Republicans routed as Democrats gain powerful new leverage over Trump for remainder of his presidency

Democrats have regained control of the US Senate, routing Republicans nationwide with historic victories that will give them powerful new leverage over Donald Trump for the remainder of his presidency.

Democrats will soon have the ability to hold up not just Trump’s legislative agenda, but also any appointments he makes to his cabinet or the federal judiciary – including the supreme court, where conservatives have a 6-3 majority.

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[–] 207 points 5 days ago (50 children)

Wow. Some of these upsets are insane. God now all that's left is for them to actually punish trump.

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  • [–] 105 points 5 days ago (24 children)

    I am wondering if the GOP sees this voting bloodbath as a referendum on trump. If so then they might feel he's more of a liability than an asset and they 25th Amendment him.

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  • [–] 108 points 5 days ago (12 children)

    They won’t. All they’ll think is next time cheat harder

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  • [–] 45 points 5 days ago (6 children)

    They tried with all of the mid-cycle redistricting measures to try to gerrymander their way to victory.

    It backfired. Republicans got flattened.

    Even r/Conservative is finally smelling the Spirit of Hartshorn.

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  • [–] 46 points 5 days ago

    “I used to wonder how it was possible that Trump could have won in 2016 and then again in 2024, given how emotionally toxic, morally vacant, and psychologically mangled he is. I do not wonder anymore. He won for that exact reason. He was not a candidate. He was a mirror. If you were a racist, you found your guy. If you were a misogynist, you found your guy. If money was your only religion, you found your guy. If your heart was armoured shut, you found your guy. If you mocked disabled people, you found your guy. If you hated intelligent people, you found your guy. If you were a rapist, you found your guy. If you enjoyed golden showers with Russian sex workers, you found your guy. If you had done absolutely nothing to confront your emotional wreckage, you found your guy. If you were a serial cheater, you found your guy. If you were a perpetual bankrupt, you found your guy. If you stiffed honest workers, you found your guy. If you were a conman, you found your guy. If you mocked people’s appearances, you found your guy. If you longed for a toxic Daddy, you found your guy. If you were dissociated and disembodied, you found your guy. If you were unconscionable in every economic dealing, you found your guy. If you lied as naturally as breathing, you found your guy. If you had never eaten a green vegetable, you found your guy. If you were a white supremacist, you found your guy. If your ego contained a hole so large not even the presidency could fill it, you found your guy. If you were a sociopath who cared not one molecule about other humans, you found your guy. If he had only two of these traits, he never would have won. He won because he had hundreds of them, and millions of people recognized themselves in at least one. This has never been about Trump. It has always been about the people who finally had their worst instincts validated. Trump did not create the cruelty, he licensed it. He handed out permission slips for hate. He is merely a symptom of a far deeper disease: collective toxicity. If there is one sentence that explains Trump’s power, it is this: “He says the things I’m thinking.” That is the part that should chill the spine. Who knew that tens of millions of Americans were thinking such unconscionable things about their fellow citizens? Who knew how many white men felt so threatened by women and challenged by minorities that they were ready to torch democracy to feel big again? Who knew that after decades of apparent progress on race and gender, so many people were living in seething resentment, waiting for a demagogue to legitimize their worst selves and convert their bitterness into political power? We were living in a fool’s paradise. We aren’t anymore." — Michael Jochum

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  • [–] 13 points 4 days ago (1 child)

    r/Conservative reacts for 6 to 12 hours before shutting everything down and moving on to a new set of talking points. The really significant development would be if the narrative remains broken for a few days

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  • [–] 6 points 4 days ago

    When something big like this happens it typically takes 2-3 days for the Nazi media to develop new talking points. Every now and then it takes longer, eg the January 6th attack took them a few months to fully rationalize.

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  • [–] 17 points 5 days ago* (2 children)

    I forgot about that cesspool, is it even relevant anymore? Like...is this deadass? Aren't they literally talking about themselves?:

    (All 23 replies aren't available to view btw, if anyone was curious. That sub suppresses it's users like they live in a majority black district)

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  • [–] 3 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 child)

    I believe that comment is about Trump and Hegseth intentionally. I'd be shocked if it wasn't deleted

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  • [–] 1 point 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

    No, I think it's actually fully serious, but this guy is weirdly coherent for a chud. Guy hates anything that has melanin and speaks a second language, but also called that attacking Iran would be a disaster. A classic Obama-era Republican from the looks of it.

    His comment history through pullpush if anyone's curious.

    Edit: OK, I'm really hitting up against Poe's Law rn...

    "Vote Muslim" are we serious 😭

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  • [–] 20 points 5 days ago (3 children)

    I doubt it.

