Vice President JD Vance, President Donald Trump take aim at Indiana State Senator Rod Bray in social media posts about redistricting

 INDIANAPOLIS — Vice President of the United States JD Vance took aim at Indiana State Senator Rodric Bray in a post on X Saturday afternoon.

The post pertained to the Virginia State Senate’s decision to advance a proposed constitutional amendment to redraw the state’s congressional maps. According to the Associated Press, the Virginia State Senate skews more Democratic than Republican.

“I’d like to thank (Bray) for not even trying to fight back against this extraordinary Democrat abuse of power,” Vance wrote in his post. “Now the votes of Indiana Republicans will matter far less than the votes of Virginia Democrats. We told you it would happen, and you did nothing.”

President of the United States Donald Trump also targeted Bray in a Truth Social post on Saturday night.

Trump’s post did not go into details as to why or how, but he stated that he and David McIntosh of the Club for Growth have agreed to “take out” Bray.

“I was with David McIntosh of the Club for Growth, and we agreed that we will both work tirelessly together to take out Indiana Senate Majority Leader Rod Bray, a total RINO, who betrayed the Republican Party, the President of the United States, and everyone else who wants to, MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! We’re after you Bray, like no one has ever come after you before!”

McIntosh represented Indiana’s 2nd Congressional District in the U.S. Congress from 1995-2000.

The Indiana State Senate rejected a bill to redraw the Hoosier State’s congressional maps in December. The bill made it to a third reading before the state senate shot it down.

The senate’s decision prevented the bill from getting to Indiana Governor Mike Braun’s desk. Braun had been supportive of redistricting, and he even went as far as calling a special session of state lawmakers in October so the issue could be discussed.

Braun, Vance Trump and U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson had all voiced support for redistricting in Indiana.

Vance traveled to Indianapolis to speak with Braun and other Indiana lawmakers about the issue in October. The vice president also met with Braun in Indiana in August, and the pair reportedly discussed redistricting in a closed-door meeting.

Trump joined a call in October to talk redistricting with Indiana’s politicians. His administration also invited Republican members of the Indiana General Assembly to the White House for a visit in August.

Johnson appeared to be less involved in redistricting talks in Indiana than Trump and Vance, though he did participate in a video call to discuss the subject with state lawmakers in November.

Bray came to the forefront of the redistricting debate in November. At that time, the state senate’s president pro tem indicated that the senate did not have the votes to pass redistricting legislation and that it should not convene for a special session called by Braun.

Ultimately, the state senate convened in December to discuss redistricting. At the time, Indiana House Speaker Todd Huston indicated that the redistricting talks would be considered part of the 2026 regular session, not a separate special session.

After Bray suggested the state senate did not have the votes to pass redistricting legislation, he drew the ire of Trump. In November, Trump took aim at Bray on social media, calling him “weak and pathetic.”

Trump also called out Indiana State Senator Greg Goode on social media last fall. Goode was subsequently targeted in a swatting incident that involved a person calling a fake emergency at Goode’s home in to the police. That phony call led law enforcement to send a large number of uniformed officers to Goode’s home. Police ultimately determined the call they received was part of a hoax.

Other members of Indiana’s general assembly experienced similar incidents of swatting in the lead-up to their discussion on redistricting. A recap of some of those incidents is available here.

Indiana State Police were tasked with investigating the swatting incidents. Investigators encouraged those with information on the incidents to email iifc@iifc.in.gov.

Saturday was not the first time Trump indicated that he may support other Republicans who run against Bray in future political races.

“You had one gentleman, the head of the Senate, I guess, Bray, whatever his name is — I heard he was against it,” Trump said in December. “He will probably lose his next primary. I hope he does because he has done a tremendous disservice.”

“Whenever his primary is, I’m sure he’ll go down,” Trump added. “I’ll certainly support anybody that wants to go against him.”

According to a report from Nexstar’s The Hill, Bray is not up for reelection until 2028. It is currently unclear if Indiana Republicans will revisit the issue of redistricting in a future session.