Former Tea Party Rep. Denver Riggleman (R-VA) cautioned President Donald Trump that he is engaging in a dangerous dance with his more ardent supporters.
It prompted MSNBC host Katy Tur to ask a panel of experts, "How long does this survive? How much damage is it going to do to the MAGA base? And does that damage extend to Donald Trump?"
Bulwark reporter Will Sommer noted that Trump's supporters are growing upset over the attacks on them as "weaklings."
"I think it's a big deal," Sommer said. "I mean, I think we're seeing, as you said, people on the fringe like Alex Jones, Nick Fuentes, but even people who are pretty close to the White House, like the people who got those Epstein binders a few months ago, that turned out to be such a debacle. Even there, they realize that they're kind of stuck between Trump and the audience, and they're starting to attack Trump over it too."
But it was Riggleman who agreed this is a "dog that caught the car" moment for Trump. He then modified his comment, "Well, this is crazy eating its own tail."
"So here's the thing. Right when you lose the nutters, the conspiracy theorists, and the neo-nazis, you're losing a huge base of the MAGA voting party," said Riggleman. "This is about spiritual warfare. And when you're talking about the Epstein files, you know, it's been this sort of rationalization of how do we get over the pictures of Donald Trump with this? How do we get over that? He's been, you know, adjudicated for sexual abuse. How do we get over all the things he's been accused of?"
See the clip below or at the link here.