Trump Rages over Epic Self-Own in Virginia—and Reveals Deeper Weakness

THE DAILY BLAST with Greg Sargent

The New Republic

News, Politics

4.4 • 798 Ratings

🗓️ 23 April 2026

⏱️ 21 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

After Democrats narrowly passed a mid-decade redistricting in Virginia, Donald Trump erupted in fury on Truth Social. He slammed the result as rigged (of course), lied about the voting in it, and most important, openly called on the courts to step nullify it. But some Republicans are admitting the truth: This debacle is Trump’s fault. He initiated a redistricting arms race that now backfired spectacularly. Yet there’s a lesson in this madness: Trump-GOP cheating becomes a lot harder when Democrats fight it with scorched earth politics. We talked to Brian Beutler, who has argued well on his Off Message Substack that Democrats must get better at hard-edged politics in coming years. We discuss the deeper reasons that Democrats made a stand this time, how Trump revealed vulnerability to counter-hardball politics, and how this should shape future Democratic efforts at post-Trump accountability and fascism-proofing the system. Looking for More from the DSR Network? Click Here: https://linktr.ee/deepstateradio Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:27.7	slash setup this is the Daily Blast from the New Republic, produced and presented by the DSR Network.
0:46.5	I'm your host, Greg Sargent.
1:02.3	Donald Trump exploded and crazed fury over the results in Tuesday's referendum in Virginia.
1:09.5	After Democrats narrowly passed a mid-decade redistricting there, which could mean four additional House seats, Trump ripped the result as
1:12.3	rigged and begged the courts to step in and nullify it. Yet this comes as Republicans are admitting
1:18.5	that this debacle is Trump's fault. And that captures something essential about this moment.
1:24.5	Republican cheating gets a lot harder when Democrats seriously fight back against
1:29.3	it with hardball of their own.
1:32.3	Brian Boytler has been arguing well on his substack, off message, that Democrats must prepare
1:38.3	now for some epic hardball in future years because it'll be needed to achieve post-Trump
1:43.8	accountability and to Trump
1:45.8	proof the system against more abuses. So we're talking to Brian about all this today. Hey, Brian, good to
1:51.5	have you on. Good to be back. So on Tuesday, Virginia voters narrowly approved this referendum by around
1:58.0	three points to redraw the congressional map, allowing Dems to add up to
2:02.7	four more seats. That puts Dems slightly ahead of Republicans in the redistricting arms race.
2:08.3	They might be able to add one or two more seats than the GOP can, though a lot depends on what
2:14.0	Florida does now. Brian, your reaction to all that? It's very promising that
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