🚨GOP is Stunned after Shock Losses in Red States!!!

Summary

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The MeidasTouch Podcast – Episode Summary

Episode Title: 🚨GOP is Stunned after Shock Losses in Red States!!!
Date: April 8, 2026
Hosts: Ben, Brett, and Jordy Meiselas

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Episode Overview

In this episode, the Meiselas brothers tackle the recent wave of surprising Democratic victories across traditionally Republican (red) states and districts, focusing on special elections, school board races, mayoral contests, and a high-profile Wisconsin Supreme Court election. They analyze the significance of these wins, the political fallout for the GOP and Donald Trump, and dissect startling new polling data showing plummeting Trump support, even among key demographics. The episode is marked by the brothers' signature banter and deep concern for the future of democracy, framing this moment as a pivotal shift ahead of the midterms—a possible “blue tsunami.”

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Shocking Democratic Wins in Deep Red Areas

• School Boards & Local Races:

  • Major Democratic victories in Alaska, Missouri, Oklahoma, and ruby red areas of Wisconsin.

  • In Tulsa, Oklahoma, Democrats flipped a school board seat after Republican Ilana Ashley lost, following controversial remarks about immigrant students (04:35).

    • Quote: “The right wing candidate Ilana Ashley went down. She faced backlash after suggesting immigrant students endangered school safety.” (04:35, Host C)

  • In Missouri’s Francis Howell district, a MAGA-backed school board lost power amid backlash against book bans and anti-LGBTQ policies.

    • Quote: “A slate endorsed by the teacher slate swept and the last remaining right wing conservative MAGA was ousted… This adds to other conservative MAGA losses on school boards. They got wiped out in school boards in ruby red areas last night.” (05:22, Host C)

• Mayoral and Supreme Court Races:

  • Democrat Alicia Halvasbin won the mayoral election in Waukesha, WI—traditionally a Trump +6 area (05:53).
  • Chris Taylor's historic victory in the Wisconsin Supreme Court race, with a 20+ point margin, including flipping Ozak County and breaking a two-decade streak of conservative wins (06:20).

Memorable Moment:

• Dramatic blue swings in Hispanic precincts of Milwaukee:
  • “In some of these heavily Hispanic areas in Milwaukee, Harris got about 64% of the vote. Now the Democratic aligned candidate getting 91%... we're talking about 50, 86% over performances by Democrats.” (07:43)

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2. Polling: Trump’s Collapsing Support

• Approval Ratings:

  • New polls show Trump less popular among independents than Nixon at the time of his resignation.
    • Clip/Quote: “Donald Trump now has the worst net approval rating among independents of any president ever at this point in Term two… Minus 45 points... nearly 10 points worse among independents on his net approval rating at this point. This point in term to Donald Trump is then Richard Nixon. My goodness gracious.” (09:14–09:59, Guest Pollster)

• Economic Performance:

  • Trump’s disapproval rating on the economy hits 69%—the worst ever recorded at this point in a second term, well surpassing previous record lows for George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
    • Quote: “Donald Trump is crushing him on a metric you don't want to be crushing anybody on, which is disapproval ratings. On the economy, he's double digits worse.” (10:08–10:47, Guest Pollster)

• Men and Young Voters:

  • Major shift away from Trump and GOP among male voters—a 20 point negative swing.
    • “He beat Kamala Harris among them by 13 points. By 13 points. Look at where he is now on his net approval rating. Down he goes. It's a 20 point shift away from Donald Trump.” (10:51–11:26, Guest Pollster)
  • Young men (under 25) moved from a Trump +5 advantage in 2024 to a 19-point negative—a 25 point swing (11:26–12:26).

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3. Trump’s Disastrous Iran Policy and GOP Fallout

• Trump implicated in starting an internationally condemned unlawful war with Iran, only to surrender to Iranian demands, resulting in strategic losses for the U.S. and embarrassment for the administration (08:00–13:39).