    However I do think the Republican leadership plan is to get rid of Trump in January. Trump is a loose cannon they can't control, and he's caused way too many issues for them, but leveraging his clear mental decline after he gets past the halfway point of his 2nd term gives them free reign to toss him aside via his obvious dementia. Install Vance for the remaining 2 years, someone they can control, hoping to get that sweet 10 year total.

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  • [–] 4 points 4 days ago (1 child)

    I doubt this happens. Their base is still way up Trump's ass and they'd pay for it in 2028.

    You might see some of them, especially the ones from purple states, push back more against Trump but convicting him in an impeachment trial won't happen.

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  • [–] 1 point 4 days ago

    Depends on how they see the politics, Trump being such a loser means there might be a few Rs willing to flip if they think it'll help them. The house can file trials just based on a simple majority which dems have with a lot of wiggle.

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  • [–] 6 points 4 days ago (5 children)

    OK do it.

    Start your revolution.

    Because tons of socalist candidates won last night, like a lot of them. Change through voting might be slow but if last night was any indication its clearly possible.

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  • [+] 3 points 4 days ago (4 children)
  • [–] 1 point 4 days ago (3 children)

    Accelerationism isn't "make things bad," it's an (incorrect) strategy that says we should support the most competent capitalists so that we speed up the concentration of capital, which speeds up the timeframe at which capitalism itself breaks down. It's wrong because it doesn't actually get around the fact that we need to organize for revolution, and supporting the capitalist class alienates us from the working class. With that being said, the Democratic party is the accelerationist candidate, as they are generally more competent capitalists.

    My solution isn't to make things worse. Revolution isn't just something you do, or something that falls into your lap. It happens when there is a large, revolutionary socialist party, a class conscious working class, and a crisis in the capitalist class. We can directly contribute to the first two by getting involved with a socialist party. That's the plan. With a large scale socialist party and militant working class, the crisis of capitalism that inevitably comes doesn't have to devolve into barbarism. If we don't organize, the collapse is coming regardless, and we get barbarism.

    Using "it" to refer to me is dehumanizing. I accept he/him or they/them pronouns, not "it." Your crypto-fascist lingo and dehumanizing of leftists is disgusting. I also don't use LLMs for my comments, I'd like a single bit of evidence for that. I've asked for evidence before, and you have never once given any, you just perpetuate dehumanizing me.

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  • [–] 2 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (2 children)

    I have never, ever, used an LLM to write any of my comments. Not a single time. My entire account is good-faith, I am a socialist organizer that spends time and money each and every week fighting against the billionaires that control the United States. Billionaires control both the Democrats and Republicans. Different billionaires, sure, but billionaires nonetheless. My solution is never to "let republicans win." As I have stated, my solution is to replace the capitalist system with an entirely new system, through revolutionary means, which requires creating a mass revolutionary socialist party.

    I do not work for billionaires. I do not work for the Democrats nor the Republicans. You have no argument against the necessity to create a mass revolutionary socialist party, nor the necessity of socialism itself, so you attack my personal character baselessly. In doing so, you rely on dehumanization. This is nakedly reactionary behavior, even if you think yourself progressive. And no, I will not fuck off, because online comments pale in comparison to getting yelled at in person, intimidated by cops, and the regular shit that comes with actually putting my skin on the line to fight for a better world.

    You're fully capable of being an honest person and arguing against socialism and revolution without relying on dehumanization and character assassination. I believe that because I believe all working people can come to understand the necessity of socialism and the means to get there. If I didn't, I wouldn't spend so much time organizing for it.

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  • [+] 0 points 4 days ago (2 children)
  • [–] 2 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) (1 child)

    I'll talk about anything with anyone when asked. I don't know why you think I only push back on accusations of LLM use, I push back on all manner of bullshit accusations. "Triggered," "tankie bot," "it," you keep dehumanizing me and using rhetoric straight from Gamer-Gate. You have not once proven LLM use in any capacity.

    The truth is that I actually care a lot. That's it, it's as simple as that. I care a lot about advancing the cause of socialism, and if that causes you to despise me, then I can only hope one day you cease this reactionary pipeline you have yourself on. Socialism is necessary, and whether you like it or not, we either advance to it or will descend into barbarism. There's no middle path in the long run.

    Your insistence that we should fight the socialists at every opportunity, rather than the capitalist class, will leave us in a moment where the crisis of capitalism hits, and there's no built-up organization to stop it, just like Germany in the 1930s.

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  • [–] 27 points 5 days ago (10 children)

    It would be nice, but that's probably not in the cards for the next two years. Even if everything goes right at this point, the Democrats would be looking at 55 seats in the Senate. That's still 5 seats short of overriding filibusters or vetoes and also for an impeachment conviction. The Democrats need to govern well, get the cost of living down and they need to show that the trust put in them was well placed. Spending the next two years in a bunch of political theater won't do that and Democrats will lose the trust they have now.

