MAGA backlash grows over Trump’s Iran ceasefire & threats

[0:00] Iran has basically gotten everything it wants in the agreement, because Trump was desperate [0:04] to open the Strait of Hormuz. [0:06] This is a huge black eye to the United States. [0:07] I'm glad that Trump didn't engage in increased war crimes or, quote, destroy entire civilization. [0:13] But this thing, 39 days in, is a total and complete disaster, and we have been right [0:20] about it. [0:22] President Trump's decision to launch the war with Iran divided some of his most loyal [0:27] and vocal supporters. [0:29] But today, voices from both sides of this argument, among the right, appear to be coming [0:36] to an agreement over the ceasefire in that the assessment seems to be it does not benefit [0:42] the United States. [0:44] I am a diehard supporter of President Trump, but I'm not celebrating tonight. [0:50] I don't think that this is good. [0:52] I think that this actually further legitimizes the Islamic regime in Iran. [0:57] I think that they are now more legitimized than ever before, and they're more emboldened [1:01] than ever before to continue oppressing the people in Iran and to continue attacking the [1:06] United States of America. [1:08] All right, my panel is back. [1:10] But before I talk to them about this, I want to play one more person who you might recognize [1:15] talking about the language that the president used when he talked about wiping out an entire [1:21] civilization in Iran. [1:24] And that's Megyn Kelly. [1:25] Let's watch what she said. [1:26] I don't know about you, but I am sick of this shit. [1:31] I'm just, I'm sick of it. [1:35] Can't he just behave like a normal human? [1:38] I mean, honestly, like the president, all right, 3D chess. [1:42] Just shut up. [1:43] Fucking shut up about that shit. [1:46] You don't threaten to wipe out an entire civilization. [1:50] We're talking about civilians just casually in a social media post. [1:56] This is completely irresponsible and disgusting. [2:02] Quite something. [2:03] Who would like to take this one, Jamie Kegel? [2:07] When you lose Alex Jones, Laura Loomer, and Megyn Kelly, it is not a good day for Donald Trump. [2:16] I also think it's fascinating because we're also, they're public figures, but also the MAGA base is angry and divided about this. [2:26] They were angry that he got into the war. [2:29] Now it seems they feel nothing was achieved. [2:32] We've always thought that Donald Trump would hold his base no matter what. [2:37] I'm really interested, when we face the midterms, will people stay home? [2:43] Will this have an impact on those midterms? [2:47] Kevin, where do you come down on this? [2:49] Because there have been a number of different perspectives from, you know, the Republican that sits in your chair on this set every day, [2:55] including some who argue that the Republican base is really more still traditional, what the Republican base has always been. [3:04] They've been with the president, but they're actually more with him on Iran than some of these loud MAGA media voices that we hear. [3:11] What do you think? [3:11] Well, I think he still has very strong support amongst his base, and he still commands and can mobilize his base very quickly. [3:20] But does he, is he, is he losing a faction of it? [3:24] Yes. [3:25] And Megyn Kelly's sort of sentiment, if that's shared by 15, 20, 25 percent of that MAGA coalition, [3:35] that's problematic when you're heading into a 2026 election environment where base motivation is a huge part of how you calculate victory. [3:45] Because if you added in, I mean, and also one other thing I'd say is this doesn't start with Iran. [3:49] Second Amendment voters and Fourth Amendment voters, because of what happened with the immigration enforcement in Minneapolis, [3:56] they had a lot of sort of clamoring and sort of grumpiness with the president. [4:02] So this is a sort of a little bit of a trend that the White House has to be very careful about. [4:06] Because also, right now, if you look at numbers with independents, we're going to be the swing part, [4:11] and that's why they call them battleground districts. [4:14] That's, you know, the president's support with those voters, which he actually did pretty well with in 2024, has been declining. [4:22] So there is a very real political calculation problem here that the White House is facing. [4:28] Yeah. [4:28] And also, remember why Joe Biden won. [4:31] Yes, we were in a pandemic. [4:32] Yes, you know, the dynamics are very different. [4:35] At the same time, people just wanted a normal president. [4:38] And what you heard from Megyn Kelly is a sentiment of a lot of Americans. [4:42] They don't like the rhetoric. [4:44] They, a lot of Republicans, just like, say, that's Trump being Trump. [4:47] No, but now we are in a war, and people believe that he is very dangerous. [4:52] Now, fast forward to 2028, he's not going to be on the ballot. [4:55] But who is? [4:56] J.D. Vance. [4:57] And J.D. Vance has had to go out and defend his every move. [5:01] So at what point does J.D. Vance see the polling and believe that how do I differentiate myself from Trump in a way that I can win but not alienate the MAGA base? [5:13] And I think that is going to be a really big problem for him over the next few years because as soon as you distance yourself from Trump, Trump will lose it. [5:21] He will not stand with J.D. Vance. [5:22] He will start talking about Marco Rubio. [5:24] Oh, maybe there should be somebody else. [5:26] And that will be a difficult situation. [5:27] Well, it was Marjorie Taylor Brown today in a post, right? [5:30] Because green things turn brown when they – I forget exactly his language. [5:34] But I called her a traitor again. [5:36] I mean, to this point that Sochi is making, Mariana, I mean, the New York Times in their sort of fascinating TikTok for this book that Jonathan Swan and Maggie Haberman are writing, [5:44] they talked about what Vance was saying in the room, and they wrote this, quote, [5:49] Yeah, I mean, he's actually understanding where the MAGA base is. [6:11] I mean, we saw in 2024 it was all about America first, right? [6:15] No new wars. [6:16] And this is the complete opposite of that. [6:18] And you do see Vance – and it's going to be interesting the next couple of hours, I think the next couple of days – he's part of these negotiations. [6:25] He is at least positioning himself as the