GOP caught in blame game after Virginia redistricting loss

The White House has an answer for Republicans accusing President Donald Trump of failing to do more to win this week’s redistricting vote in Virginia: look in the mirror.

Even as several House members bemoaned the GOP loss and blamed the president for starting a redistricting war that the party may ultimately lose, there is little patience inside the Trump administration for GOP complaints, especially with questions about how much the president’s political operation directed toward the race.

“It’s funny about the grumbling, especially from the Virginia Republicans and all them, because my question, a little bit to them, is, how much did they fucking spend?” said a White House official, who, like others in this report, was granted anonymity to discuss internal deliberations. “Where were the members of Congress in this? Like, it was their seats that got lost.”

The exasperation emanating from the West Wing underscores a long-simmering frustration that Republicans are too quick to blame every mishap on the president and ignore their own shortcomings. It’s also symptomatic of the broader midterm anxiety and blame game rippling through the GOP, as Republicans look to solidify an election-year message hampered by a lingering war, affordability concerns and the president’s low approval rating.

Still, Trump is the leader of the party and the string of defeats — in court and at the ballot box — is impossible to ignore. Republicans for weeks have criticized the White House for muddying the party’s midterms message with distractions, and the war in the Middle East that threatens to upend any economic gains the party hopes to tout in the months ahead.

Virginia — which could net Democrats four seats — reignited those frustrations.

“Mid-decade redistricting brings bad karma to whoever calls for it,” said Republican strategist John Feehery. “I think this year it will largely be a wash, but it is a huge distraction and it has taken up far too much time and attention. How does this help the economy exactly?”

The frustration is also felt on Capitol Hill, where some House Republicans are critical of the president for first sparking the mid-decade redistricting war.

Rep. Jay Obernolte (R-Calif.) said “it was a mistake to go down this road,” adding, “Virginia does not change my opinion — I thought that Texas was a mistake. I thought California was a mistake on the part of the Democrats.”

Democrats outspent Republicans 3-to-1 in Virginia, even as the GOP has more money in outside groups — including $347.7 million cash on hand in the Trump-aligned MAGA Inc. Most of the money flowing into the referendum went through nonprofit groups that don’t have to disclose their donors, so it’s not entirely clear who funded the “no” effort. None of the nonprofits listed in campaign finance reports had obvious ties to Trump’s orbit. And the president’s main super PAC did not report any spending disclosures of more than $25,000 in the first quarter of this year, suggesting it was not heavily financially involved.

Trump opted only to participate in a tele-rally alongside Speaker Mike Johnson to urge people to vote “no” in Virginia in the final hours of the race.

“There wouldn’t have been any harm had he gone to, like southeast Virginia — Virginia Beach — or southwest Virginia to try to rally the troops a little bit more than he did,” said a person close to the White House. “I don’t know where the president was, I don’t know where his team was.”

Republicans are vowing to fight Democrats’ victory in Virginia, with RNC press secretary Kiersten Pels calling the map an “unconstitutional partisan power grab designed to disenfranchise millions of voters and tilt the playing field.”

Democrat Gov. “Abigail Spanberger broke her promise to Virginians by advancing a gerrymandered map that serves her party’s interests after pledging she would not,” Pels said. “The RNC will continue this fight in court to protect Virginia voters and ensure fair representation across the Commonwealth.”

Despite the setback in Virginia, White House officials and others close to the administration insist the party’s midterm message is on point. Aides and allies are optimistic that the president will be able to resolve the war in Iran — which has now dragged into its eighth week — and argue that Republicans have a stronger record to run on.

“Look at the One Big Beautiful Bill, the tax cuts, the biggest tax cuts in history. People are feeling it now,” said a senior White House official. “You look at what we’ve done with inflation, you look at what we’ve done with prescription drug prices. Look at what we’ve done with mortgage rates and rental rates. They’re at significant lows. So we have a record to run on.”

Republicans are also betting that Democrats could help the GOP by nominating progressives in upcoming primaries in swing states, including Maine and Michigan. People close to the White House argue that the scenario would only bolster the party’s efforts to draw a contrast with Democrats, particularly on issues Republicans say they retain voters’ trust.

“There’s no question, the numbers have eroded a little bit since Iran started, but when you still ask about what are the issues that people care about most, and who’s better, the Republicans or Democrats? Things like inflation, the economy, lowering the debt, deficit, crime, Republicans have advantages over the Democrats when you put them head to head,” said a second person close to the White House.

The loss in Virginia puts the heat on Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis to make up for Democrats’ gains via the Sunshine State’s redistricting effort, which could begin as soon as next week. But even those gains would be modest, as Republicans face the reality their time-consuming and messy redistricting fight may ultimately amount to a tie — nine months after the president pushed Texas Republicans to kick off the battle. Others are worried an effort in Florida could backfire.

“I think at this point I would take a draw,” said a Republican adviser close to the White House. “Florida is kind of in flux. No one really knows. The governor’s map is likely to be the one that’s going to pass. But the House is really reluctant, and they think there’s a real risk that we’ll go too far and put some seats in jeopardy.”

Tuesday’s results in Virginia follows the party’s redistricting gains in California, and a new court-drawn seat in Utah, which effectively cancels out the advantage Republicans had with new maps in Texas, North Carolina, Ohio and Missouri.

The White House, so far, appears to be publicly distancing itself from the Florida push. James Blair, the president’s deputy chief of staff, who is taking a temporary leave from the White House to oversee the political operation from outside, said on Wednesday that he hasn’t been involved with the Florida process, and that “we’ll see what happens.”

“I would not want to presume what the governor is going to do. I don’t talk to the governor, I’ve not talked to those folks about it,” Blair said on CNN. “I think their track record shows that they know how to draw maps in compliance with Florida law and the Florida constitution, and we will see what they do next week. Obviously, there’s going to be a lot of attention on it, I imagine, after” Tuesday night.

Eli Stokols and Jessica Piper contributed to this report.