Trump’s Iran strike tests MAGA unity ahead of midterms

Laura Loomer in Shanksville, Pa., Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)

WASHINGTON - Some of the most prominent voices within U.S. President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement spoke out on Saturday against his attack on Iran, warning it could hurt Republicans in November’s midterm elections, but there was no immediate sign of outright rebellion among his supporters.

The conservative critics pointed to potential risks for Republicans after the president campaigned in 2024 on a promise to focus on the economy and not start wars. Public opinion polls show voters are increasingly disillusioned with Trump’s handling of the economy.

Jack Posobiec, a right-wing commentator and influencer, pointed to a warning last year from the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk before he was assassinated in September.

“Charlie Kirk told us all that the younger generation of Americans are far more interested in domestic policy than pursuing international conflicts and we can’t forget that in a midterm year,” Posobiec posted on X.

Trump received increased support from young men in 2024, but recent opinion polls show that to be waning.

Risks to Republican control of congress

As a result, Trump’s attack on Iran is a huge election-year gamble that heightens the risks for Republicans as they try to stay in power in Congress in November.

Reagan Box, one of a dozen Republican candidates to replace former U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene in Georgia, said while she is a Trump supporter and part of the MAGA base, she does not back the strikes on Iran.

While she viewed Iran’s leadership as “heinous,” she told Reuters, “every time we’ve tried to do a regime change, especially in the Middle East, we just destabilize it.”

Israel said Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei had been killed in the operation.

Greene, once one of Trump’s fiercest loyalists who broke with him last year and quit Congress over what she said was his lack of focus on domestic issues, posted on X, “War with Iran does not lower inflation and make cost of living affordable.”

Public opinion polls consistently show Americans’ top concern is the rising cost of living. Much of Trump’s first 13 months in office, however, has been dominated by foreign policy issues. Republican congressional leaders worry disgruntled voters could punish them in November.

The Hodgetwins, a popular conservative podcast duo who have generally backed Trump, blasted the strikes in a post to their 3.5 million followers on X as antithetical to his 2024 campaign.

“Freeing the people of Iran is not why I voted for Trump,” the post said.

Loomer back attack

Other MAGA influencers supported the bombing campaign. In a video address to the nation, Trump said he was seeking regime change and warned that some Americans might be killed in what he described as a war.

Laura Loomer, a close Trump ally, posted on X, “Iran has been attacking the U.S. for over 47 years. And now, the 47th President of the United States is ending their reign of terror.”

Trump’s supporters largely backed the capture in January of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro as a swift, painless military win.

Michael Traugott, a political scientist and professor emeritus at the University of Michigan, said criticism has come mainly from the “chattering class” of the MAGA base and not from Republican elected leaders. It was too early, however, to say how supporters will feel in the longer term.

He said a protracted conflict with Iran could prompt some core Trump supporters to drop their support.

“For the popular MAGA base, this is pretty much a direct violation of a major campaign promise to stay out of foreign engagements.”

The Republican National Committee released a statement supporting the Iran operation, while reaction in the U.S. Congress largely broke down along party lines, with Republicans calling the attack necessary.

Mike Davis, head of the Article III Project, a pro-Trump legal advocacy group, said on Saturday the strikes were justified, citing a recent video message in which he said Khamenei warned Iran could sink U.S. warships.

“That video right there is all the justification that the president needs to flatten the supreme leader’s home and take him out,” Davis told former Trump strategist Steve Bannon on his War Room podcast, which is popular with the MAGA base.

Reporting by Tim Reid and Nathan Layne, editing by Ross Colvin, Rod Nickel