MAGA’s turning point
By: IRIE SENTNER, ALI BIANCO and MAKAYLA GRAY (POLITICO)
Time for a show of hands. Who actually believes MAGA came from a New York billionaire and his New York cronies? Who actually believes the idea of "Make America Great Again" was hatched in a New York penthouse? Who actually believes a former Goldman Sacs investment banker (Steve Bannon) actually understands or cares about the Heartland of America?
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
April 17, 2026 -- At Turning Point USA’s last hometown bash in Phoenix in December, the coalition that propelled President Donald Trump to the White House was showing signs of stress fracture.
Ben Shapiro accused Tucker Carlson of “moral imbecility” for interviewing Nick Fuentes . Candace Owens was in an unsteady détente with TPUSA CEO Erika Kirk orchestrated by Megyn Kelly . VP JD Vance , attempting to calm the tensions, urged the conservative movement to shy away from “purity tests” and embrace everyone as long as they “love America.”
“I didn’t bring a list of conservatives to denounce or to de-platform,” Vance said at the time.
Today, TPUSA is returning to Phoenix for a “Build the Red Wall” event, held at a megachurch and headlined by Trump. But in the four months since the last Turning Point confab held in Arizona, those initial cracks have splintered into a spiderweb across the conservative movement. Carlson, once one of Trump’s top advisers, called the president’s threats against Iran “vile on every level.” Kelly acknowledged that Trump’s coalition is “completely fractured and in smithereens.” Owens called for invoking the 25th Amendment. Even conspiracist Alex Jones accused Trump of threatening “genocide.”
As those divides deepen across the president’s voting bloc ahead of a midterm election that will determine the balance of power in Washington, all eyes will be on whether he addresses those rifts head-on — or sweeps them aside.
“I have not seen a thing that will keep everybody together and keep that MAGA coalition as a whole moving forward,” one GOP operative, granted anonymity to speak candidly, told Playbook.
So far, the strategy for the White House and MAGA political operation has been a one-two punch.
First, they’re messaging that Trump is MAGA and there’s no divide at all.
“President Trump created the greatest political movement in the history of politics with the MAGA movement, and he remains the unequivocal leader of the Republican Party,” White House spokesperson Liz Huston said in a statement to Playbook. “The President is committed to maintaining Republican majorities in Congress and continuing to lower costs for working families.”
Top Trump pollster Jim McLaughlin echoed those sentiments. “Truth is, [there are] no real divisions among [the] GOP MAGA base,” he told Playbook. “They overwhelmingly support President Trump and his policies.”
What about the ecosystem of extremely popular and influential conservative pundits who once helped propel him to victory and have since soured? That’s where strategy two comes in: Claiming these figures are no longer MAGA at all.
Months after Vance cautioned against making lists of people to “denounce and de-platform,” the president is doing exactly that.
“Tucker is a Low IQ person - Always easy to beat, and highly overrated!!! So are Megyn Kelly, ‘Candace’(Really Dumb and mentally ill!), and Bankrupt Alex Jones, who is completely ‘fried.’ There are others, also!” Trump said this morning on Truth Social . “Then we have some that are VERY GOOD, true MAGA all the way, and smart. I should do a list of good, bad, and somewhere in the middle. Wouldn’t that be fascinating???”
“The base doesn’t consider a Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly or a Candace Owens a conservative anymore,” McLaughlin said. “My guess is most of their clicks are from progressives. And they never considered a Nick Fuentes part of the conservative movement.”
Not everyone in the White House is pretending the problem doesn’t exist. At a TPUSA event in Georgia earlier this week, Vance cautioned against youth becoming “too blackpilled” and acknowledged “a lot of young voters don’t love the policy that we have in the Middle East.”
“I’m not saying you have to agree with me on every issue,” said the VP, a staunch isolationist and the biggest skeptic in Trump’s inner circle about taking military action in Iran. “What I’m saying is don’t get disengaged because you disagree with the administration on one topic.”
Trump world is correct that the president does have a substantial base that will follow him no matter what. But in a midterm election year when Trump isn’t on the ballot, those voters have historically tended to stay home.
“Trump and the Trump team are investing the resources and time in making sure voters that may have only voted in 2024, and not voted in ’22, getting those people up,” said a second GOP operative.
That’s the goal at today’s TPUSA event, which is focused on bolstering midterm turnout, especially in swing states like Arizona, by connecting Trump to the election even though he won’t be at the top of the ticket. The president will be joined on stage by Arizona GOP lawmakers, including former House Freedom Caucus leader and gubernatorial hopeful Andy Biggs .
“When [Trump’s] in town, it gets frothy,” said longtime Arizona GOP strategist Stan Barnes . “He brings that kind of energy.”
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Is MAGA nothing more than a cheap brand that only exists for profit? We've seen a lot of chaos and destruction. But what have we gained? Trump has made America weaker, poorer, and less civilized. Trump has cheapened greatness and exchanged exceptionalism for mediocrity.
Presidents Donald J. Trump and Joseph R. Biden presided over a doubling of our national debt. They have gifted us with another $19 trillion in debt that our (not their) grandchildren will have to carry to the grave. President Trump has doubled down on punishing the disenfranchised and robbing the poorest among us. Is this really what makes America great?
What exactly does MAGA mean? What does MAGA stand for? Is branded merchandise all that matters? The reckoning is at hand.
Trump is on track to destroy the whole republican party civilization. It can't happen soon enough.