Trump, Beware—These ‘Unforced Errors’ Could Hand Democrats a Midterm Win

Victor Davis Hanson

We’ve never seen politics like this, and you can win the midterms even though you’re an incumbent president. And don’t make errors that don’t need to be made.

"Hello, this is Victor Davis Hanson. There’s about nine months left into the midterm elections in November. And how should we envision this with the current administration, its chances of retaining control of the House or Senate?

"Well, I think the best simile is that there’s a pathway over the mountains, like a pass, but on one side there’s a shear drop, and the other, there’s, on the right side, there is ample room, if you travel close to the mountains and not get near the precipice.

"Now, what is the precipice? There is a pathway to save the Republican Congress and thereby to save the Trump counterrevolution. We saw what the alternative was under Joe Biden, but it’ll be much worse in 2028 if a Kamala Harris wins and has a Democratic Congress waiting for her, which she could have, at least at the beginning of it in November.

"So, what do we have to look at? What are the perils that you’ll fall over the cliff as you go on the pass to the midterm? The first is these unforced errors. I don’t want to get into who did it or whose fault it is. I’m just suggesting that when you say Rob Reiner after his death, you say something untoward, I’m talking in a strict political sense now, it’s not  good.

"Why? Because to repeat the Trump success in 2024, you must do three things. You must win black males at 26%. You must win Hispanic males about 55% and get them out to vote. And you must win or come break even with independents. That’s in addition to getting your base out.

"But if you make fun of Rob Reiner after he’s dead and not say, you know, not honor the old Latin warning [de mortuis nil nisi bonum], don’t say anything bad, don’t say anything unless it’s good about the dead, then you’re going to offend whom? The independents.

"And so, this week we had this strange little meme or video that President Donald Trump was sort of the Lion King, and all of his enemies were various animals that inhabit the jungle. And I think Joe Biden was an ape and all that. But there was the Obamas portrayed as primates." . . .  Trump, Beware—These ‘Unforced Errors’ Could Hand Democrats a Midterm Win

Victor Davis Hanson, a senior contributor for The Daily Signal, is a classicist and historian at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and host of "The Victor Davis Hanson Show."

How Much Longer Before California Falls Into The Ocean?

How sad for the state that made junior college affordable for me, gave me a home, a church, loved friends and family, along with a stable career and wonderful memories. TD

 Issues & Insights

"But California was never about survival, it was about opportunity, growth, the future. It can be again, but not until the ideologues who have all the political power are thrown out."

"Another billionaire, this time Mark Zuckerberg, has fled the Golden State. There are still plenty left. But the trickle could quickly turn into a flood if voters and lawmakers continue to punish the rich. At what point, one wonders, will it be too late for the state to abandon the path to destruction that it chose to take many years ago?

"Zuckerberg follows Peter Thiel, Sergey Brin and Larry Page as recent ex-pats. He and his wife are reportedly relocating in income-tax-free Florida. The exodus is clearly in response to the probability that voters will approve a special tax on billionaires this fall.

"Most reports indicate the tax will be a one-time levy of 5% on billionaires. But due “to aggressive design choices and possible drafting errors, the actual rate on taxpayers’ net worth could be dramatically higher,” the Tax Foundation says.

"It might also be more lasting than just a single assessment. As we closed out 2025, we warned that “no one should kid themselves about” the tax sunsetting as promised:

California voters approved Proposition 30 in 2012, a ‘temporary tax’ on the state’s high-income earners to underwrite education spending. It was extended in 2016. For now, it will sunset in 2031. But there’s never enough of someone else’s money, so the usual agitators want to make it permanent by placing it on the 2026 ballot in tandem with the Billionaire Tax Act.

"Because there’s never enough of other people’s money, we expect that millionaires will be next in line for the shakedown. This is not some irresponsible claim because California tried just a few years to reach deeper into the wealthy’s pockets with a bill that would have hit couples whose net worths exceeded $50 million with an additional tax. Just because it failed, it doesn’t mean that the junior Castro-ites in Sacramento will abandon the idea.

"It’s rather demoralizing that in our society, billionaires are demonized. When Robert Reich, now a University of California, Berkeley professor who imparted leftist counsel to past presidents, says he wants the U.S. to drive billionaires “to extinction,” and New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani says “I don’t think we shouldn’t have billionaires,” they are cheered, not jeered, by the products of public education that is dominated by leftist ideology." . . .

