U.S. President Donald Trump at a White House press briefing in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 20, 2026. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst
One need only watch MS NOW or read The Bulwark to see examples of well-known conservatives and libertarians who have vehement contempt for President Donald Trump and the MAGA movement. Three of MS NOW's top hosts — former Republican Congressman Joe Scarborough, ex-White House Communications Director Nicolle Wallace and former Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairman Michael Steele — were prominent figures in the pre-MAGA GOP of the past. And The Bulwark features a who's-who of Never Trump conservatives, including Bill Kristol, Mona Charen (a former Nancy Reagan speechwriter), Sarah Longwell and Tim Miller (an ex-GOP strategist).
Yet Trump dominates the Republican Party in 2026, and many GOP lawmakers and governors are afraid to offer even tepid criticism of the president.
In an op-ed published by the New York Times on March 9, Jon A. Shields — who teaches at Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, California — stresses that at the local level, there are still conservative Republicans in red states who haven't gone full MAGA. But he fears that their place in the GOP might be endangered.
"Millions of Americans of all political stripes have moved to red states since 2020, mostly looking for a better quality of life," Shields argues. "Why does Republican governance in the states still seem so, well, competent? Partly, it's because many local Republican elites have been quietly resisting the MAGA-fication of their party, even in the heart of Trump country. But that resistance is increasingly fragile — and it may not hold out much longer."
Shields adds, "If the old guard is driven out of the party once and for all, many Americans will eventually confront an unexpected legacy of President Trump's revolution: a nation where there are no sound alternatives to progressive rule."
Shields cites Wyoming as an example of a deep red state where local Republicans haven't necessarily gone total MAGA.
"Plenty of traditional Republicans have either retired or lost their own primaries," the Claremont McKenna professor explains. "But enough of them have hung on to give the old Republican elite a significant bloc in the state legislature…. This Republican civil war is being waged in many red states, mostly beneath the radar of the national media…. These clashes have gone largely unnoticed outside the states where they’re happening, and have become visible only when they have clear national significance."
But how much longer non-MAGA Republicans in red states will be able to hang on in local politics, according to Shields, remains to be seen.
"The anti-MAGA resistance in state Republican parties is real," Shields writes. "It's widespread. But it's not clear whether it can turn back the MAGA tide. So far, the tide is still coming in. Old guard Republicans everywhere are on their heels, clinging to shrinking vestiges of power. Since 2016, they have suffered numerous setbacks across the country, while Mr. Trump and his allies have exerted increasing influence far down the ballot."