WASHINGTON, Feb 28 (Reuters) – Some of the most prominent voices in Donald Trump’s Maga movement spoke out on Saturday against his attack on Iran, warning that it could harm Republicans in November’s midterm elections, but there were no immediate signs of open rebellion among his supporters.
Conservative critics have pointed to potential risks for Republicans as the president campaigned in 2024 on a promise to focus on the economy and not start wars. Public opinion polls show that voters are increasingly disillusioned with Trump’s management of the economy.
Jack Posobiec, a right-wing commentator and influencer, cited a warning made last year by the late conservative activist Charlie Kirk, before his murder in September.
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“Charlie Kirk told us that the younger generation of Americans is much more interested in domestic politics than in international conflicts, and we can’t forget that in a midterm election year,” Posobiec wrote in X.
Trump received growing support from young males in 2024, but recent opinion polls show that support is waning.
RISKS TO REPUBLICAN CONTROL OF CONGRESS
As a result, Trump’s attack on Iran is a huge electoral gamble that raises the stakes for Republicans as they try to hold on to power in Congress in November.
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Reagan Box, one of a dozen Republican candidates to replace former Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene in Georgia, said that although she is a Trump supporter and part of the Maga base, she does not support attacks on Iran.
While she considers Iran’s leadership ‘heinous’, she told Reuters: ‘every time we try to bring about regime change, especially in the Middle East, we end up destabilizing it.’
Greene, who was once one of Trump’s staunchest supporters but broke with him last year and left Congress over what she saw as his lack of focus on domestic issues, wrote in X: ‘The war with Iran does not reduce inflation or make the cost of living affordable.’
Public opinion polls consistently show that Americans’ top concern is the rising cost of living. Much of Trump’s first 13 months in office, however, was dominated by foreign policy issues. Republican leaders in Congress fear disgruntled voters could punish them in November.
The Hodgetwins, a popular conservative podcast duo who generally support Trump, criticized the attacks in a post to their 3.5 million followers on X, calling them antithetical to their 2024 campaign.
‘Freeing the people of Iran was not why I voted for Trump,’ the post said.
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LOOMER SUPPORTS ATTACK
Other Maga influencers supported the bombing campaign. In a video address to the nation, Trump said he sought regime change and warned that some Americans could be killed in what he described as a war.
Laura Loomer, a close Trump ally, posted on X: ‘Iran has been attacking the US for over 47 years. And now, the 47th president of the United States is ending his reign of terror.’
Trump supporters overwhelmingly backed the capture of Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro in January as a quick and painless military victory.
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Michael Traugott, a political scientist and professor emeritus at the University of Michigan, said the criticism came primarily from the ‘talking class’ of the Maga base and not from elected Republican leaders. However, it was too early to tell how supporters would feel in the long term.
He said a prolonged conflict with Iran could lead some of Trump’s core supporters to withdraw their support.
‘For Maga’s popular base, this is practically a direct violation of one of their main campaign promises: to stay out of foreign conflicts.’
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The Republican National Committee released a statement supporting the operation against Iran, while reaction in the US Congress was largely divided along party lines, with Republicans calling the strike necessary.
Mike Davis, head of the Article III Project, a pro-Trump legal advocacy group, said Saturday that the attacks were justified, citing a recent video message in which he said Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei warned that Iran could sink American warships.
“This video is all the justification the president needs to raze the supreme leader’s residence and eliminate him,” Davis told former Trump strategist Steve Bannon on his War Room podcast, popular among Trump’s base of supporters.
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