Trump Did the One Thing That Could Unravel His MAGA Base
After kissing up to Trump through thick and thin, some MAGA loyalists are finally drawing a line—albeit for cynical reasons, The New Abnormal’s hosts point out.
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President Donald Trump’s “Liberation Day” tariffs could be MAGA’s last straw, as some Republicans break from their usual blind fealty to Trump’s policies, The New Abnormal co-hosts Andy Levy and Danielle Moodie said on the latest episode.
“There are a lot of people who are absolutely fine with deportations without due process, transphobia enshrined in federal law, eliminating the achievements of Black people, brown people, women, LGBTQ+ people,” said Levy, “but the one thing they are not fine with is watching their wallets shrink.”
Republican Senators Mitch McConnell, Rand Paul, Susan Collins, and Lisa Murkowski all broke party lines on Wednesday to vote in favor of rescinding Trump’s 25 percent emergency tariffs on Canadian goods—which spurred Trump’s fury on Truth Social.
Despite the resolution clearing the Senate, Trump declared that “the House will never approve” it and he will “never sign it.” Yet their defiance could be a canary in a coal mine for what is to come, according to Levy.
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“I do think that this may be, this may be the biggest misstep politically that Trump has made so far,” he said. “I guess what I’m trying to say is if anything is gonna drive a wedge maybe between the administration and say, congressional Republicans, this might be it.”
Plus! President and executive director of Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law Damon Hewitt explains how the Trump administration is attempting to dismantle legal opposition.
Then, Columbia classics professor Joseph Howley discusses the university’s response to student protests and a broader crackdown on dissenting voices.
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