    Trump's corrupt regime needs to be held to account, but that's not going to happen in the next two years. Democrats need to prove they can make peoples' lives better so they can expand (or at least maintain) their advantage. Then, if they can win the Presidency in 2028, then it will be time to retool the DOJ into an actual law enforcement arm and turn them loose on the corruption of Trump's administration.

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  • [–] 48 points 5 days ago (5 children)

    Democrats will lose the trust they have now.

    They don't have trust now. They are not Republicans; that is the one and only reason they are winning today. None of this is about trusting Democrats and if they don't understand that and respond appropriately then the US is going to have Marco Rubio or some other Republican ass clown as president in 2028.

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  • [–] 10 points 5 days ago*

    Talriko and el sayed seem like noncareer politicians. Maybe they'll actually bring about some change like zohran and you'll see more candidates like them in future.

    Was surprised to see independents in iowa, montana and nebraska give tough fights.

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  • [–] 2 points 4 days ago* (2 children)

    I really don't see any way the GOP wins the presidency in 2028. That's just not how US politics work. People always hate Congress, but they blame the president for bad economies and bad news.

    It's far more likely this turns out like 2006-2008, where the Dems had a huge wave in 2006 and then an even bigger one in 2008 when they elected Obama.

    Swing and low info voters simply don't give much of a shit about the work Congress actually does on a daily basis. They're going to blame the president for their problems like they always have.

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  • [–] 1 point 4 days ago

    Nixon resigned due to corruption, and then who became president in 76? The economy stunk it up and Iran humiliated us in 1980, so then who became president? War goes bad and economy tanks in 2006, who got elected in 2008? Congress obstructs Obama for two years, who became president in 2016?

    I think you're proving my point, rather than refuting it. I'm not saying Americans have a long memory, I'm saying they've proven they don't understand the role of Congress in our government and blame the head of state instead.

    You can go back many decades and see the same pattern over and over again. Americans blame the president when things aren't going well, and reelect the president when they think things are good. And it's mainly but not exclusively tied to the economy.

    I don't see the economy improving with Trump in charge. It'll likely get worse. The GOP can whine and cry about Congress all they want but that's never worked in the past, and won't work now. Americans expect the president to deliver and they've allowed Congress to concede large amounts of power to the WH for that reason over the decades.

    I'm not making any argument about impeachment here (I'd rather harass the GOP with constant investigations), I'm simply saying the GOP doesn't have a good way out of this situation. And I do think it's going to be durable, because Trump is their biggest liability and he absolutely cannot stfu or stop doing impulsive, stupid stuff that grabs headlines and legitimately hurts voters.

    If Trump kicks the bucket and Vance tones things down, that could change the landscape. But even then he's not going to do all that much with a Dem Congress and many things like the medicaid cuts will hit hard under his watch.

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  • [–] 16 points 5 days ago (2 children)

    All of this, AND the problem remains of the establishment Democrats who are not fascists, but maybe where Republicans were like 20ish years ago. So it's very much an uphill battle for real progress.

    But this is a night to celebrate.

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  • [–] 3 points 4 days ago (1 child)

    The easy part of a democracy is saying, "I have the right to vote". The hard part of democracy is say, "ya, that asshole also has the right to vote." Whether we like it or not, the country as a whole is no where near as liberal/progressive/left wing as Lemmy. This is going to mean that we have to work with folks with whom we have pretty significant disagreement. Hopefully with these wins, things can shift leftward and more can get done. At minimum, we can slam the brakes on the GOP and Trump's corruption and undermining of our democracy. It's slow, its frustrating and it often means we don't get what we really want. But, as terrible of a form of government as democracy is, it's a damn sight better than anything else we've tried in history.

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  • [–] 3 points 4 days ago

    This is going to mean that we have to work with folks with whom we have pretty significant disagreement.

    WRONG. Blocked.

    I kid, I kid.

    On serious note, agreed. And we have to keep working outside of the main elections. The primaries are where we get to vote for progressives. No progressives? Getting them to run in the primaries is how we get them :)

    It's massive work, but yesterday was a good day.

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  • [–] 2 points 5 days ago

    The Republicans folded like lawn chairs once they knew they couldn't block the release of the Epstein Files. They just need to be pressured enough to throw the executive under the bus to save their own asses.

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  • [–] 2 points 4 days ago (2 children)

    Jeffires is already talking about how voters aren't interested in "revenge". If they start courting the right again I'm going to lose my mind.

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