What Do Democrats And Nancy Guthrie’s Kidnappers Have In Common?

Why are these so-called "journalists" not disgusted with the bizarre collection of cartoon characters making up the Democrat Party? TD

Issues & Insights 

  "So, in short, Democrats are willing to hold the entire nation, not just one elderly woman, hostage, and put every U.S. citizen at risk. All to protect non-U.S. citizens who are in the country illegally!?!?!?"

"As the FBI scrambles to find Nancy Guthrie’s abductors, Democrats in Congress are preparing their own kind of kidnapping. Except, instead of one victim, they want to hold the entire country hostage.

"After shutting the government down for a record 43 days last fall in the vain hope of keeping “temporary” Obamacare subsidies in place, the once respectable political party has now decided on an even more bizarre and disturbing kidnapping scheme.

"It plans to hold funding for the Department of Homeland Security hostage if it can’t convince Republicans to agree to ICE “reforms.”

"Except that, while Immigration and Customs Enforcement is housed in the DHS, Republicans secured funding for ICE as part of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act. So, the shutdown won’t have any effect on deportations.

"What it will have an effect on are things such as:

• Protecting the American people from terrorist threats
• Safeguarding cyberspace
• Running airport security
• Operating the Coast Guard
• Handling responses to natural disasters

"Oh, and shutting down DHS will also harm the processing of applications for work permits, green cards, naturalization, and asylum for legal immigrants.

"Pressed on these points by the Daily Signal, Democrats brushed off the concerns.

When The Daily Signal asked about the impact a shutdown would have on FEMA and TSA specifically, Democrats did not seem concerned.

Rep. Shri Thandar, D-Mich., who serves on the committee alongside Guest and Pfluger, said he is actually willing to leverage FEMA funding for Republicans to meet their demands. ‘That’s the leverage that we have,’ he told the Daily Signal. 

‘I would like Democratic leaders to stay firm and get some concessions that are meaningful … We should use every leverage that we have,’ Thandar concluded.

Nancy Guthrie sheriff admits it could take YEARS to find Savannah's abducted mother, 84, and says he is 'exhausted' by hunt for kidnapper

  Live updates | Daily Mail Online

Nancy Guthrie sheriff admits it could take YEARS to find her 

"The sheriff hunting for Nancy Guthrie made a grim prediction about how long it may take to find Today host Savannah's kidnapped mother.

"Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos spoke Friday, before a raid on a house and traffic stop that resulted in no arrests. 

"Nanos has been condemned for how slowly the search for Nancy is going, two weeks to the day after she was last seen being dropped off at her $1 million home in Tucson, Arizona. 

"A delivery driver arrested Tuesday was freed without charge.

"On Wednesday, horrifying footage of a figure in a ski mask and black gloves at Nancy's doorstep on the night of her abduction was obtained.

"Investigators are now desperately trying to identify that person, who was described as a man with 'an average build' wearing a black, 25-liter ‘Ozark Trail Hiker Pack’ backpack.

"Follow along for more details as the investigation unfolds "  

New: Nancy Guthrie Case Escalates, Multiple Detained After SWAT Raid, Range Rover Covered in a Tarp – RedState

Lots of Leads and Some Progress on the Guthrie Case – HotAir    . . . "So thousands of tips and some information which could be used to help rule suspects in or out. What we're still lacking at this point are actual suspects.

"Just a random thought. Other cases have used public genetic databases to help identify samples, usually by connecting them to a known family tree. It's called genetic genealogy. Could that be used here to identify the DNA found in the house?  I'm sure someone has thought about but no word on whether it's being pursued.

"Finally, here's a local news interview with the Pima County Sheriff. If he sounds a little defensive it's because there were reports he was withholding data on the case from the FBI. But he says that's not true at all and that all decisions are being made together with the FBI." . . .

AOC Makes Her Big Foreign Policy Debut, Then Promptly Falls Flat on Her Face

 Glenn Greenwald

"The Queens Democrat has always had serious difficulty speaking coherently on foreign policy. Despite tutoring and weeks of media promotion, it's only gotten worse."