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RandySF

(81,197 posts) Wed Dec 31, 2025, 05:44 PM Dec 31

After quiet off-year elections, Democrats renew worries about Trump interfering in the midterms

If history is a guide, Republicans stand a good chance of losing control of the House of Representatives in 2026. They have just a slim majority in the chamber, and the incumbent party usually gives up seats in midterm elections.

President Donald Trump, whose loss of the House halfway through his first term led to two impeachments, is trying to keep history from repeating — and doing so in ways his opponents say are intended to manipulate next year's election landscape.

He has rallied his party to remake congressional maps across the country to create more conservative-leaning House seats, an effort that could end up backfiring on him. He’s directed his administration to target Democratic politicians, activists and donors. And, Democrats worry, he’s flexing his muscles to intervene in the midterms like no administration ever has.

Democrats and other critics point to how Trump has sent the military into Democratic cities over the objections of Democratic mayors and governors. They note that he’s pushed the Department of Homeland Security to be so aggressive that at one point its agents handcuffed a Democratic U.S. senator. And some warn that a Republican-controlled Congress could fail to seat winning candidates if Democrats reclaim the House majority, recalling Trump's efforts to stay in power even after voters rejected him in 2020, leading to the violent attack by his supporters on the U.S. Capitol.

https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/politics/2025/12/30/after-quiet-off-year-elections-democrats-renew-worries-about-trump-interfering-midterms/87957234007/

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After quiet off-year elections, Democrats renew worries about Trump interfering in the midterms (Original Post) RandySF Dec 31 OP

MaddowBlog-Trump muses about canceling the 2026 midterm elections, before saying he won't LetMyPeopleVote Wednesday #1

LetMyPeopleVote

(175,022 posts)

1. MaddowBlog-Trump muses about canceling the 2026 midterm elections, before saying he won't

Reply to RandySF (Original post)

Wed Jan 7, 2026, 05:11 PM

Wednesday

Given his record, when the president mentions canceling elections, it’s difficult simply to shrug one’s shoulders.

Trump muses about canceling the 2026 midterm elections, before saying he wonâ€™t
— Andrew Klavan (@andrew-klavan.bsky.social) 2026-01-07T18:03:01.224Z

https://www.ms.now/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-midterm-elections-cancelling-2026

The comments came to mind watching Donald Trump address the House Republican Conference at the Kennedy Center. Time magazine reported:

President Donald Trump on Tuesday floated the idea of canceling future U.S. elections, elevating a longstanding concern among critics of how he might try to limit threats to his power in his second term.

Trump brought up the idea while speaking to House Republicans at their annual retreat, and then quickly insisted he was not calling for such a move, casting his remarks as a critique of Democrats rather than a proposal.

In context, the president was rambling about his contempt for Democrats, which led to related electoral thoughts.

Trump: "I won't say cancel the election, they should cancel the election because the fake news will say 'He wants the elections cancelled! He's a dictator.' They always call me a dictator."
— The Bulwark (@thebulwark.com) 2026-01-06T15:37:50.623Z

...In August, for example, during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy — whose country cannot hold elections during Russia’s deadly war — Trump said, “Say, 3 1/2 years from now, so you mean, if we happen to be in a war with somebody, no more elections.”

This is the same American president who has repeatedly talked about ignoring the U.S. Constitution and seeking a third term. Trump has similarly discussed “terminating” parts of the Constitution that stand in the way of his ambitions and creating a temporary American “dictatorship.”

What’s more, the president’s comments at the Kennedy Center came on the fifth anniversary of the Jan. 6 attack — political violence Trump instigated as part of an effort to overturn the results of an election he lost and to remain in office despite the will of American voters.

So when Trump starts musing about canceling elections, it’s difficult simply to shrug one’s shoulders and laugh it off as meaningless nonsense.

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