Trump's R-word slur against Tim Walz backfires as anguished GOP dad FLIPS on crucial vote that could tip DC balance of power
President Trump's latest power play may be derailed by a member of his own political party in a vote planned to take place over 500 miles away from Washington, DC.
Indiana State Senator Michael Bohacek, a Republican from the Hoosier State, has pledged to vote against a draft congressional map that would see two Democratic seats eliminated because of the president's inflammatory rhetoric.
The proposed map comes as part of a redistricting effort aimed at keeping a GOP majority in Washington, DC, after the 2026 midterm elections.
As midterm elections typically result in the president's political party losing seats, Trump has pressured Republican-led states to assist him in keeping power after next November's elections, and not spend his last two years in office as a lame duck, or worse, going through another impeachment trial.
Bohacek issued a statement Friday opposing the president not for political reasons, but for one that was more personal.
The Indiana state senator rebuked Trump's recent rhetoric after the president called Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz—Kamala Harris' 2024 running mate—a slur for people with intellectual disabilities while criticizing his handling of immigration from Somalia and other countries.
Walz is also a father to his son Gus who has a non-verbal learning disorder, as well as anxiety, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
'This is not the first time our president has used these insulting and derogatory references and his choices of words have consequences. I will be voting NO on redistricting, perhaps he can use the next 10 months to convince voters that his policies and behavior deserve a congressional majority,' Bohacek wrote in a Facebook post in which he also explained that he is a father to a daughter with Down syndrome.
While running for president in 2016, Trump was famously accused of mocking a disabled New York Times journalist.
