Trump leads MAGA’s transformation into 'tiny universe of angry cranks'

Tuesday brought a wave of defeats for Republican primary candidates opposed by President Donald Trump, with incumbents in Texas, Kentucky and Louisiana being unseated after drawing his ire over their willingness to oppose him on a handful of policies. But while Trump is celebrating, longtime Esquire political commentator Charles P. Pierce asserts that it’s impossible to deny that the president’s MAGA following has dwindled to a “tiny universe of angry cranks.”

“The Party of Lincoln has become a cult devoted to self-sacrifice,” says Pierce, suggesting that Republicans who are willing to give up their moral and public standing in favor of fealty to Trump will be rewarded by his endorsement, which still holds obvious sway on a state level within the GOP. But beyond that, Pierce warns, “Beware of any punditry that stands amazed at the president's awesome power. You are being impressed by the velocity of a death spiral.”

This is because Trump’s small election wins may translate into national election losses.

“The GOP's numbers among independent voters have dropped into middle earth,” notes Pierce, referencing the president’s abysmal 69 percent disapproval rating among non-party-affiliated voters. “Without a strong vote from independents, MAGA is reduced to nothing but a tiny universe of angry cranks. That may be enough to carry a primary, as it plainly was on Tuesday. But it says nothing about what may or may not happen in November.”

Pierce is referencing a growing assertion among political experts: that while Trump’s endorsement is enough to win primaries within his own party, the president’s cratered approval likely means that in the general elections, Democratic candidates — who can draw from an electorate of not only liberal voters but independents and even Republicans disillusioned by Trump — will be better positioned to defeat an opponent who appeals solely to a dwindling MAGA base.

What’s more, MAGA itself has begun to fracture, making the reliability of the movement coalescing around specific candidates increasingly dubious. Many MAGA faithful are even ditching Trump himself over accusations that he betrayed his “America First” campaign promises. Others, including high-profile figures like Tucker Carlson, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Alex Jones, have broken with the president over specific issues like his mishandling of the Epstein files, his decision to wage war on Iran and his close alliance with Israel. And others still were turned off by Trump’s fight with the Pope and post of himself as Jesus, which had more than a few questioning whether he is the Antichrist.

So with MAGA slimming down and breaking up, politicos like Pierce are forecasting big losses for the Republicans later this year. In the meantime, he has a wish for conservatives who lost their seats under pressure from Trump: “that Tom Massie read the unredacted names from the Epstein files on the House floor, and that he and Bill Cassidy vow to caucus with the Democrats for the rest of their terms in office. Dare to dream, guys.”