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Fresh off the Supreme Court’s decision in Callais v. Louisiana, Democrats received a second major blow Friday in their attempts to keep pace with Republicans in this year’s Total Gerrymandering War: The Virginia Supreme Court struck down the new congressional map, heavily gerrymandered in Democrats’ favor, that Virginia voters approved in a referendum last month, ruling 4–3 that the legislature had cut procedural corners demanded by the state constitution in putting the measure before voters this year. Instead of the map voters okayed, which likely would have given Democrats a 10–1 advantage, the current 6–5 map—which could plausibly grow to 8–3 in a strong blue year—will remain in place.
The national political environment remains hellish for the GOP, but the outcome of the mid-cycle gerrymanderfest has helped them hedge their bets. However the midterms turn out in November, the House will likely be ten or so seats more Republican when the dust settles than it would have had this fight never begun. Happy Monday.
Today, on MAGA Mondays, Sam Stein and Will Sommer will talk about Trump’s golden idol statue and the other latest reports from the land of crazy. Join them live at 10 a.m. EDT on Substack and YouTube.
The Golden Donald
by William Kristol
I remember the day I came face to face with the horrifying prospect that Donald Trump could win the presidency. It was Wednesday, June 22, 2016. Trump had delivered a run-of-the-mill speech in New York City attacking Hillary Clinton on a host of issues. But then he said, “Her campaign slogan is, ‘I’m with her.’ You know what my response to that is? I’m with you, the American people. She thinks it’s all about her. I know it’s all about you.”
I remember thinking, Yikes. ‘I’m with her’ vs. ‘I’m with you.’ That could work.
A month later, at the Republican convention in Cleveland, Trump returned to his theme: “My opponent asks her supporters to recite a three-word loyalty pledge. It reads: ‘I’m With Her.’ I choose to recite a different pledge. My pledge reads: ‘I’M WITH YOU—THE AMERICAN PEOPLE.’”
Flipping Clinton’s unfortunate campaign slogan against her was effective. She wanted you to stand with her. Trump promised that he would stand with you.
Fast forward eight years. What was generally thought to be Trump’s most effective line against Kamala Harris in the 2024 campaign? “Kamala is for they/them. I am for you.”
One might think it ridiculous for Trump, this selfish and self-centered con man, to present himself as being for you the people. But he pulled it off. His opponents tried to show that Trump’s policies hurt the public, including those he claimed to care about most. But their arguments fell flat in the face of Trump’s demagoguery. The people felt he was with them, that he spoke for them.
Yet a demagogue can lose his touch. Demagogues are vain. An effective demagogue must keep his vanity at least to some degree disguised, to some extent in check.
But the demagogue ages. The fear of death moves closer to the center of his psyche. Merely holding power and commanding public attention is no longer enough. Mere vanity gives way to a needy and almost insatiable narcissism. Mere self-centeredness morphs into self-obsession. The narcissism escapes containment.
Last Wednesday, a twenty-two-foot-tall statue covered with gold leaf was unveiled at Trump’s golf course in Doral, Florida. Much of the commentary has understandably focused on the claim of the pastor, Mark Burns, who presided over the ceremony and explained afterwards, “Let me be clear: This is not a golden calf.”
The pastor surely doth protest too much. But Trump’s words were more striking than the pastor’s. The president celebrated the statue, posting, “The Real Deal - GOLD - At Doral in Miami.”
Pathetic. It’s not any kind of real deal. It’s a cheesy statue covered by gold leaf. But for Trump, it’s important.
And when he called into the unveiling ceremony, he marveled: “Everyone is taking pictures of it. Everybody is—my people tell me that it’s unbelievable. All day long, they’re taking pictures. They stand up next to it, and have their pictures taken.”
He’s president of the United States. He’s arguably the most famous and powerful man in the world. And he can’t help but revel in people taking pictures of his statue.
But at least this vulgar statue is on his golf course. We don’t have to see it. We don’t have to think about it ever again.
That’s not the case with the 250-foot high triumphal arch Trump wants to build here in in Virginia, just across the Potomac River from the National Mall, directly in front of Arlington National Cemetery. He aims to impose his vanity on all of us. The arch would dominate the view of Arlington Cemetery both as you approach it from the District and as you look back toward the Lincoln Memorial from Arlington House at the top of the hill. It’s a grotesque intrusion on one of our most sacred public spaces.