• Senator Chris Murphy’s Critique:

  • Quote:
    “The President has promised to commit war crimes… That's why I and many other people have been talking for the last 24 hours about the 25th Amendment. It does seem that Trump has lost touch with reality... he thinks the threat of mass scale war crimes has achieved some success. But as we're learning... the success seems to be that Iran has more power over global commerce than ever before in our lifetime.” (12:34–13:37, Sen. Chris Murphy)

  • On specifics of Trump’s surrender:

    • “Donald Trump has agreed to give Iran control of the Strait of Hormuz... they've also agreed to Iran's right to enrichment, to suspend all sanctions… to allow Iran to keep their missile program, their drone program and their nuclear program.” (13:39–15:01, Sen. Chris Murphy)

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4. MAGA Media Spin vs. Reality

• Fox News’s Laura Ingraham tries to reframe the Iran debacle as a Trump victory, dismissing Democratic optimism:
  • Quote: “They always underestimate Trump... Democrats believe they finally had Trump and the entire maga movement in a box. But once again, the last laugh will be on them.” (15:04–15:39, Laura Ingraham)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 01:18 – Main Segment Begins: Overview of GOP defeats
• 04:35 – Tulsa, OK school board flip and impact of anti-immigrant rhetoric
• 05:22 – Francis Howell, MO – End of MAGA school board control
• 05:53 – Waukesha, WI mayoral shock win
• 06:20 – Wisconsin Supreme Court: Chris Taylor’s landslide victory
• 07:43 – Dramatic shifts in Hispanic voting patterns, Milwaukee
• 09:11 – Polling: Trump’s historic unpopularity among independents
• 10:08 – Trump’s disapproval on the economy
• 10:51 – Collapse among men and young male voters
• 12:34 – Chris Murphy: Trump and the Iran disaster, calls for 25th Amendment
• 13:39 – Details of U.S. concessions to Iran
• 15:04 – Laura Ingraham’s pro-Trump spin

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Notable Quotes

• On school board flips:
  “They got wiped out in school boards in ruby red areas last night.” (05:22, Host C)

• On Trump’s polling:
  “Donald Trump now has the worst net approval rating among independents of any president ever…” (09:14, Guest Pollster)

• On male voter realignment:
  “It's a 20 point shift away from Donald Trump. He is now seven points underwater at this particular point among men.” (11:26, Guest Pollster)

• On Iran policy:
  “It does seem that Trump has lost touch with reality... That alone should be grounds for removal of this President.” (12:34–13:37, Sen. Chris Murphy)

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Summary

The episode captures a political landscape in flux, marked by historic Democratic wins in Republican strongholds, GOP infighting, and a collapsing Trump coalition, especially among independents, men, and young voters. The Meiselas brothers drive home the idea that mounting GOP defeats, combined with Trump’s polling collapse and stumbles in foreign policy, signal the potential for a Democratic wave in the coming midterms. The tone is urgent, often incredulous, and openly celebratory—laced with warnings about MAGA extremism and an emphatic defense of democratic norms.

This summary provides a comprehensive guide for listeners and non-listeners alike, highlighting the episode’s most significant political developments, data, and memorable moments.

