Trump's Indiana revenge: 5 Trump-backed challengers defeat GOP incumbents

[0:00] President Trump making it clear in Indiana it is still his Republican Party. The president vowed [0:05] revenge against seven Republican state senators who defied his demands last year to redraw [0:10] Indiana's congressional maps. Tuesday, he got that revenge. Five of those seven incumbents [0:16] were defeated in their primaries by Trump-backed challengers. Just one Trump-endorsed candidate [0:21] lost. Another race still remains too close to call. The president's allies flooded Indiana [0:28] with $13 million in advertising this year in the state's Senate primaries. Compare that to the [0:34] $280,000 spent in 2024 on state Senate primary ads in Indiana in all races combined. The sweeping [0:42] victories for the president are a major boost to his sinking poll numbers nationally and a warning [0:48] signal to Republican lawmakers about what could happen if they defy him. CNN's Arlette Saenz joins [0:54] me now. It was a big night for the president and those people who he backed. What are you hearing [1:01] this morning? Well, Sarah, President Donald Trump got the political revenge he was looking for in [1:07] Indiana last night. These state legislative races typically fly under the radar, but the president's [1:13] allies poured millions of dollars into the state to make good on his wishes to defeat those state [1:19] Senate Republicans who had defeated his redistricting effort in the state. At least five of the seven [1:26] state Republican senators who voted against redistricting were defeated by Trump-backed candidates. [1:32] Only one has survived so far. That's state Senator Greg Good of Terre Haute, Indiana. And there's one race [1:40] that is still too close to call between state Senator Spencer Deary and Paula Copenhaver. Deary last [1:47] night defended his votes against redistricting. Take a listen. I swore that I was going to lead by [1:57] principle and strong conservative principles. And the idea that the government should be able to draw [2:02] new maps anytime it wants, not after a census, takes power from the people and gives it to the government. [2:08] And that's far from conservative. And so there was never any question. But I also overwhelmingly heard that [2:14] my voters didn't want it. They didn't want me to do it. And so that only reinforced me. [2:21] These election results could potentially embolden Republicans in other states as they are pursuing [2:27] redistricting efforts. We have really seen a slate of Southern states try to push forward on redrawing [2:34] congressional maps. One of the states we're watching quite closely is Louisiana, where the state's [2:39] governor actually delayed the U.S. House primaries in order to give the state legislator more time to [2:44] redraw those maps. But these results in Indiana really showcase President Donald Trump's grip [2:51] on the Republican Party. His approval ratings nationally are failing, but it shows that he [2:56] still has significant sway within conservative circles, something to watch heading into these [3:01] consequential midterm elections. All right, Arlette Sines, thank you so much for your reporting there. [3:06] So it looks like President Trump got his revenge in Tuesday's Indiana [3:09] primaries, and it is proving that it's still his Republican Party. Last night, at least five of [3:17] the seven Trump-endorsed challengers defeated incumbent GOP state senators in Indiana. And these are the ones [3:24] who had broken with the president and voted against the redistricting plan. Indiana Senator Jim Banks wrote [3:30] on Twitter, big night for MAGA in Indiana, proud to have helped elect more conservative Republicans to the [3:36] Indian state Senate. I wanted to follow up on this. It's a coda to a story because back in December, [3:41] when Indiana was looking at its redistricting maps, and I want to put up the map for you, [3:46] this is the map that Trump wanted, that Republicans wanted in this redistricting battle. Okay, like the [3:53] goal was to get rid of those little blue spots there. And a couple of people pushed back. In the end, [3:59] the Republicans didn't go for it. And there was a lot of political writing that was like, cracks in the [4:05] coalition. Let's go. This is people writing that people really thought, look at this. It means [4:11] something. And like, I don't know if it did. Well, no, I think it meant something. But the blowback [4:16] also means something, right? Yeah. You know, Mitch Daniels and a bunch of the sort of normie [4:21] Republicans working behind the scenes. I love that you call them normie. Yeah. At least he's not a closet [4:25] normie. He's out and proud. Yeah, he's out and proud. But the, you know, part of the reason why a lot of [4:32] those state senators didn't want to do the redistricting has to do with, like, not wanting [4:37] to be part of Indianapolis. I mean, it was like real local stuff. It was state politics. Yeah, [4:41] which arguably is the whole point of the redistricting conversation. And the revenge stuff [4:44] has nothing to do with state politics. It is purely to signal that Trump is still has a choke hold on [4:51] the party, that he's not going to be a lame duck, and that even if you lose, even if Republicans lose [4:56] the house, you better not cross him because he could still screw you. It's a choke hold on the Republican base, [5:01] right? So this is the thing. Primary elections are your most activated, your sort of most true [5:10] party members. And this certainly is a declaration to anyone in Washington who sort of wants to have [5:16] some daylight with the president heading