The MAGA movement has suffered a blow that could mark the beginning of the end, according to a political analyst.
Veteran Democratic Party strategist Max Burns believes the movement's loss of both Marjorie Taylor Greene and Tucker Carlson is a sign that MAGA support could be slipping.
Burns wrote in The Hill, "MAGA voters have long believed in taking Trump 'seriously but not literally.' This is just another way of saying Trump might lie to other people to advance his own interests, but he would never lie to the supporters who power his political movement.
"At least some of those faithful Trump supporters are finally ready to admit that they’ve been conned, and there’s no way back to believing the fairy tale.
"Greene and Carlson’s awakenings are just the beginning of an exodus from the MAGA movement, which just a year ago seemed to be reaching new heights of power. After a decade of chaos and disruption, Trump’s transactional politics is finally catching up with him. It’s just a shame that it took so long."
Carlson has emerged as a vocal critic of Trump's MAGA movement, primarily over the Iran war. Carlson directly challenged GOP leaders during heated interviews, demanding they answer basic questions about Iran policy.
Carlson, a mainstay on Fox News from 2016 to 2023, recently said he regrets backing Trump over traditional conservative values, The Guardian reported. He said, "You know, 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."
Greene has distanced herself from the MAGA movement over Trump's Iran war, which she views as a fundamental betrayal of core MAGA principles. Greene spent millions campaigning for Trump specifically because he promised to end foreign wars.
Greene suddenly resigned from Congress late last year. Greene had publicly distanced herself from Trump over his Iran war policies, declaring opposition to the conflict and characterizing it as a betrayal of MAGA principles.
Her decision to leave Congress marked the culmination of growing ideological rifts within Trump's movement and her frustration with the direction of the Republican Party under Trump's leadership during his second term.
