"Double down": Trump's base sees ultra-MAGA as answer to GOP stumbles
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Rep.-elect Matt Van Epps delivers his victory speech in Nashville on Dec. 2. Photo: Brett Carlsen via Getty Images
Confronted with a growing string of GOP underperformances in off-year elections, key pro-Trump activists see more MAGA — not less — as the only solution.
Why it matters: The reaction suggests a movement uninterested in grappling with the limits of its appeal — a departure from the panicked introspection both parties have traditionally undergone after off-year disappointments.
- Yes, it's common for one flank of a party to argue that failed or underperforming candidates didn't devote enough attention to its preferred policies.
- But MAGA is no longer just a wing of the GOP — it's the party's main engine.
Driving the news: The latest warning sign came in Tuesday's special election in Tennessee, where Republican Matt Van Epps won by nine points in a congressional district President Trump carried by 22 points last year.
- MAGA influencers offered a near-uniform diagnosis: candidates are falling short because they're not MAGA enough, or because Republicans in Washington aren't fully executing the MAGA agenda.
- Few mentioned that Trump himself is suffering the lowest approval ratings of his second term, with especially poor marks on what used to be his strongest issue: the economy.
What they're saying: "If now we ever had a clarion call for more direct action ... it has to be now," "War Room" host Steve Bannon said on his show Wednesday, urging action on immigration and the impeachments of judge slowing Trump's agenda.
- "The closeness of this race in a district Trump won by 22 points last year should be a wake-up call to congressional Republicans that they have to change course and start doing work, or get destroyed in 2026," added The Federalist's Sean Davis.
The comments echoed the reactions to Republican wipeouts in what some believed would be close gubernatorial races in New Jersey and Virginia last month.
- "The Republican Party ... needs to double down on the Trump agenda," podcaster Vince Coglianese said on his show last month. "The controlled burn of the Republican Party needs to continue."
Between the lines: Republicans in Washington have pushed for a different tack, urging the party to focus more on affordability and bringing down the cost of living, which has become central to the Democratic message.
- Trump pollster Tony Fabrizio diagnosed that as the main driver of Van Epps' poor performance, and told House Republicans to "stay the course and talk about the realities of the economy," according to Politico.
- Trump himself has struggled to keep that discipline, calling affordability a "fake narrative" and a Democratic "con job" at White House events this week.
The bottom line: MAGA's reaction is unrecognizable to the way both parties have tradtiainally responded to poor election showings.
- Republicans were rattled after steep losses in Virginia in 2017 and the 2018 midterms, sparking debates over how much to temper the brand that Trump ushered in with his 2016 win.
- Democrats similarly panicked after outgoing Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-Va.) won in 2021. Confidence after their 2022 midterm showing — fueled in part by backlash to abortion restrictions — seemed more like complacency after Trump's comeback win last year.
