A House Divided: The MAGA Republicans Facing Their First Great Schism

The Make America Great Again movement has experienced remarkable unity and loyalty since its inception. Donald Trump, the movement’s architect, once said that he could shoot anyone on Fifth Avenue and still win the support of the 30-40% of Republican voters who are dedicated to him. But as the ugly debacle of choosing a GOP speaker of the House enters its third day, we are seeing something that we haven’t before, a genuine schism in Trump World.

At issue, of course, is whether Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) will continue to reside in the speaker’s office he has already moved into. The 20 bloody-minded objectors who oppose him, led by Reps. Matt Gaetz (FL), Lauren Boebert (CO), and Chip Roy (TX) aren’t just MAGA types, they are, as Joe Biden might say, “Ultra MAGA,” They are not only being resisted by the majority of GOP-elected officials but also Trump himself.

This is a new concept. While there have been disagreements between 45th president’s followers in the past, such as divisions over Ukraine, this is new. MAGA’s core narrative is that Trump can do no wrong to his most ardent supporters and that traditional Republicans are too scared of voter backlash to openly challenge him. And yet, on Tuesday it was Boebert openly defying Trump and even clapping back at him on the floor of the House, practically boasting that Trump’s phone calls urging her and her allies to “knock it off” With their opposition fell upon deaf ears.

It is useful to lay out exactly who from the universe of MAGA is on each side of the debate over McCarthy’s future. As we have seen, those who object to a person are strong Trump supporters. However, so are the media and social media people aligned against McCarthy. Staunch Trumpers such as Lou Dobbs and Todd Starnes, along with many others are, albeit respectfully, remain unmoved by Trump’s calls to support McCarthy. 

On the other hand, Trump is aligned with the less Trumpy wing. However, Trump also has MAGA warriors like Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Jim Banks, and Jim Jordan (R–OH). Conservative media figures like Fox News’ Sean Hannity and Breitbart’s Joel Pollak are also on team McCarthy. The question is, can we identify and define these two factions? Is this a permanent schism or a temporary one that is limited to McCarthy’s issue?

Some, such as Commentary’s Noah Rothman have suggested that the objectors and their ilk are essentially anti-institutionalists and there seems to be something to this. Although some objectors clearly dislike McCarthy, their real argument is that they want less control over governance. The real division is between those in MAGA who believe that the right leader is (read “Trump”) can make our institutions of government work and those who believe that wholesale change to the system (read “burn it all down”() is necessary. 

Finally, there is the American people. It is hard to know to what extent average folks who don’t spend all day venting on Twitter even care about these procedural battles or if they will impact their support for Trump in this, his third, run for the White House. Trump has not exactly gone to the mattresses for McCarthy; he isn’t threatening the objectors, but there is no denying that he appears weakened as he fails to control what has been the heart of his caucus. 

Trump’s long-standing promise to drain the swamp is not the same as burning it all. These competing impulses could lead to a permanent ideological divide for the MAGA movement. Can the movement survive this schism as well? It is unclear if Trump will descend the golden escalator again. 

It is possible that when the speakership debacle is done and settled the wounds will heal quickly for the Mar-a-Lago set, as everyone rallies around Trump’s flag, but it is also possible that MAGA withers, that new faces like Ron DeSantis capture the zeitgeist of the new Right and move in the direction of a post-MAGA populism.

Trump World today, regardless of the outcome, is very different to the Trump World before the speaker battle. The first major spat between the sometimes angry, sometimes merry group of red-hat-wearing rallygoers is underway. Whether they are drawn in stone or in the sand, the battle has been won and Trump’s future rests in the balance.

David Marcus is a columnist for the political press and an author. “Charade: The Covid Lies That Crushed A Nation.” Follow him on Twitter at @BlueBoxDave

The views expressed in this piece do not necessarily reflect those of The Daily Wire.