For almost a decade, conservatives have been chanting about a Trump they knew, the best friend, defender, and supporter of his people, who did not hesitate to oppose the establishment and defended America First wherever and whenever he could. But for someone who has consistently supported the GOP throughout his decade in office and has watched in horror as it transformed from a presidential party into a Trump cult, this latest display of Presidential loyalty is not a source of hope or encouragement but rather a crushing disappointment.
Regardless of what one thinks about the following stars, they were the driving force behind the MAGA movement, fueling it with racist, Islamophobic, misogynistic talk that made Trump appealing to the right-wing voters and allowed him to gather such massive support among them. Tucker, Candace, Marjorie, and Megyn – these are the names that every right-wing supporter used to chant in 2015 and 2016, the people who paved the way for Trump’s presidential campaign and presidency.
So how did Don thank them for ten years of unwavering support and loyalty? By publicly humiliating them as soon as they dared to oppose him
War of Words I Know Why Tucker, Megyn, Candace, and Marjorie Are Against Me , Truth Social, March 28 th , 2023
War of Words I Know Why Tucker, Megyn, Candace, and Marjorie Are Against Me, Truth Social, March 28 th , 2023.
The reason for this particular outburst was, of course, criticism of Trump’s policies, particularly the President’s rhetoric towards Iran, which Carlson, Owens, Kelly, and Taylor openly condemned.
This and the subsequent reactions from the president show that his tolerance for dissent from his supporters is incredibly low, and his attempts at countering it are childish at best and dangerous at worst. Instead of reasoning with his “enemies” and proving them wrong, Trump chose to insult and humiliate them publicly and attempt to ostracize them on social media. Calling them stupid, claiming he will always notice them, and labeling them losers who will never achieve anything was not enough for the President. Having publicly condemned Marjorie Taylor Greene, one of his most extreme supporters, for her rhetoric, he tweeted “Marjorie ‘traitor’ Brown. I will always notice these people!” when she crossed out his name and publicly announced her opposition.
This is the cost of being a Trump supporter – loyalty and unconditional love for the President, regardless of his mistakes and unpopular policies, and loudly criticizing anyone who crosses out his name.
Loyalty Is No Longer an Option I Will Always Notice These People, Truth Social, March 29 th , 2023
Meanwhile, the MAGA-supporting talk show hosts who have served the President for his decade in office are questioning their loyalty to him. This and other statements from the President prompted some of his harshest critics to admit that they may have crossed the line, unintentionally supporting Trump’s establishment by serving as his foils in public debates:
You and I and everyone else who supported him… we’re implicated in this for sure. We’ll be tormented by it for a long time – I will be. And I want to say I’m sorry for misleading people. It was not intentional, that’s all I’ll say. – Tucker Carlson
Carlson is not the only one to admit that Trump abused his supporters, but he appears to be one of the most outspoken ones. Right-wing pundits realized that the President preys on his followers and that there is no “real” MAGA without Trump’s cult of personality around him. Consequently, it becomes evident that the united front of the conservative movement is no longer possible since, in reality, there was nothing uniting it besides a single President who is now revealed to be a narcissist who feeds on the devotion and loyalty of his followers. Thus, the right-wing establishment is now in shambles as there is no longer anyone who can unify its remaining members.
The Narcissism of the Leader and the Collapse of the Movement
The narcissism of Trump knows no bounds, as he is unable to tolerate any form of criticism and always resorts to labeling his detractors as lying conspirators against him. Once again, this incident, as well as many others demonstrating the same phenomenon, confirm that the whole MAGA narrative is just a Machiavellian farce designed to advance Trump’s presidential campaign. The decade-long right-wing conservative movement only served to propel him to power, and now it is being crushed by his narcissism. It is, therefore, becoming evident that the so-called revolutionary change envisioned by Trump, which in reality only amounted to a return to the founding principles of the USA, has failed. It has failed because it has run into the establishment’s machinery again, which has responded to Trump’s rhetoric of right-wing populism by doing what all establishments do – retaliating.
It is not surprising that the disillusionment with the President has now begun among his most zealous supporters as he treats them no better than the establishment he has so consistently opposed throughout his campaign and presidency. It may take longer for his other followers to realize that they have invested their hopes and efforts into a hollow idea, but the realization will come eventually.
For ten years, the President has played his supporters like a Stradivarius, demonstrating the world his artful skills in attacking his enemies, real or perceived, but he has little to no talent in dealing with real dissent from within his “tribe.” Unfortunately for him, there is always the next election, and his next challenger will be able to exploit his weaknesses with much greater effectiveness than Obama and Romney were able to in 2012 and 2016. Therefore, while the President has, for the time being, defeated his political opposition to the throne, his own supporters’ discontent will eventually erupt and destroy his carefully designed political machinery. This is why his rhetoric towards his followers may very well turn out to be a fatal mistake for his presidency. This is, of course, assuming that people are still paying attention to politics and care about the election year that is coming. There is no doubt that not only the “disobedient” but also the loyal opposition will suffer greatly from this particular episode in Trump’s presidency, as well as his supporters, the ones who believed in him and became disillusioned with the man who promised to change Washington but failed to change himself.