MAGA in panic mode as insiders fear ‘brutal’ midterms following Florida trouncing

The MAGA world was deep into panic mode as soon as the official results of a Florida special elections landed.On Tuesday, Democrat candidate Emily Gregory won a Florida state house special election against Republican John Maples — a district that President Donald Trump won with 11 percent of the vote roughly one year ago.As an additional kick, the district happens to house Trump’s own Mar-a-Lago Club, putting the district, as one CNN analyst described it, right ‘in Trump’s backyard.”Conservative writer Eric Daugherty tried to play down the win, arguing on X that the legislative session in Florida has already ended and that Republicans are “hoping for powerful comeback later this year to cancel it all out.” But the victory set off alarms throughout the rest of MAGAsphere, with one X commenter posting “I don’t like how this ‘trend’ is going.”“How in hell do we get 30 percent turnout in today’s politically charged environment,” demanded another. “Do we have that many lazy, unengaged Republicans who ignore special elections and maybe even (God heal us) the midterms?”While some MAGA X users shrilly shouted: “Don’t run Blacks” as Republican candidates (losing GOP candidate John Maples was African-American), others argued, for Republicans to “work on our ground game.”“These special elections are a sign we aren’t paying attention,” said the user. “Download ActiVote, fill out your info, and you’ll know when all races in your district are. This is bare minimum civic duty sh——, guys.”Still another frustrated Republican posted: “Floridians, I’m starting to see a trend that shouldn’t be happening,” while a casual observer wagered “Midterms are going to be brutal for the GOP.”CNN Analyst Harry Enten compounded Republicans’ frustration, saying the GOP loss in Mar-a-Lago “is unlikely to stay a Mar-a-Lago.” Nationwide discontent with Trump appears to be making many voters hostile and driving Republican voters into disinterest.“Historically speaking, special elections have forecasted what will happen in the midterm elections,” said Enten. “… [E]very single time a party outperformed the presidential baseline in the next midterm election, what we saw — five out of five times — that party went on to win the U.S. House of representatives.”

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