Is the MAGA Magic Gone?
For those of you new to Steady, welcome. We thank you for coming aboard in the late stages of one of the most important midterm elections in our nation’s history. Here we have no corporate overlords, no one to make sure we equivocate on lies. No one to say, “but on the other hand.” Many days there is no “other hand.” There are facts and truth — or as close as it’s possible to get to the truth. But every day is a full-scale firefight trying to counter the massive amounts of disinformation coming from Donald Trump and his media enablers. No one can fight the fight perfectly. We do the best we can. That is where we begin today, with news about the world of fake news. It was satisfying to learn that Fox “News,” long the biggest blight on American journalism, is losing viewers just before a momentous election. And it’s not a small drop. Fox has lost more than a quarter of its viewers compared to a year ago. It was the largest decline of any cable news channel in the month before an election in a decade, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Fox still has the largest audience of any American cable news channel. But while Fox has been losing viewers, CNN and MS NOW have both been gaining. It turns out that this election is just not much of a turn-on for the propagandists at Fox. The downward trend at the cable channel matches the drop in approval ratings of the president, whose numbers have fallen off a cliff. So who is dragging down whom? Fox believes it’s Trump. The channel has long deemed Trump rallies must-see TV. This month, not so much. In October, it aired only nine of 24 Trump events. And when they do air them, the man-on-the-street interviews aren’t what they used to be. At a Trump rally to support Senate candidate Darline Graham in South Carolina on Thursday, a Fox reporter asked an attendee why he was there. “There’s nothing like seeing a cult right up front,” he responded. The reporter quickly abandoned the interview. Trump’s extemporaneous, stream-of-consciousness rants go on for hours. The speeches are short on substance and long on hokum. One might say he is off-message, but that would imply there is a message. What he says often veers into what young people call “cringe” territory, with the President of the United States making crude sexual references to the anatomy of Republican candidates he’s there to support. The MAGA coalition, once thought to be rock-solid, is showing signs of crumbling. The last weekend before a midterm usually sees the president campaigning in the closest races. On Saturday, Trump was scheduled to rally for Senate candidate Roger Marshall in Kansas, who polls indicate is closely trailing his Democratic challenger. Today, the White House announced the event was canceled but provided no reason. The Make America Great Again movement was born out of Trump’s embrace of populism, the political ideology that places the needs of the common people over the elites. They say politics makes strange bedfellows, but this has to be one of the oddest political pairings of all time. As the moniker suggests, MAGA is predicated on harking back to a better time in American history. Those who identify as MAGA Republicans believe the 1980s and the 1950s are eras of which we need to return. “[T]he ‘Make America Great Again’ slogan is about nostalgia, a call to return to an idealized past. For many Republicans, these two decades embody this mythologized past. The 1980s were a triumphalist era, in which the Reagan and Bush administrations celebrated American power and patriotism. The 1950s are even more idealized in the American imagination as a period of economic prosperity and social consensus. In reality, of course, neither decade matches the mythology. But these imagined eras present an appealing contrast to today’s hyper-polarized politics,” said Jesse Rhodes, professor of political science at UMass Amherst. Trump’s promises to “drain the swamp,” and end “forever wars,” and “release the Epstein files” all bolstered his populist and MAGA bona fides and placed him firmly at the head of a vastly altered Republican Party. With his win in 2016, Trump’s newfound political power, coupled with his manipulative charm and demands for loyalty, cemented MAGA as the place to be within Republican ranks. His 2020 loss was a great disappointment for his followers, but it was nowhere near the end of the movement. Even after fomenting an insurrection, being impeached twice, and being convicted on 34 felony counts, Trump’s MAGA cult gave him another four years to solidify and accelerate his sharp shift to authoritarianism. Today, the wheels on the Trump 2.0 bus are starting to shake and the axle is beginning to drag. Those in the MAGA movement have become disillusioned with the affordability crises that Trump neither takes responsibility for nor even acknowledges, the war in Iran, and the lack of transparency around the Epstein files. With polls, his popularity is at a historic low for him and is one of the lowest for any president. It seems a lot of people have gotten wise to Trump’s double dealing, broken promises, and self-enrichment. There has been a pronounced shift within the Republican Party identity. After Trump took office, 55% of Republicans identified as MAGA, while 43% called themselves traditional Republicans, according to NBC News. Today the numbers have flipped. MAGA now accounts for only 44% of all Republicans. The non-MAGA (now) majority within the GOP says they are frustrated with the president and where he has taken the party. They are increasingly acting and voting like independents, rather than dependable Republicans. Trump is so desperate to hold on to his power and popularity that he has tightened his grip on the base while continuing to shun everyday Republicans. He is so isolated and surrounded by people who won’t give him bad news that he may have no idea so many MAGA followers appear to be abandoning ship. Trump has lost the support of popular and influential far-right media personalities such as Tucker Carlson, Joe Rogan, and Candace Owens. Even Megyn Kelly has sharply criticized Trump’s Iran war. Some of the most devoted of the MAGA faithful are the “Front Row Joes,” a loyal group of supporters who have spent the better part of the decade attending Trump rallies. But there is dissension even in those ranks. For example, Trisha Hope has lost the faith. She gave up her apartment in Texas and bought an RV to follow Trump around the country. But the president’s decision to suppress the Epstein files “was like a dagger in my heart,” she told Politico. “If we do lose the midterms and he is impeached again, I will be walking the halls of Congress in support of that impeachment,” she said. Another “Joe,” Rick Frazier, who has been to more than 100 rallies, believes “Trump can’t be trusted.” Frazier told Politico that he is “to the point of not going to the polls in November.” The lack of a coherent midterm message from the White House and a reliance on old grievances and tired culture war issues is allowing Democrats to make inroads in reliably red and MAGA-heavy districts. Case in point: Florida’s 22nd Congressional District. The state is widely considered a stronghold of the MAGA movement, but that didn’t stop Democrat Pia Dandiya from running in one of Florida’s newly gerrymandered districts. Republicans assumed it would be an easy pick up, since Trump won the district by more than 10 points in 2024. But Dandiya does not subscribe to that narrative. By staying on a disciplined message of promising to lower the cost of living, protect healthcare and Social Security, and end corruption in Washington, she has moved the race from leaning Republican to toss-up. She delivers her core message at every event, in every post, and to every voter she meets. She saw an opening, a chink in the MAGA armor, even in ruby-red Florida. If she can move the needle there, there is hope for Democrats in the rest of the country. Whatever your political persuasion, if you haven’t done so already, please vote — before Tuesday, if your state allows. I am profoundly proud that so many of my fellow Americans have already gone to the polls. According to the University of Florida Election Lab, more than 43 million votes have been cast nationwide. By Monday, that number will most likely break a record. You are engaged and enthused, and I am here for it.
No matter how you subscribe, I thank you for reading. Stay Steady, |
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