Rick Wilson, one of the original Never Trumpers and a founder of the Lincoln Project, understands a lot about politics.
I can understand why some are not keen on him. He’s a former Republican, working for W and other GOP before him.
At the beginning of the second term for the felon — and I still have trouble believing we elected this man a second time — he gave some really good advice. We needed to make the felon and his badministration unpopular. In a way it has been easy to do, and the felon and his enablers have supplied so much material, but in a way it has been challenging, because the felon has been getting billionaire buddies to buy up so much of the media.
Still, it was the right advice. And I expect Wilson knows how effective it is because he used it in the past against other politicians, such as Obama and Obamacare.
Anyway, Wilson has been working for the good guys for at least 10 years at this point, and he does understand the trends.
Here’s his latest Elephant in the Room, predicting an extinction level event for the Maga movement in 2026. And, for those who don’t want to watch, I provide a summary below.
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Summary: Predicting extinction level event for Maga in 2026. Here’s why and how:
The felon is historically unpopular. Hoover like levels, with new personal lows on the economy and on health care. (not all of the flutter below is discussed in the podcast)
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New AP/NORC poll on Trump’s approval per @interactivepolls.bsky.social
🟢 Approve: 36%
🟤 Disapprove: 61%
Trump's net approval on key issues
🟢 Border Security: +2
🟤 Crime: -12 (was +8 in Aug)
🟤 Immigration: -22 (new low)
🟤 Foreign policy: -23
🟤 The Economy: -36 (new low)
🟤 Healthcare: -40 (new low)
— Jon Cooper (@joncooper-us.bsky.social) 2025-12-11T19:02:10.114Z
Moreover, Rs cannot distance themselves from the felon. Even those in “swing districts” have lost their spines and have voted with him the vast majority of the time. That’s when they showed up to work.
Democrats have learned to campaign without taking the culture war bait. Wilson spoke at length how the new mayor-elect for Miami spoke about building more housing. Note this is Florida, which is where the felon lives.
Wilson talks about wave elections for midterms. 1994 brought in Newt Gingrich and Contract with America. 2006 — W had a bad economy, unpopular wars, and had just messed up the federal response to Katrina, and was threatening Social Security. 2010 — Obama had just passed the Affordable Care Act and people were scared by it (I think Wilson was partly responsible for the fear, though he doesn’t mention it). 2018 — first, Nancy Pelosi told everyone to find the best D candidate for their districts, and second, Ds campaigned on the true statements that the felon was crazy and hurting Americans. He notes that in 2026 there will be a bad economy, an incompetent administration, and very likely an unpopular foreign war.
Talks about the felon’s first night in the “Affordability Tour”, and how bad the felon performed (and how it could only go downhill, with more profanity and dementia). Thinks no one in the GOP will want him to campaign in their district.
Although maybe he is unwell? Or maybe he knows how bad it went? Saw this, but I don’t know how well sourced it is. But if they mentioned his ongoing health issues, then it’s serious, because they don’t usually talk about health issues.
Begs Democrats to listen. The core message has to be on affordability, concerned with inflation, jobs, energy prices, health care. Don’t get distracted by climate change, gun control, LGTB, and more. Doesn’t mean we’re on the wrong side of these issues, but they should not be the focus. Rs know they are on the wrong side of affordability.
The felon is the meteor that is going to kill his own party. They cannot run. They cannot hide. He predicts we will see more retirements. The economy is such that they cannot escape, even if the felon calls it an A +++++ whatever.
Small meteor flying next to the big meteor: Corruption. The most corrupt president we have ever had. While people are lining up at food banks, he’s building a golden ballroom (and the destruction of the East Wing was a real gut punch). It is so obscene, while he begs for medals and crowns and fake awards. Link the harm he has done with tariffs and taxes, while he takes money. D candidates should ask their opponents: Should the felon get that ballroom, yes or no? (And more examples.)
Rs know how f**ked they are. The 2024 bump with black men, Hispanic men and even some of the young men, is gone.
When people bring up the trans issue, Ds should say: You seem really obsessed with that. I’m concentrating on the economy and on the issue of affordability.
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The Rs know this. They are saying it privately, but it’s being repeated publicly. Note this is not in Wilson’s video, but it’s still fun!
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DNC Chair Martin: Did you see what the RNC chair just said about the midterms? He said Republicans are facing almost certain defeat. He said, 'There's no sugarcoating. It's a pending, looming disaster.' I never thought I'd agree with the Republican Party chair on anything, but I agree with him.
— FactPost (@factpostnews.bsky.social) 2025-12-13T00:22:20.975509337Z
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Anyway, just wanted to share Wilson’s wisdom.
I also think there’s a lesson for team blue. When/if we ever return to power, we cannot let ourselves be blindsided again by those out of power. We have to remind them, constantly, of what they did and what they stood for.
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