'Deep fissures': Trump faces challenge of bringing warring MAGA factions together

08 January

During the 2024 presidential race, much of the GOP rallied around Donald Trump. But that doesn't mean that the MAGA movement doesn't have its share of angry, bitter infighting.

"War Room" host Steve Bannon and billionaire Tesla SpaceX Elon Musk recently clashed over H-1B visas, and there are plenty of divisions within the GOP's small House majority.

In an article published on January 8, The Guardian's David Smith poses the question: Can President-elect Trump bring warring MAGA Republicans together?

Smith explains, "Republicans are taking full control of Washington for the first time since 2017. But the party remains an unwieldy coalition of conservatives, libertarians, moderates, populists and exhibitionists. It is already embroiled in a war or words over immigration between the tech billionaire Elon Musk and the MAGA ('Make America Great Again') grassroots."

When a new Congress was sworn in on January 3, however, House Republicans—except for Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Kentucky) — put aside their differences and vote to keep Rep. Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) as their speaker. The vote followed an endorsement of Johnson from Trump.

Elaine Kamarck of the Brookings Institution told The Guardian that the MAGA coalition has "got some pretty deep fissures in it."

Kamarck added, however, "On the other hand, Trump is, at this moment, popular enough to probably soothe over some of those fissures as he did in the intervention that got Speaker Johnson over the top. He came in at the last minute and saved the day, and so, I expect that initially, he's going to be quite powerful in directing the party."

Read The Guardian's full article at this link.

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