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After spending a better part of the last decade investigating extremism, I have learned that one thing is consistent within every movement: circular firing squads. Though the group embraces a common disdain for an external enemy, in-fighting somehow always manages to weaken the organization. Over the last few weeks, the political far-right has proven it’s no exception. While I saw it coming, I admit I’m surprised that MAGA in-fighting has gotten so heated before the President-elect has even taken the Oath of Office.
There were early indications of trouble in paradise when Trump announced Matt Gaetz as his choice for Attorney General. The prospect of a congressional firebrand and alleged pedophile like Gaetz serving in a position of immense authority was simply a bridge too far. Rank and file members of the GOP expressed similar misgivings at the announcement that Tulsi Gabbard, an individual long speculated as a foreign asset, was chosen to serve as Director of National Intelligence. Likewise, there was noticeable head-scratching over the announcement that notorious conspiracy theorist Robert Kennedy, Jr. was chosen to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. When Fox News personality Pete Hegseth was tapped to lead the Department of Defense, the voices of objection from within the party became considerably louder.
Senator Joni Ernst, a former Army National Guard member and a retired lieutenant colonel who has made combating sexual harassment in the military a focus of her time on Capitol Hill, was particularly vocal about her misgivings of Hegseth, who faces allegations of sexual assault and reports alleging sexual misconduct, excessive drinking and financial mismanagement. The Senator from Iowa faced an onslaught of threats and attacks from the MAGA movement for voicing her objections. As a result, Ernst quickly backed away from the fight and submitted to the will of the angry mob, issuing a strong statement of support for the controversial television host, who lacks senior military or national security experience, to oversee our nation’s military.
Though politicians including Lindsey Graham, Mitch McConnell, and Joni Ernst bowed in obedient submission to the nazi-nouveau movement, others within Trump’s orbit refused to back down from the fight when confronted with MAGA objection. When Trump’s apparent right-hand man, Elon Musk, expressed his support for H-1B visas, some of the most vocal members of the MAGA movement came unhinged.
“We haven’t fought these battles over years and years and years to allow American citizens of every race, ethnicity, religion, be gutted by the sociopathic overlords in Silicon Valley,” MAGA loyalist Steve Bannon opined.
Musk’s “DOGE” partner Vivek Ramaswamy supported the billionaire executive’s position by suggesting, “A culture that celebrates the prom queen over the math olympiad champ, or the jock over the valedictorian, will not produce the best engineers,” implying that American culture is forcing CEOs to look elsewhere for qualified labor. This prompted Trump acolyte Laura Loomer to urge MAGA supporters to “stay home” during the next midterm elections.
“Our country was built by white Europeans, actually. Not third world invaders from India,” Loomer tweeted on Christmas Eve. “You know, it was white Europeans who created the American Dream, and we didn’t create it so that it could be exploited by pro open border techies like you. PS: why are people in India still sh*tting in the water they bathe and drink from?”
In response to the right-wing activist’s social media tirade, Musk posted on X: “Loomer is trolling for attention. Ignore.”
When his post only added fuel to the fire, further igniting the ire of other MAGA “influencers,” Musk retaliated by stripping the conservative personalities of their coveted blue check marks on his X platform and disabling several popular MAGA accounts.
Bannon, Loomer, and a host of radical others fiercely demanded that President-elect Trump exile the likes of Musk and Ramaswamy to the peripheries. However, “Dear Leader” ignored their demands, instead voicing his support for Musk and H-1B visas, a move that many in the “America First” movement found disappointing. Some went so far as to suggest their populist strongman had been the victim of “brainwashing by woke leftists.”
This won’t be the last drama we’ll witness from the MAGA movement. Real Housewives of the Potomac will have nothing on the Trump administration. I’ve seen this before, I’ve investigated it, I know how it plays out. Circular firing squads are similarly common in traditional (Latin) Catholicism, Slavic Orthodox traditions, and the Evangelical movement. Without fail, it's only a matter of time before somebody isn't "MAGA" enough, "traditional" enough, or "Christian" enough for the movement.