Transcript

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Republicans just got stunned as they got wiped out in a series of special elections elections. School board elections that took place on Tuesday. I'm talking about in Alaska, in Missouri, in ruby red areas of Wisconsin. I mean we're talking about in Oklahoma, in ruby red areas. We're seeing Democrats taking control of school boards. A big Democratic aligned win in Wisconsin in their Supreme Court race. Chris Taylor, the Democrat aligned candidate winning big by like double digits, 20 points, almost 30 points. And winning in red suburban areas in Wisconsin that were big. Trump districts that are now flipping blue that we haven't seen in decades. Massive Democratic over performances in Georgia as Donald Trump's approval with independence is now lower than Nixon's approval with independence by a significant amount as of the time that Nixon resigned. So Nixon was more popular with independence than Donald Trump is right now. And Donald Trump's disastrous deal with Iran getting us into this unlawful criminal war in Iran only to enter a deal as well. That's a total surrender and capitulation after all of this, I have a feeling that Donald Trump's poll numbers are going to get much, much worse. And just think about what this means for the midterms and the blue tsunami that may unf old. Let's just go through point by point. As Zachary Denini explains, while national attention was focused on Iran, Democrats won big across the country last night. Wisconsin, a blowout Supreme Court race. Remember I had Chris Taylor on the Midas Touch Network. She won by over 20 points in Georgia's 14th congressional district. That's Marjorie Taylor Greene's old district. There was a 23 over performance, 23 point over performance by Democrats. The Democratic candidates still lost, but a 23 point over performance in Missouri. I'll talk about that in a moment. A big mayoral win in a ruby red area and a school board flip in a ruby red area. Then in Oklahoma, Democrats flipped a seat in a 27 point over performance. A massive win there. Let's zoom in on the Tulsa school board seat right here where Democrats flip this seat. The right wing candidate Ilana Ashley went down. She faced backlash after suggesting immigrant students endangered school safety. Zachary Denini points out. And the Democrat Connie Dodson defeats Republican Ilana Ashley flipping these Tulsa Public School Board District four and a massive flip there. Talk about what's going on in Missouri for a second. Daniel explains that the right to took over the Francis Howell School Board, a large Missouri district earlier this decade. That followed book bans and restrictive policies and hate directed at the LGBTQ students and community. Tonight, a slate endorsed by the teacher slate swept and the last remaining right wing conservative MAGA was ousted. Bye Bye Conservative magazine had already lost ground in 2024. The remaining Conservative MAGA who did just lost her reelection rate. Pusker is her name, spoke up for banning a Toni Morrison book just last month. This adds to other conservative MAGA losses on school boards. They got wiped out in school boards in ruby red areas last night. Let's go to Waukesha. The Waukesha mayoral election in Wisconsin. Alicia Halvasbin won 51% to about 48% over Scott over Scott Allen. And as I'm sure you remember from my coverage back in 2024, Waukesha, Wisconsin went in favor of Trump +6. That's one of the redder areas in Wisconsin. Waukesha is and the Democrat won there. A massive over performance. As I noted before. You zoom in on Chris Taylor, the now Supreme Court justices race. She's the Democratic aligned candidate. I mean she absolutely destroyed Maria Larazar. Let's take a look at Ozak county as well as Danini points out, another historic moment as Democrats flip this county from red to blue, breaking a streak of 14 straight conservative MAGA wins in Wisconsin Supreme Court races dating back to 1999 and now Zaki went in favor of the Democratic aligned candidate there also. Let's not sleep on Alaska. You're gonna sleep on Alaska, weren't you? Don't sleep on Alaska. As Donini points out, it looks like the Democratic aligned Rachel Blakesley strong position in Anchorage. Rosales drew scrutiny for posts calling to castrate parents of trans children and praising aspects of Hitler's economic policies. And so you see right here the Anchorage school board seat. See big night for Rachel Blakeslee beating the Alexander Rosales castrate the parents of trans children candidate. And Denini pointed out enough votes are in that Blakeslee is likely to maintain a high single digit to double digit lead as well. A big, big victory there. And a historic night in Georgia. Sean Harris was not able to pull off the victory against the MAGA Clay Fuller. I mean that's Marjorie Taylor Greene's district. But he posted the largest Congress special general election performance not just in a decade, really in the past 20 years. As Denini says. I can't even find a data set that goes back far enough. Oh, don't sleep on Missouri. Democrats won in a very purple area of Missouri suburb. Beto Lopez defeats Cinda Radar in Lee's Summit. A Harris plus two city marking another comfortable Democratic lead last night. And if you wanna zoom in like Milwaukee for example be heavily hispan areas on Milwaukee south side shifting sharply towards democrats with a 56 point swing in one Lincoln Village precinct. Taylor the Supreme Court justice now getting 91% compared to Harris's 64%. May I repeat that for a second? As you looked in some of these heavily Hispanic areas in Milwaukee, Harris got about 64% of the vote. Now the Democratic aligned candidate getting 91% of the vote. We're talking about 50, 86% over performances by Democrats in some of these districts in Milwaukee. Wow, wow, wow. Again let's take a look right here. Jefferson county turning blue. Just look at the map right here and you can see literally every county in Wisconsin overperformed blue overperformed Democrat and the numbers speak for themselves. But let me show you Harry Entonic latest analysis of this poll showing that Donald Trump is less popular amongst independents than Nixon at the time of Nixon's resignation. Play this clip.

[B]

Let's talk about independents which has been this group which really has just been

[D]

eye popping the last few months.

[B]

Eye popping indeed. This number, if, if there's one big number from this is that Donald Trump now has the worst net approval rating among independents of any president ever at this point in Term two, he is worse than Richard Nixon, who would be going adios, amigos in a few months back in 1974. And term two, look at this. Minus 45 points worse than George W. Bush at this point in term two, the Iraq war was weighing him down at minus 37. And worse than Richard Nixon when, of course, there were all those impeachment hearings back in 1974. At minus 36 points, he's nearly 10 points worse among independents on his net approval rating at point. This point in term to Donald Trump is then Richard Nixon. My goodness gracious.

[D]

Height of watering heat. We're comparing it to here.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Or what about polls showing what a disaster Trump is on the economy? Endon, take it away.

