Nazi MAGA, the Epstein problem, and the Republican Party after Trump
I’ve been listening to The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich recently (I get it, comparing U.S. presidents to Hitler has a long and overstated history in our country). But Trump and MAGA are the closest political movement we’ve had to Hitler and the Nazi’s. A platform of blood and soil nationalism, anti-trade union, hatred for marginalized communities, centered around a single person who seeks unlimited power through propaganda and fear of retribution with a massive domestic police force accountable to only its leader. The parallels are not uncanny; they’re intentional. Once in power, the Nazi’s closed the door behind them, effectively ending democracy in Germany. It’s surprising, in hindsight, that this hasn’t happened in America, given the ease with which we’ve been turned into an authoritarian country and the fragility of our great democracy. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich is informative in terms of the MAGA/Nazi rise to power and governing style, but it doesn’t give us many conclusions about how it all ends, and sooner or later, it will.
I don’t think Trump willingly leaves office in 2028. We are in a dystopian future, we could go back to presidents being chosen by state legislators, democrats could be deemed enemies of the state, the 19th Amendment could be repealed, or only landowners could be allowed to vote. We have a Supreme Court of “originalists,” and this administration will get as creative as they must to remain in power. But Trump can’t remain in power forever, and the most telling part of this Epstein problem is how it’s been doled out, piece by piece, by someone sitting on it. Though most of the information has been out there, and the administration could have shut up about it and been fine, they’ve fumbled it so badly that they’ve had to get in bed with Ghislaine Maxwell, not a good look. Someone from the inside is gunning for Trump, and that means the sharks are circling. If we allow ourselves to imagine a presidential election in 2028, Republicans would be voting for someone other than Trump for the first time since Mitt Romney; those were the days. Ambitious Republicans, with a desire to wield the consolidation of power Trump has skillfully obtained, power that could be used for any number of ends. A theocratic government, perhaps. The people around him can taste it. It tastes like a billion dollars. Et tu, Brute?
The Epstein deal has brought the conservative right to an inflection point, and the funny thing is, they put this on themselves. In February, the administration handed out binders labeled The Epstein Files to right-wing influencers at the white house for a photo op. The binders contained previously available public information; it was like saying we’ve solved the JFK assassination and handing out the Warren report. It was a stunt put on by an administration that loves stunts, but it didn’t actually accomplish anything. The issue for Trump is that no one questions that he’s in charge now. In his first term, he mostly tapped Washington insiders for his cabinet positions, people who had some credibility and experience, and who, when forced, were more loyal to their country than to their president. In other words, they were part of the deep state. This allowed Trump and the conspiracy theory portion of MAGA to continue positioning themselves as outsiders, waging a war against evil that only Trump, through the grace of God, could win, and when he won, Hilary Clinton, Oprah, Tom Hanks, Big Bird, Barack Obama, George Soros, and the rest of the evil cabal running the world would be held to account for their crimes against humanity. Then the heavens would open to all who are righteous.
Unfortunately for MAGA, the deep state was too strong; they stole the 2020 election, leaving a battered but determined Trump to take power back. In a way, it was good for Trump that he lost because they came into 2024 with a literal plan, Project 2025. Project 2025 was wildly unpopular, but don’t worry, Trump didn’t know anything about it (wink, wink). Trump loyalists took four years meticulously planning how to challenge any laws that would get in the way of the new administration, which, coupled with a loyalist Supreme Court, destruction of the “deep state,” and a massive domestic police force, ensured a second Trump term would be bound by nothing. Indeed, that’s been the case. It’s a good problem to have when you’re overturning birthright citizenship, deploying the military into U.S. cities, imprisoning people in foreign countries without due process, imprisoning student journalists for writing op-eds you don’t like or any of the other constitutionally, legally or morally questionable parts of your agenda. But it’s an actual problem when you’re still blaming other people for your inability to deliver on a promise. This is the most powerful administration in United States history and the most willing to wield that power against anyone it deems a threat. There is no one left to blame.
Ultimately, the Epstein thing probably blows over, MAGA will talk themselves into some theory that exonerates Trump and places blame on poor people, immigrants, trans athletes, Democrats, or some combination thereof. But it's a reckoning for the Republican Party, and a glimpse of life after Trump. The big question is, can anyone keep the MAGA movement intact? Trump, for all of his weaknesses as a candidate, did one thing better than anyone else in modern history: he drove turnout. He does great with low-information voters who are not typically engaged in politics. Is there a Republican capable of capturing that part of the MAGA coalition? It seems unlikely, the future of MAGA sans Trump is hard to picture. What type of Republican comes after Trump? Will they run as an extension of him or as a counter to him? Will they be a traditional republican or an outsider? The fact that there are conservative voices comfortable criticizing Trump right now is telling. Rupert Murdoch seems to be behind the slow drip of Epstein news, Marjorie Taylor Greene claims to be leaving the Republican party, and J.D. Vance is, allegedly, holding secret meetings without Trump. The spell will break. What that looks like or how it comes about is anyone’s guess. We have a consolidation of power greater than anything we’ve ever seen. We could perhaps learn more from The Lord of the Rings than The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich right now. Trump would sooner turn into Gollum than relinquish power, and that might be what happens.
Cited Works
Project 2025 Disavowed By Trump: 'I Have Nothing To Do With Them'
Behind Trump's 2024 Victory: Turnout, Voting Patterns and Demographics | Pew Research Center
Voter turnout in the 2020 and 2024 elections: A detailed analysis | Pew Research Center
Among America’s “Low-Information Voters” | The New Yorker
Are Republicans and Conservatives More Likely to Believe Conspiracy Theories? - PMC
Majority Of Republicans Believe The QAnon Conspiracy Theory Is Partly Or Mostly True, Survey Finds
Republicans are split over the Trump administration’s handling of Epstein files - POLITICO
What Republicans Have Said About the Epstein Controversy | TIME
