President Donald Trump's grip on his MAGA fans is weakening, an analyst wrote Monday, comparing the president's situation to Mary Shelley’s Victor Frankenstein abandoning his monster.
Some MAGA fans have turned on Trump over his reluctance to release files in the investigation into Jeffrey Epstein. Influential MAGA figures, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), have publicly ripped Trump over his refusal.
David Gardner, chief national correspondent at The Daily Beast, wrote Monday that sometime in the first year of Trump 2.0, "Frankenstein has lost touch with his monster."
"And now it is threatening to devour him," he warned.
He called Trump's fumbling of the Epstein probe Exhibit A of the disconnect between the president and his fans. Initially, he and his allies vowed to release the files. Then, he took that promise back, and openly criticized supporters who dared demand the files, asking, "Who cares?"
Stunned by the lack of awareness, Gardner retorted, "Trumpers. They care. The president’s subjugation was a first in the MAGA era. It may not be the last."
Those same supporters, he said, don't aren't cheering over a $300 million ballroom or a marble makeover for the Lincoln bathroom. Trump sounded his age, Gardner said, when he told Fox News anchor Laura Ingraham, "I know what MAGA wants better than anybody else, and MAGA wants to see our country thrive."
MAGA's online vitriol shows that might not be the case.
"The master of ceremonies has lost control of the circus. It’s only a matter of time before the tent collapses," he said.
Gardner concluded: "When Mary Shelley’s Victor Frankenstein abandons his monster to deal with the world alone, it becomes embittered and vows revenge on its creator.
"Donald Trump should take note."