responsible person in the room, trying to have these conversations. [6:30] And if he is able to also claim victory, as he's obviously saying, you know, this is victorious for Trump already, how does he move forward talking about foreign policy? [6:40] And that's something he's going to have to contrast himself with when it comes to Marco Rubio, because he's another – another contender possibly in 2028. [6:47] Does the president risk losing some of his most loyal supporters with the largest megaphones just months before the midterm election? [6:55] So you guys are back. [6:56] I wanted to talk to you both about this, because when you look at the actual polling, take a question like, does Trump have a clear plan for handling the Iran situation? [7:05] MAGA voters, 93% yes. [7:07] Okay, so we are seeing the MAGA part of the party, self-identified, say we're with Trump. [7:13] And then, of course, the rest of the GOP, 47%. [7:17] But who does marquee MAGA represent at this point? [7:23] Well, hey, I mean – [7:23] I would love to – [7:24] You're the one who's supposed to answer this one. [7:28] No, no, seriously, you were in the first White House. [7:31] Those – they courted these people. [7:33] Yes. [7:33] They brought – [7:34] They courted these people in the first White House, courted these people in the election of 2024, and others. [7:39] Joe Rogan, some of the other – [7:41] Yes. [7:41] Who are also unhappy. [7:43] All of the individuals that you just put on there, Alex Jones included, who's got a big legal bill to pay, if we want to bring up a lot of things. [7:51] Conflict sells. [7:53] These individuals are really pushing for their own publicity. [7:59] So, right now, it's boring to agree with the White House. [8:02] So, am I surprised that I see a lot of these very loud voices who have their own platforms coming out and attacking the president? [8:12] No, but the poll numbers are the important thing. [8:15] Do you think it's Democrats hate-watching and suddenly saying, hey, Tucker's making good points after they've called him anti-Semitic, or is there a real world of people, independent voters – [8:24] You're assuming their numbers are growing with their comments. [8:28] I don't know that to be the case. [8:30] This is a gift for Democrats. [8:32] We love this, right? [8:33] Watch these influencers essentially attacking the president, and even if the polls don't reflect it, and I don't think they're right, quite frankly, about the MAGA base. [8:43] But if they're attacking the president – [8:45] You don't think the polls are right about the MAGA base? [8:46] No, I don't think that the influencers are right at all. [8:48] Oh, okay, yeah. [8:48] I think we're totally out of touch with the MAGA base. [8:50] I think the MAGA base is in line with where the president is. [8:53] They support this war. [8:54] They support the ceasefire. [8:55] Whatever it is that he does, they're going to support. [8:58] And so these influencers may actually be losing their interest. [9:01] And Trump is starting to tear into that. [9:03] He went in on Tucker Carlson calling him a low IQ person. [9:08] Quote, he calls me all the time. [9:10] I don't run to his calls. [9:11] I don't deal with him. [9:13] I like dealing with smart people, not fools. [9:16] These are not people you thought were fools when they were endorsing you and tearing down your opponent. [9:21] You never think somebody's a fool when they're supporting you. [9:24] I know, but are they being contrary – is this contrarianism cells? [9:28] Or does it actually reflect certainly the polling when it comes to independence? [9:33] If we really want to get to the bottom line, if you listen to what they're saying is, [9:39] why are we in Iran? [9:40] If I'm going to get rid of all of the rhetoric that's going on there, [9:44] why are we in Iran when we have problems here at home with the cost of living? [9:49] Kitchen table topics. [9:50] We have the midterm elections coming up. [9:52] Are they wrong about that? [9:53] No. [9:54] Are they inflammatory in their language? [9:56] Yes. [9:57] The poll numbers that you pointed out at the beginning of this, [10:00] that's what the White House is paying attention to. [10:02] That's right. [10:02] When those numbers start to slip, then we can have a whole other conversation. [10:05] But I think they completely misunderstand Donald Trump on Iran. [10:10] The president has been hawkish on Iran for 40 years. [10:13] He was hawkish in his first term. [10:15] I don't know where they're coming up with this theory that somehow now all of a sudden [10:18] they're shocked, shocked that he's taking a hard line on Iran. [10:22] This is, this is, they've basically been blinding themselves to it. [10:25] Well, let me pull one more thread. [10:26] I know we're running out of time. [10:28] But it looks to me as though this conversation on the right, the new right in particular, [10:35] which is suffused with antisemitism, is a version of the conversation that Democrats and the [10:41] left struggled with with the last election, which is you have a part of your base, a very [10:46] loud part of your base, that is framing the conversation in ways you can't defend. [10:50] And right now, the administration feels like it's just ignoring that part of it, right? [10:55] They're ignoring the fact that after courting a Nick Fuentes for many months, that all of [11:01] his critiques about Iran also are deeply rooted in anti-Israel and anti-Semitic language. [11:08] I think that, I'm glad you brought that up. [11:10] And I really do think that the one through line amongst the extreme left and extreme right [11:15] in this influencer space is their desire to attack Jews on a daily basis, their obsession [11:20] with Jews and the anti-Semitism is pervasive. [11:23] But how long can the White House ignore that part of it? [11:26] Well, the president speaks out against anti-Semitism and I'm going to say that they've taken actions [11:30] that are controversial, certainly amongst Democrats, but taking actions to try to tamp down on anti-Semitism. [11:35] And I think he looks at the language coming from Tucker Carlson and others and says that is [11:40] that is off base. [11:41] Now, he should and can, must do more always, but he has taken it on. [11:45] In my party, I will say that we are having a fight right now over this. [11:49] And we do not have clarity enough yet from our leadership to push back against it. [11:54] Okay.