Former Republican strategist Rick Wilson thinks the vote on releasing the Jeffrey Epstein sex trafficking case files Tuesday afternoon was a genuine turning point against President Donald Trump by his own supporters — and outlined why on MSNBC's "The Beat."
"There's ... been this large clash inside MAGA that Trump has failed to quell," said anchor Ari Melber. "This is his biggest loss today. And so amidst all the important things ... a speed education on the import and those connections, there's the wider politics where he's losing. And if you can lose on this, you can lose on other things. Lame duck."
He played a clip of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), stating, "This has been one of the most destructive things to MAGA. Watching this actually turn into a fight has ripped MAGA apart. The only thing that will speak to the powerful, courageous women behind me is when action is actually taken to release these files. And the American people won't tolerate any other."
Wilson concurred.
"You know, look, if Marjorie Taylor Greene can break from the MAGA coalition, that sets up a permission structure where — she's been a stalwart for him from the very beginning, as she's said many times," said Wilson. "But as they see themselves under increasing political pressure from Donald Trump's mistakes on the economy, on tariffs, on jobs, they're going to start saying to themselves, you know, she got away with it. Maybe I can too. He can't go after us all."
"And so they start scattering like cockroaches when the kitchen light comes on," he continued. "And suddenly Trump doesn't look like the all-powerful demigod of MAGA anymore. He looks like the problematic weird uncle at Thanksgiving who drinks too much. And I think the behavior you're seeing, insulting these women reporters, etcetera, that is in part just natural Trump character."
"But I also think he's been triggered," Wilson added. "He's under tremendous stress by this story. It will not go away. It's the one story we've ever seen where he can't just command MAGA to believe that the sky is green, not blue. He can't reshape reality for them in the same way he has in the past. I think we really are witnessing a transition in Trump's decline of not only his political power, but the fear that defined it for many people in the MAGA base."
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