[B]

Look at this. These are the worst in our poll. 69% disapprove of Donald Trump on the economy. For George W. Bush, it was 57%. In terms of the average Barack Obama, 56%. Donald Trump is crushing him on a metric you don't want to be crushing anybody on, which is disapproval ratings. On the economy, he's double digits worse. I was looking at some other polling data also above the 57 to 56%. The worst of all time at this point in term number two, it's the economy dragging Trump down, being of course accelerated by inflation being so bad and of course, the gas prices just adding up. It's like a pancake tower and you're just reaching the top. And this is not a tower you want to climb.

[C]

Or what about amongst male voters and then take it away.

[B]

Donald Trump and Republicans won in 2024 because of support from male voters. The only way they can win, given the gender gap in this country, is support from male voters. And male voters are abandoning Donald Trump. Take a look here. This gives the game away, okay? Trump's standing with men. In November of 2024, he beat Kamala Harris among them by 13 points. By 13 points. Look at where he is now on his net approval rating. Down he goes. It's a 20 point shift away from Donald Trump. He is now seven points points underwater at this particular point among men. I think it is very difficult for Republicans to do well in this midterm cycle if Donald Trump is underwater with men. As my uncle once wrote, where the boys are, where the men are, they are underwater when it comes to Donaldson. Okay, so that's overall men, but what about young men who were really influential? Yes, young men. Of course, there was a massive shift to Donald Trump from 2020 to 2024among young men. And look right here. Whoa, whoa. Yikes, yikes, yikes, yikes. Men under the age of 25 on Trump. He won him in 2024 by five points. Look where he is now. The net approval rating, way down there, down we go to negative 19 points. That's nearly, what is that? Nearly a 25 point switcheroo against the President of the United States. When it comes to men under the age of 45, those men that had switched their allegiances over to the Republican Party are seeing what the President is doing. They don't like what the President is doing, and they have very much soured on the President of the United States. Men under the age of 40. What is it now?

[C]

I'll just share with you quickly, Democratic Senator Chris Murphy what he said about Donald Trump's disastrous war in Iran. Play it.

[D]

I mean, listen, the President has promised to commit war crimes. He's promised to eradicate an entire civilization. We have never, ever seen that in the history of this country. That's why I and many other people have been talking for the last 24 hours about the 25th Amendment. It does seem that Trump has lost touch with reality. I mean, we just can't accept a president who is literally promising to destroy an entire civilization, to murder hundreds of thousands of innocent human beings. That alone should be grounds for the removal of this President. But he thinks, I guess, that the threat of mass scale war crimes has achieved some success. But as we're learning in the last few minutes, the success seems to be that Iran has more power over global commerce than ever before in our lifetime. And so the combination of the threat of war crimes along with the outcome of this so called ceasefire, it's just really hard to get your head wrapped around.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

And more from Murphy right here. Let's play it.

[D]

I mean, listen, who knows what's going on? Donald Trump lies every single day. Clearly he's not telling the truth. But if you accept even part of the Iranian statement, Donald Trump has agreed to give Iran control of the Strait of Hormuz. That is extraordinary. If you go deeper into the statement from the Iranian National Security Council, they claim that Trump has also agreed to Iran's right to enrichment, to suspend all sanctions against Iran, and to allow Iran to keep their missile program, their drone program and their nuclear program. Now, who knows if any of that is true. But if at the very least, this agreement gives Iran the right to control the Strait, that is cataclysmic for the world. And it is just stunning that that's where we have gotten to, that Donald Trump took a military action that has apparently, at least for the time being, given Iran control over a critical waterway that they did not have control over before the war began. So it just doesn't sound like there's actually an agreement. Because when Trump is saying is totally different than what the Iranians are saying. But if Iran has the strait permanently now, what an error. What a miscalculation this entire endeavor was.

[C]

But if you listen to Laura Ingraham, here's what she had to say. Let's play it.

[E]

Okay, so actually tonight's news is actually bad news for them. I'm sorry, I'm gonna say it the way it is. They always underestimate Trump. And as for 2028, Van Halen, who we just saw, he has the charisma of a mollusk. So we were at the precipice here. We had to rewrite the script. Donald Trump, Trump continues to rewrite the political script. Democrats believe they finally had Trump and the entire maga movement in a box. But once again, the last laugh will be on them.

[C]

There you have it, folks. Let me know what you think. This spells doom for Maga Republicans in the midterms. Look like a blue. Looks like a blue tsunami is arising. Let me know what you think. Hit subscribe. Let's get to 7 million subscribers. Thanks so much for watching everybody. Love this video. Support independent media and unlock exclusive content ad free videos and custom emojis by becoming a paid member of our YouTube channel today. You can also gift memberships to others. Let's keep growing together.

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