The Republicans Seem Frantic
4/17/202615 min
April 16, 2026
Congress is back in session, Republicans are reckoning with Victor Orbán’s fall, With Trump’s erratic behavior, rising oil prices, and the Iran War, Republicans are rushing to grab turf before the midterms, Administration is targeting Minnesota by overturning the ban on mining upstream from the Boundary Waters, Trump is threatening to fire Jerome Powell again, Tulsi Gabbard has sent criminal referrals for Trump’s enemies to the DOJ, MAGA loyalists are realizing that there may be repercussions for their actions, Republicans are turning back to Islamophobia to reclaim support from their base, Past supporters are considering abandoning their investments in Trump interests, Trump posts frantically about the White House ballroom.
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Transcript preview
First 90 secondsHeather Cox Richardson· Host0:00
[outro music] April 16th, 2026. Congress is back in session, and there is a frantic feel in the air. Republicans appear to be assessing the fall of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Trump's increasingly erratic behavior, along with his abysmal job approval numbers, rising prices, and an unpopular war in Iran that currently does not appear to have a solution that will not result in the U.S. losing face. In Hungary, incoming Prime Minister Péter Magyar is setting a bar as he appears to want no part of playing business as usual with Orbán's cronies. A center-right politician, Magyar appeared as a guest on state television after his party's dramatic win. Orbán's state media had not let him appear on it before the election, and said he intended to suspend the station's news service because state media does not provide the journalism that the country deserves. He said that he would end the state subsidies for Orbán's right-wing allied university, and that Hungarian President Tamás Sólyom, a close ally of Orbán, was unfit to serve as the guardian of legality and must leave office immediately. Republicans appear to be trying to grab all the turf they can before