Influencer feuds trigger total MAGA meltdown
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MAGA's media machine is ripping itself to shreds, locked in a web of interpersonal feuds that have derailed its once-relentless focus on advancing President Trump's agenda.
Why it matters: The MAGA movement spent years perfecting the art of attacking outsiders. Now, less than a year into Trump's second term, its most prominent voices are attacking each other with a fury normally reserved for the left.
Zoom in: Tensions have simmered for months among MAGA's mercurial and conspiracy-minded personalities, particularly over the role of Israel in U.S. politics. In recent days, they've boiled over into deeply personal attacks:
- Candace Owens vs. Turning Point USA: Owens has ignited one of the movement's most volatile disputes by alleging TPUSA — where she once worked — played some role in the assassination of its founder, Charlie Kirk. TPUSA issued an aggressive denial and challenged Owens to join a Monday livestream in-person, where it plans to rebut each of her allegations about its work and Kirk's death. Owens declined to take up their offer after telling the group to pick the time and place for a meeting, saying it interfered with her children's homeschooling duties.
"When you go after the people that I love, and you're making hundreds and thousands of dollars every single episode going after the people that I love because somehow they're in on this, no," Erika Kirk said on Fox News Wednesday of unnamed conspiracy theorists. "And so my message to them is to stop."
- Tim Pool vs. Owens: The "Timcast" host has lashed out at Owens for her monthslong series on Kirk's death, branding her a "vile evil scumbag" for "milking" the assassination of their late mutual friend. Pool said this week that shots were fired at his property by an unknown suspect, and that he's now considering shutting down his studio.
- Milo Yiannopoulos vs. Benny Johnson: Yiannopoulos, a longtime provocateur overshadowed in recent years by newer right-wing voices, made personal attacks on Johnson, who threatened to sue, posting on X: "I am duty-bound to take action to protect my family against those who maliciously defame and attack us." Yiannopoulos gleefully welcomed the suit. Johnson didn't reply to a request for comment.
- Tucker Carlson vs. Laura Loomer: Carlson, a critic of U.S. support for Israel and other foreign entanglements, has faced months of accusations from pro-Israel Republicans that he is funded by Qatar — a claim he denies. After Carlson appeared at the annual Doha Forum this week and revealed he plans to buy a home in Qatar, Loomer and Fox News host Mark Levin blasted him as a hypocrite and accused him of laundering Qatar's reputation.
The big picture: The chaos in MAGA media is just one front in a wider Republican breakdown, exacerbated by Trump's sagging poll numbers and the backlash to his handling of the Jeffrey Epstein files.
- Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), once the ultimate Trump loyalist, is engaged in an ongoing feud with the president after criticizing him over Epstein and a range of "America First" issues.
- "The MAGA movement died when we were gaslit and then attacked over the Epstein files. Blaming content creators or the very people who voted for Trump for having an appropriate reaction to the perceived protection of billionaire pedophiles is beyond ridiculous," Owens told Axios in a statement.
What's next: A handful of MAGA figures are trying to tamp down the chaos, but it's unclear whether anyone is listening. Pessimism has grown about the state of the GOP heading into the midterms.
- "Republicans in Congress have decided to toss the midterms. They want to lose their Senate and House majorities," tweeted MAGA influencer Mike Cernovich, warning of a plot by the "chickenhawk war monger establishment."
- "This is exactly what is happening. A coordinated attempt to rip apart the MAGA base from the inside," added Johnson.
