Trump To Stefanik: Stay Home

Political reality slaps Republicans as panic sets in.

The good news for New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik: Trump has finally learned her name and remembers it most of the time. The bad news: No United Nations Ambassadorship for her. For all her fawning, debasing, ambition, and bootlicking, Stefanik has earned the position of Congresswoman from New York - exactly where she was when she embarked on her transformation from anti-Trump moderate Republican to expressing fealty to a man so amoral and grotesque that he shouldn’t be allowed alone with her children. Well done, Elise.

As interesting and somewhat satisfying as it is to see Trump pull her nomination, the reasoning behind it is telling. A few short months ago, Stefanik was reelected in her conservative district, NY-21, by 24 points. Today, because of what Trump describes as the most popular and successful first two months in the history of a presidential administration, he’s telling her to sit in her (House) seat for fear that a special election could flip the solidly red seat to blue. That would be an odd reaction to a historically great Trump Administration by those in New York’s 21st. It’s almost as though Trump doesn’t believe his own bullshit.

Good Reason For Concern

It was apparent leading up to the 2024 Presidential Election that Trump and the forces behind Project 2025 knew it was terribly unpopular - which is why Trump ran away from it. Russell Vought, one of its lead authors, acknowledged the need for Trump to lie about his support for it.

For Trump, once again, the lie paid off and helped land him back behind the Resolute Desk. The mistake many Americans made - and it’s a safe bet that this is always a mistake - was accepting what Trump said as the truth. And now the Project 2025 chickens are coming home to roost like Bird Flu.

While many Trump voters are still cheering on his inhumane, anti-freedom, and economically devastating implementation of Project 2025, some are beginning to connect the dots. We’re happy to help that along:

• The GOP is pushing the ironically-named SAVE Act that would create gargantuan new obstacles for young voters, voters of color, low-income voters, and women.

• It is open season on Social Security as Trump and Elon Musk slash staff and funding, which will result in Social Security offices closing. At the same time, new proof of identity hurdles are proposed that would - you guessed it - require seniors and the disabled to go in person to Social Security offices. Support lines for recipients are already going unanswered.

• Swing state cities in states that Trump won in 2024 are among those most hurt by Trump’s fiscally-insane on-again-off-again-on-again tariffs. Those include cities in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin, where the full impact of the Canadian tariffs is set to arrive in April.

• The devastation of the attempted total destruction of USAID, beyond the estimated future 2.9 million avoidable HIV-related deaths due to funding cuts, is being felt by farmers in Trump states who have commodities rotting due to canceled contracts to feed the hungry around the world.

• Florida GOP lawmakers are considering easing restrictions on child labor due to the worker shortage resulting from Trump’s and DeSantis’ mass deportation terror campaign. Apparently, it is now patriotic to have our teens working overnight shifts.

Potential Fallout

The above reasons are only the tip of the GOP voter discontent iceberg that Republicans see heading in their direction, which leads us back to where we started and where Elise Stefanik is stuck - sitting in her House seat so Trump can avoid a special election he’s terrified of losing.

Consumer confidence dropped 7.2 percent in March, its lowest level since January 2021. If that date seems familiar, that’s because it was when the Biden Administration came into office and began addressing the COVID-19 pandemic instead of telling people to drink bleach and swallow equine antibiotics. Trump is once again dumping a strong, growing economy down the toilet - not unlike the reaction people’s bodies had to his hydroxychloroquine recommendation.

Trump supporters who voted for cheaper eggs and safer streets are paying more for eggs and realizing that those pre-election crime statistics Trump touted were as fake as his spray tan. MAGA devotees might embrace the pain as proof of their devotion to the Conman-in-Chief, but they are the minority of voters. Most GOP voters want what they voted for, and Trump and his sycophants are not delivering.

Republicans have good reason to worry, and with communities like this one committed to truth, freedom, the rule of law, and democracy, we’ll make sure they have many sleepless nights between now and November 2026 and every special election until then.