November 24, 2025

“...AND SO IT BEGINS!” 

That was Donald Trump’s message to the nation on Nov. 4, 2025, after it became clear that Democrats were sweeping the election. At the time, the post drew little attention. Those who did notice it assumed he was referring to Zohran Mamdani’s victory in New York City.

However, I believe Trump was channeling a much darker message — one born of the humiliation of a staggering defeat, including in his hometown. More importantly, I am convinced he was ragefully declaring the kickoff of the 2026 elections.

His actions have reinforced my opinion. In the three weeks since the Nov. 4 elections, Trump has pardoned 77 allies who tried to overturn the 2020 election. He has asserted broad, unreviewable powers to deploy National Guard troops to U.S. cities. Republican lawyers with close ties to the White House have met to discuss plans to limit early and mail voting.

Meanwhile, several Republican-controlled states have pushed forward new gerrymanders for the 2026 congressional map, enacted new voter-suppression laws, and staffed key election offices with MAGA loyalists — all while the RNC and its allies continue to file new lawsuits in court.

If you want to understand how Republicans will approach 2026, look at the GOP’s bare-knuckle tactics against a Missouri ballot measure that would block the state’s new gerrymandered congressional map. It offers chilling evidence of how far the GOP will go to hold power — and what Trump meant when he said, “And so it begins.”

Under Missouri law, if proponents of the ballot measure collect enough signatures across the state’s congressional districts, the new map would be put on hold until the public can vote on it. That would mean the old congressional maps would almost certainly be used in 2026. The deadline to collect the more than 100,000 signatures is Dec. 11.

In recent weeks, Republicans have tried everything to derail this effort. Secretary of State Denny Hoskins (R) submitted misleading ballot language that would tell voters the gerrymander “better reflects statewide voting patterns.”

A Republican group has circulated misleading warnings urging signers to withdraw their signatures “before it’s too late.” Meanwhile, an unidentified group is targeting signature collectors with offers of $5,000 to abandon the effort.

On top of that, Republicans are in court seeking any legal delay they can engineer to keep the measure from advancing. It is a full-court press.

But none of these measures compares with the latest escalation from Missouri’s Republican attorney general. On Thursday, Attorney General Catherine Hanaway (R) abruptly announced that she had referred the pro-democracy ballot campaign to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), claiming — without providing any evidence — that “out-of-state signature collectors are reportedly employing illegal aliens in their efforts to undermine the will of the people’s elected representatives.”

This is a terrifying move ripped straight from the authoritarian playbook — and it doesn’t surprise me one bit. 

When Attorney General Pam Bondi sent Justice Department officials to observe voting in California and New Jersey earlier this month, I sounded the alarm. I warned that this was a trial run to normalize the deployment of federal law enforcement in elections. I said ICE and the FBI would be next, and that expanded military deployments were laying the groundwork for their involvement as well.

In the run-up to the elections, many in the legacy media and pundit class dismissed my concerns as alarmist. Instead of taking them seriously, they invented excuses to portray the administration’s actions as normal.

Now, in Missouri, we are seeing the next stage of this plan. Yet I fear once again that too few will heed the warning.

There is no legitimate reason for a state attorney general to investigate a ballot committee mere weeks before the signature deadline. It is bone-chilling to consider that ICE may now be used to create an atmosphere of fear and intimidation.

We have all seen what ICE officials are doing to U.S. citizens — yes, U.S. citizens — in our nation’s cities. As disgraceful as their behavior is, I have urged you before to imagine what happens when they turn their focus to interfering in elections.

Well, the time has come. You no longer need to imagine it. As long as Republicans get their way, all you will have to do is look toward Missouri. 

And if they are willing to go to these lengths for a single state ballot measure that affects just one House seat, imagine what they will do a year from now when control of the House and Senate is on the line. More importantly, imagine what you will do.

We don’t have time to be shocked and horrified anymore. Donald Trump is planning to subvert the results of the 2026 elections. His social media post may have been cryptic, but his message was clear. Ours must be as well.

We must give no ground in the fight for free and fair elections. We cannot normalize the dangerously abnormal. We must insist that our elected representatives — and the courts — stand up against voter suppression and election subversion.

Most importantly, we must speak out and support those who do the same. Legacy media will not save us. It is content to let democracy die — whether in darkness or daylight — as long as corporate profits keep flowing.

It is up to us to protect democracy through peaceful protest, legal action and civil courage. As Trump said, the fight has already begun.

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