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James Blair’s Badly Needed Victory

The brains behind the G.O.P.’s redistricting assault scored a win in Indiana—but it came at an unprecedented cost.

James Blair
For Blair, the architect of the redistricting assault, the win was singularly important. After all, as he leaves the White House to oversee Trump’s political apparatus, he’s been trying to outrun some pretty significant misses. Photo: Andrew Harnik/Getty Images
Leigh Ann Caldwell
May 6, 2026

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Minutes after the electoral loss of most of the Indiana State Senate Republicans whom Donald Trump targeted for opposing mid-decade redistricting, White House political director James Blair posted that Gladiator meme in which Russell Crowe yells “Are you not entertained?” after slaughtering a stadium full of nemeses. Yup, we get it, message received. Trump’s operation had not merely defeated dissenters, it had demonstrated what happens to Republicans who try to defy the White House.