans aren’t nixing the filibuster, and explains why it’s premature to rule out passage of the SAVE Act, offering a road map to what’s next. Listen to this episode here.