What will happen to Trump when his MAGA weirdos bail?
It’s been absolutely fascinating to watch swaths of the MAGA base turn on President Donald Trump over—of all things—his handling of the Jeffrey Epstein conspiracy theory.
I just covered how conservatives on Reddit are losing their minds about it. But they’re not alone.
Take Philip Anderson, a pardoned Jan. 6 insurrectionist:
I can’t overstate what a sycophant this guy has been. This gives you a pretty good idea:
He was staring down prison time for his role in the insurrection, but Trump bailed him out. To go from that kind of worship to … this? That’s not a small shift.
And he’s not the only one. X is full of prominent right-wing influencers now questioning the faith:
Every time this guy lost a job or a friend—or claimed to be stalked and harassed—it only deepened his love for Trump. That persecution complex is classic cult behavior.—it tightens the grip and makes it us vs. them. And more importantly, it shuts down dissent.
But something is cracking, and the cult is splintering.
Take Trisha Hope, a former Trump national convention delegate:
She’s upset that Trump called her stupid. He actually called his supporters “weaklings” and “PAST supporters” and said, “I don’t want their support anymore!”
It’s a funny complaint, given that Trump has always called them stupid, famously saying, “I love the poorly educated.” But somehow, Trump’s open disdain had flown under their radar—until now. Whatever spell he cast has finally broken.
Now, none of these people are about to develop empathy or fight for a just and caring society. They’re still dangerous conspiracy theorists. But they’ve turned on Trump because they believe he’s now complicit in the Epstein cover-up.
And here’s the thing: Trump’s power depends entirely on the unwavering devotion of people like this. So what happens when that devotion falters? What happens if Elon Musk follows through on his threats to primary Republicans over Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill”—and actually succeeds, powered by this festering backlash on the far right?
And what happens if the fractured right allows Democrats not just to win big in the House, but to do the seemingly impossible and retake the Senate?
Trump’s influence is only as strong as his grip on his base. So what happens when that grip disappears?
Shit is getting interesting.