Trump, Threatens GOP Nemesis For Foiling His Power Grab

President Trump renewed his attacks on Rod Bray, the Republican Senate Majority Leader in Indiana, after Bray rejected the new congressional map that Trump had demanded.

“The Indiana Republican Senators, who voted against the House majority, should be ashamed of themselves,” Trump, 79, wrote at 12:52 a.m. Saturday on Truth Social. “Led by the incompetent Rod Bray, they should all be primaried, and I will be there to support them! Indiana, where I won a landslide victory, is the only state in the country doing this!”

On Thursday, the Republican-controlled Indiana Senate voted 31-19 against a redistricting plan that would have eliminated two Democratic congressional districts in Indiana and likely given all nine of the state’s seats to the Republican Party in the 2026 midterm elections.

Unlike Texas, Ohio, and other states that have redrawn their congressional districts to bolster the Republican Party’s increasingly slim chances of retaining the House of Representatives in 2026, Indiana was not amenable to partisan gerrymandering in Trump’s favor.

In November, Indiana Senate President Roderick Bray said the proposal lacked the votes to pass the Senate and insisted he would not call a December session to vote on the measure. After Trump publicly attacked Bray on Truth Social and House Speaker Mike Johnson intervened, Bray reversed course and agreed to bring the matter to a vote.

Although the proposal required a simple majority of 26 votes to pass, 21 Republicans, including Bray, joined Democrats in rejecting it, with many citing Trump’s bullying and partisanship as reasons for their opposition.

Some Republican state senators in Indiana who publicly opposed the proposal have been harassed and received bomb threats.

“I refuse to be intimidated. My decision is made,” said Republican Senator Greg Walker, who voted against the measure. Walker was among the Indiana Republicans who were harassed for their opposition to the redistricting plan.

“I will not allow Indiana, or any other state, to be subjected to the threat of political violence to influence the legislative process,” he added.

Although Trump had repeatedly targeted Bray on Truth Social, he seemed less certain of Bray’s identity and what was happening in Indiana when asked about it in person.

On Thursday, in the Oval Office, Trump, who had viciously attacked Bray on Truth Social the day before, struggled to remember his name.

“There’s a guy named Bray, and I think he’s the Senate president,” a visibly confused Trump told reporters. “Is it Bray? Is that his name? Bray? And I mean, I’m sure he’s going to lose the primary, which is in two years, I think. I would absolutely endorse anybody who runs against him.”