They were never blue.
He was leading them on election night too, until they just decided to stop counting.
Communism is Red.
In 1988, the TV news media used Blue to represent GOP states won. It wasn't until 1992 -- after Communism fell and was discredited -- that Blue represented Democratic states, and Red meant Republican states.
In the 2000s, I heard Rachel Maddow credit Anderson Cooper for first using Red for Republican states, and she called it "a brilliant move."
To call Republicans Red is to play into the Left's hand.
They stole them.