Tom Emmer

U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) watches as U.S. House Minority Leader Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) speaks during a news conference ahead of voting on the Senate immigration funding bill on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., May 21, 2026. REUTERS/Eric Lee

Matthew Chapman attended Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and lives in San Marcos, Texas. Before joining Raw Story, he wrote for Shareblue and AlterNet, specializing in election and policy coverage.

Former Republican strategist Steve Schmidt says voters gave Democrats a three-word mandate, “make it stop,” along with a charge to root out corruption in Washington.

On his podcast “The Warning,” Schmidt called last week’s midterm the biggest rebuke of a president and party in the country’s history. He said voters sent Democrats to Washington to “clean out these stables” and wanted conflict over compromise, with Congress reclaiming power from the executive branch.

Schmidt played a clip of Rep. Tom Emmer (R-MN) telling Democrats they will regret running once the new Congress is seated in January, because Republicans will scrutinize every vote and public statement.

On the contrary, Schmidt argued, the GOP is on a dangerous path by refusing to be chastened and will only grow more extreme, comparing it to a collapsing star that becomes hotter and denser.

He said a civil war is underway inside MAGA, pointing to corruption claims against recently ousted White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles coming from the circle around Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Schmidt claimed Wiles' former firm earned more from lobbying than any firm in history, $186 million in 18 months. He said officials in the movement amount to petty thieves compared with the larger corruption in crypto, stock manipulation, arms dealing and contracting.

Schmidt said Democrats must speak honestly about the costs ahead from the tax law and healthcare cuts and shouldn’t be pushed off message by the press. He said the officials voters sent to Washington haven’t yet shown they can be bought.

Dems’ three-word mandate to Trump: MAKE IT STOP! by Steve Schmidt

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