
A struggle session on MS NOW featuring two former Biden administration officials reacting to a red state’s primary results boiled down to, “I like republicans when they are democrats.”
While many have already shifted focus to the midterm elections and whether or not the GOP will hold Congress, ongoing primaries suggest a more impactful fight between conservatives and RINOs.
As such, after many incumbent state senators in Indiana got shellacked by President Donald Trump-endorsed challengers, MS NOW’s Jen Psaki and rumored 2028 White House hopeful Pete Buttigieg were left vexed by the outcome and pining for “a different kind of politics.”
“These Republicans in Indiana, you probably don’t agree with them on much, I don’t agree with them on much in terms of their policies,” said the former White House press secretary after five of seven races went in Trump’s favor against incumbents. “But, they knew what was coming if they stood up to Trump. They stood up to him anyway. They decided — some of them at least — that there are worse things than losing an election.”
Jen Psaki and Mayor Pete from Indiana are sad that the Republicans in his state who “stood up to Trump” lost their seats.
They lament how much better the world of politics could be if all Republicans could just be more like those Republicans. pic.twitter.com/gINu3Mt012
— Western Lensman (@WesternLensman) May 6, 2026
JUST IN: President Trump has SUCCESSFULLY primaried out 5 RINO Indiana State Senators, of 7 races where he endorsed against incumbents who blocked redistricting
+1 other Trump candidate won in an open Senate seat to replace a RINO
One district is headed to RECOUNT… pic.twitter.com/xOsMY6GPhb
— Eric Daugherty (@EricLDaugh) May 6, 2026
It was then that she asked the former transportation secretary if he believed there to be “more of them out there,” to which he began, “I do. I mean, I see it everywhere I go. We have been going to a lot of more conservative areas.”
“I do believe a different kind of politics is possible,” added Buttigieg. “If we’re all actually talking about what we believe in, that is better than Republicans repeatedly having to feel pressure to either lose their career or do something wrong because the president is demanding it of them.”
The leftist analysis marked a striking, albeit unsurprising, contrast with the view of Republican voters and conservative voices fed up with the establishment failing to pass even widely bipartisan-supported measures like the SAVE America Act to ensure the integrity of future elections.
Indiana Sen. Jim Banks (R) assessed, “Everyone in Indiana politics should have learned an important lesson today: President Trump is the single most popular Republican among Hoosier voters. Indiana is a conservative state, and we deserve conservatives in our State Senate who have a pulse on Republican voters.”
Likewise, CNN senior political commentator Scott Jennings remarked, “[Trump] calls the shots in the Republican Party, and if you go against that, he will pour his wrath out upon you, and it doesn’t typically turn out well.”
“You gotta be thinking, ‘This is a bad night for me,’” added Jennings of any GOP candidate running against Trump-backed challengers.
So far on Tuesday night, five President Donald Trump-endorsed Statehouse candidates ousted state lawmakers. Sen. Jim Banks celebrated the news by saying that “President Trump is the single most popular Republican among Hoosier voters.”
Read more: https://t.co/J2DwrlQt2L pic.twitter.com/G1aUnBa6W9
— IndyStar (@indystar) May 6, 2026
Trump cleaned up in Indiana State Senate primary tonight. @VanJones68 and I analyze & debate presidents getting involved in state level redistricting matters on @cnn pic.twitter.com/LutBmNpX4h
— Scott Jennings (@ScottJenningsKY) May 6, 2026
As for the commiseration of Psaki and Buttigieg with an increasing number of RINOs seeing the prospect of their continued legislative careers dwindling, reactions on social media offered no sympathy for the decline in “controlled opposition.”
“I like republicans when they are democrats”
— Nevervotingdemocratagain (@NevervotingDem) May 6, 2026
They want controlled opposition. Too bad.
— Andrew Kolvet (@AndrewKolvet) May 6, 2026
Wrong lesson. Republican voters chose Trump because they were tired of feeling like their leadership had no interest in beating the Democrats. They were tired of feeling like even when they won, they lost.
This shellacking tonight didn’t happen because of Trump. His candidates… https://t.co/wBab6rMtsF
— Megan Basham (@megbasham) May 6, 2026
We don’t need, nor do we want RINOs in the Republican Party. And we sure as heck don’t want Democrats running as Republicans.
— The Lone Star Herald (@LoneStarHerald) May 6, 2026
Not sad. It is an election. Elections have consequences. Go against the voters and lose the seat. Democracy
— Vincent Cammarata (@cammarata_m) May 6, 2026
They lost their seats not because they stood up to Trump they lost them because they failed to represent their own voters values
— Tom Murphy (@TomMurphy458809) May 6, 2026
— jowheeler42@yahoo.com (@jowheeler42yah1) May 6, 2026

JUST IN: President Trump has SUCCESSFULLY primaried out 5 RINO Indiana State Senators, of 7 races where he endorsed against incumbents who blocked redistricting