The rift inside the MAGA movement has only deepened with the ongoing Iran war. Right-wing influencers, including Tucker Carlson and Megyn Kelly, who once firmly associated themselves with the US President Donald Trump-led agenda, have collectively decided to turn their backs on the Republican politician.
On Thursday (US time), the president reacted angrily on Truth Social, criticizing former allies for their stance on the US-Israel-Iran conflict. Frustration has grown among supporters who feel betrayed by Trump’s shift from his earlier “peacemaker” image as he escalates the conflict in Iran.
The New York Times analysed more than 40,000 comments on Trump’s posts, indicating a surge in discontent over the war.
Over half of those responding to the MAGA leader’s warning that Iran’s “whole civilisation will die,” were severely against the Republican commander-in-chief’s “lust for blood.” Even those claiming to support “President Trump 100%” joined the hate train on the SNS platform.
Trump rips ‘ultra MAGA’ personalities over Iran war
“I know why Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens, and Alex Jones have all been fighting me for years, especially by the fact that they think it is wonderful for Iran, the Number One State Sponsor of Terror, to have a Nuclear Weapon,” Trump began his verbose rant on social media, “Because they have one thing in common, Low IQs.”
Repeatedly calling them “stupid,” Trump continued dragging the aforementioned figures. “They don’t have what it takes, and they never did! They’ve all been thrown off Television, lost their Shows, and aren’t even invited on TV because nobody cares about them, they’re NUT JOBS, TROUBLEMAKERS, and will say anything necessary for some “free” and cheap publicity.” Arguing that all of their views “are opposite of MAGA,” he maintained that the real MAGA still stands by him.
Targeting them individually, Trump continued, “Hand Flailing Fools like Tucker Carlson, who couldn’t even finish College, he was a broken man when he got fired from Fox, and he’s never been the same — Perhaps he should see a good psychiatrist!”
“Or Megyn Kelly, who nastily asked me the now famous, “Only Rosie O’Donnell,” question, or “Crazy” Candace Owens, who accuses the Highly Respected First Lady of France of being a man, when she is not, and will hopefully win lots of money in the ongoing lawsuit.
“Actually, to me, the First Lady of France is a far more beautiful woman than Candace, in fact, it’s not even close! Or Bankrupt Alex Jones, who says some of the dumbest things, and lost his entire fortune, as he should have, for his horrendous attack on the families of the Sandy Hook shooting victims, ridiculously claiming it was a hoax.”
Further branding them “so-called ‘pundits,'” he said that “Radical Left ‘News’ Organisations’ like “Fake News CNN” and “The Failing New York Times” are “hailing” these once-pro-Trump personalities for criticising him. Accusing them of “trying to latch on to MAGA,” Trump claimed that he could pull these people over to his side whenever he wanted.
“When they call, I don’t return their calls because I’m too busy on World and Country Affairs and, after a few times, they go ‘nasty,’ just like Marjorie ‘Traitor’ Brown, but I no longer care about that stuff, I only care about doing right for our Country,” the MAGA leader added. Calling America the “HOTTEST” country, he asserted, “MAGA is about WINNING and STRENGTH in not allowing Iran to have Nuclear Weapons.”
MAGA becomes critical of Trump over the Iran war expansion
American commentator Candace Owens responded to Trump’s Truth Social tirade, which also name-dropped her, on X. Sharing a screenshot of the post, she tweeted, “It may be time to put Grandpa up in a home.” She had previously referred to Trump as a “Mad King” and a “genocidal lunatic,” while urging Congress to get rid of him.
The POTUS’ fiery remarks come as the likes of Carlson and Kelly have started objecting to the Iran war while attacking Trump. Tucker Carlson particularly called out Trump’s threat to bring “hell” to Iran, “vile on every level” on his podcast earlier this week.
On the flip side, Megyn Kelly said, “I don’t know about you, but I am sick of this s‑‑‑! I’m just — I’m sick of it,” on her Tuesday podcast. “Can’t he just behave like a normal human? I mean, honestly, like the president — ‘3D chess’ — just shut up,” she added regarding the president’s threat to annihilate an entire civilisation if Iran didn’t reopen the Strait of Hormuz.
Alex Jones, an American far-right radio show host, had also called for Trump’s Cabinet to use the 25th Amendment to declare the MAGA leader unable to fulfill his duties as the country’s leader and oust him from office. The commentator even called the POTUS a “dementia risk” who needed to be removed.
Former US Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has since turned on Trump as well despite being one of his staunch allies, called his Iran rhetoric “evil and madness.” Like Jones, she also demanded that he be removed via the 25th Amendment.
Although not name-dropped in Trump’s latest rant on Truth Social, Joe Rogan falls into the same group of people calling the Iran war “insane, based on what he ran on. The podcaster was among the first to endorse Trump in 2024.
Truth Social hate mounts up among Trump followers
According to The New York Times, the levels of backlash Trump faced over the Iran issue have been more pronounced than the criticism over the Jeffrey Epstein files. A user who goes by ‘Ultra_MAGA_King’ on Truth Social wrote, “You’re utterly destroying your presidency with this nonsense. It’s probably too late to course correct at this point. A shameful waste of a great start.”
Another user who claimed to have voted for Trump thrice in a row said, “Ashamed today that I voted for you in 2016, 2020, and 2024 again after God saved your life in PA. Very sad.” Yet another netizen chimed in, “3x Trump voter, but you have gone off the deep end.”
Someone else commented, “Your gonna spend the rest of your life in prison after they impeach you, jd Whitehouse bid is dead in the water and maga is nomore.”
Only a quarter of the comments on Trump’s warning on Tuesday morning were supportive, according to The New York Times. Some posts still earned Trump’s “backbone” praise, while others asked him to “finish the job.” At the same time, as Trump retreated from his threat to attack Iran’s civilian infrastructure ahead of the Tuesday night deadline, some accounts that had been supportive of the war unloaded their fury.