There was one truthful passage in President Donald Trump’s socialmedia diatribes on Indiana lawmakers’ decision not to redraw the state’s congressional boundaries.
“Indiana is a State with strong, smart and patriotic people,” Trump wrote Saturday, Nov. 15 on his Truth Social platform.
That much — and little else — is correct. Indeed, state Sen. Greg Goode exhibited those qualities in hosting a listening session on Nov. 1 at Terre Haute City Hall, during which residents of District 38 voiced overwhelming opposition to an abnormal mid-decade redistricting. Goode — a conservative Republican from Terre Haute — also showed strength, wisdom and patriotism by acknowledging the reality that the majority of Hoosiers in his district do not want the redraw.
LIKEWISE, the Indiana Senate leader, pro tem Sen. Rodric Bray (R-Martinsville), made the wise, strong and proper decision against assembling the Senate for an early session in December to redraw the congressional borders. “Today, I’m announcing there are not enough votes to move that idea forward, and the Senate will not reconvene in December,” Bray said Friday, Nov. 14. The following Tuesday, the Senate voted to adjourn until Jan. 5, defying Gov. Mike Braun’s Trump-appeasing call for a special redistricting session.
Notably, Goode has not taken a stance for or against, and has consistently maintained that he will not do so until he sees an official prospective map. None have been publicly released by the Indiana GOP.
Bray’s decision is significant. Republicans hold super-majority advantages in the state Senate and House. That single-party dominance is why Trump is pressuring Indiana to capitulate. That way, he can use Hoosier GOP state legislators’ powers to concoct maps that will help his party overcome his low national approval ratings and retain a majority in the U.S. House next November. But Trump has not convinced enough of them to wade into this mess. Still, he is not letting up.
His scheme itself is bad enough. But his social-media rhetoric regarding Indiana’s situation is reckless and beneath a president of the United States. The riskiness in his words quickly manifested last weekend. Trump aimed his verbal wrath at Goode and Bray.
“Very disappointed in Indiana State Senate Republicans, led by RINO [Republicans in Name Only] Senators Rod Bray and Greg Goode, for not wanting to redistrict their State, allowing the United States Congress to perhaps gain two more Republican seats,” Trump wrote. The president then blamed Democratic-led states’ gerrymandered boundaries, then circled back to Bray and Goode — “these two politically correct type ‘gentlemen’ and a few others” — for “depriving Republicans of a Majority in the House. A VERY BIG DEAL!”
HE ADDED, “Senators Bray, Goode, and the others … should DO THEIR JOB, AND DO IT NOW! If not, let’s get them out of office, ASAP.”
On Sunday, Nov. 16, one day after Trump’s initial Indiana rant, Goode became the target of a “swatting” incident.
“Swatting” involves someone giving a false report to police with the intent of intimidating someone else. Sadly, a false report to the Vigo County Sheriff’s Department on the night of Nov. 16 targeted Goode.
The false report came in an email sent Sunday evening to the Terre Haute Police Department advising police that harm had been done to people inside a home in southern Vigo County, which turned out to be Goode’s house. Vigo County Sheriff’s deputies responded. Thankfully, all inside were safe, and unharmed, according to the sheriff’s office.
Goode praised the law enforcement’s response and added, “Vigo County sheriff’s deputies responded to the incident under the impression of a domestic violence emergency. The deputies professionally fulfilled their duty. While this entire incident is unfortunate and reflective of the volatile nature of our current political environment, I give thanks to God that my family and I are OK.”
SINCE GOODE’S INCIDENT, three other Indiana Republicans have been targets of swatting.
The perpetrator of the false reports is certainly responsible for that cruel act. But a president’s words matter.
Braun — who also got ridiculed by Trump, yet continues to insist that GOP legislators from his party acquiesce to redistricting — offered support for Goode. Such swatting incidents have “no place in Indiana,” Braun said Monday, Nov. 17.
How did the president react on that Monday? He ranted again about Bray, adding that competitors were lining up for a primary challenge.
The redrawing of Indiana’s congressional boundaries is a decision that is up to Hoosiers, not a president. Strong, smart, patriotic Hoosiers do not need his interference. Instead, he needs to curb his rhetoric and focus on myriad problems faced by the federal government, which is his responsibility.
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