The growing schism between Donald Trump and some of his most ardent supporters is the first shot in a coming war within the Republican Party as his more ambitious heirs to the MAGA throne start jockeying for position.
That was a warning that conservative columnist Matt Lewis attempted to share during an appearance on MS NOW, the new name for MSNBC, on Monday morning.
Speaking with host Ali Vitali on “Way Too Early” about the fighting going on between Trump and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Lewis claimed it was just a taste of what is in store as Republicans look past the midterms and at 2028.
Discussing Trump’s recent collapse in the polls, Lewis first suggested the president is in a bubble and has no idea that his own base is turning on him, before getting to his putative successors.
“I think he always crafted this really unwieldy coalition for 2024 that was probably unsustainable,” he began. “I think, physically, he's just not up to it anymore, to the degree that he was able to kind of impose his will on people. He knows he doesn't have the energy, maybe physically.”
“But I also think there's something else here,” he added. “Donald Trump used to go around the country doing these rallies all the time, and it was sort of a focus group. He would say something crazy, the audience would either respond positively or negatively, and it helped him craft his message to appeal to kind of a populist constituency. I don't think he has that now.”
Vitali asked, “So ultimately, where do you think that this goes next, as the party is actively grappling with being post-Trump, even as it is very much amid the Trump era?”
“This is going to be a complete mess, right?’ Lewis laughed. “Because you've got a few dynamics happening. First, people are running for 2028, whether they admit to it or not. I mean, they're going to start jockeying for position and the way you jockey for position is not to be the same, because, if everyone is identical, then JD Vance is the obvious heir apparent.”
“So it's to try to separate yourself. If you're [Texas Republican ] Ted Cruz, how do you make an argument? If you're [Secretary of State] Marco Rubio, if you're — I think Marjorie Taylor Greene possibly is now running for president. So the fact that there is now a shadow 2028 campaign, I think, inevitably leads to, you know, conflict. Republicans are not afraid of Donald Trump anymore.”
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