into the midterms. But we can also see Trump is underwater [5:23] with sort of the overall electorate. And it really puts Republicans in a bind because you know that if [5:29] you have to face, I mean, we've got Bill Cassidy's election coming up in Louisiana very soon. They're [5:35] facing a situation where if they cross Trump, if they cross the base, they're at very real risk of [5:40] losing their primary, even with local, you know, elections. No doubt the MAGA extremists have hijacked [5:45] the Republican Party and they make up the majority. We see that in Washington. We see that downstream. [5:49] But I think we have to understand who votes in primaries. Some of the most extreme members, [5:54] particularly on the Republican side, tend to participate more in Republican primaries. [5:58] That's been true since Donald Trump came onto the scene in 2016. I will also note that more and more [6:04] people are becoming independent thinkers and independent voters. So that means you have less [6:09] traditional Republicans voting in Republican primaries. Instead, they're saving their vote for [6:14] the general elections where they do not have to be politically associated with the MAGA extremists [6:20] who now make up the majority of the Republican Party. But how does a politician navigate that? [6:24] Yeah. You can't win the general if you lose your primaries. [6:25] And I'm also going to use slightly different language, like when we're saying hijack and [6:28] chokehole. My thing with that is that these are voters. They have made a decision. They are [6:33] committed to Trump and they feel that commitment supersedes all other issues. And I don't feel like they [6:38] don't know what they're doing. You know what I mean? Like, this is what they want. [6:41] They have the agency. But look, I mean, I'm someone who thinks we made a grave mistake adopting the primary [6:46] system to begin with. And it's really hobbled American politics. But we have it. But there's [6:53] a lot of political science on this. A lot of primary voters don't so much vote for their own parties. [6:57] They vote against the other party. And the reason why this is Trump's superpower is that particularly [7:03] low turnout primaries, this is the only place where incumbents are vulnerable. If all of these guys had [7:10] won their primaries, they would be reelected. If Cassidy gets the nomination, he will be reelected. [7:15] The threat to Republicans in very red states and the threat to Democrats in very blue states [7:19] and districts is the primaries, not the general election. [7:22] Well, plenty ended there. [7:22] Revenge and retribution for President Trump in Indiana. The president swore payback against [7:27] seven Republican state senators who rejected his demands to redraw Indiana's congressional maps. [7:33] He certainly got that revenge. At least five of those seven who defied him were defeated [7:38] in their primaries Tuesday by Trump-backed challengers. Just one candidate the president endorsed [7:43] lost. Another race still remains too close to call. With us this morning, CNN senior political [7:48] commentator David Urban. David, good to see you. It's his party. He can cry if he wants to. [7:53] That's the clear message. But what I want to ask you is about what this means going forward. [7:59] What might this mean in, say, Kentucky for Thomas Massey, who's on the ballot, [8:04] in Louisiana for Bill Cassidy, a Republican senator who's on the ballot, the president endorsing an opponent [8:09] there, and then maybe other states led by Republicans considering redistricting? [8:14] Yeah, John, perfect questions. Those are the exact questions you'd be asking this morning. If you're [8:22] Thomas Massey and you wake up, you gotta have a pit in your stomach. If you're Bill Cassidy, [8:27] you wake up, you can't be feeling too strong about your positions. And I would say, John, [8:32] others who are looking, like you pointed out to, other legislators who are looking to redraw their maps, [8:38] they would do so, they would reject the president and do so at their own peril because he is clearly, [8:44] you know, King Kong at the top of the Empire State Building, this, you know, roads, whatever, [8:51] pick your superlative. This is definitely, like you said, and he dictates it. The base is with him, [8:58] and they're willing to go along with what he wants to do. So if you're Massey, it's going to be tough. [9:04] If you're Cassidy, tough. But, you know, not impossible, but it's going to be really tough. And it'll be [9:09] very interesting to see how these elections play out. I would say, if I was a betting man, [9:15] it's not going to look too good for Massey and Cassidy and others who cross Donald Trump at this [9:19] point. Just very quickly, yes or no, does any of this help Republicans, though, heading into general [9:25] elections? Or is this all, you know, inside the Republican Party politics? Look, I think it's a little [9:34] inside the Republican politics, but winning begets winning. It's this muscle memory of how to turn [9:38] people out, how to get the base excited. We need base voters to show up and win. You know, [9:45] the Republican Party is not going to win if our team stays at home, if the couch wins and people [9:50] are just apathetic. So I think it I feel like the couch may have just won in our discussion with David [9:59] Urban right there. Lost the connection, but we got the gist of what he was saying. David's very much [10:04] suggesting that Republicans who defy President Trump need to be concerned going forward. Not much space [10:10] for them. I'll look over here. Not much space for them left in the party.