MAGA's response to Charlie Kirk's assassination has laid bare how the movement is willing ditch its past stated beliefs when it looks to exert power or inflict payback.
Why it matters: President Trump and MAGA rode back into power on a clear nationalist-populist policy platform. But in practice, a desire for vengeance and speed occasionally has eclipsed the movement's ideological priorities.
Driving the news: MAGA's digital army — backed by the Trump administration — has scoured the internet to find and report comments celebrating or mocking Kirk's killing, resulting in hundreds of firings.
1. Government intervention: For years, conservatives blasted what they saw as a rising socialist impulse on the left. Yet Trump has expanded Washington's hand in the private sector — cutting deals that give the U.S. government a direct stake in companies such as U.S. Steel and Intel, and pressuring others to align with his agenda.
Between the lines: "Trump has never been particularly interested in maintaining a value in defense of his opponents," Matthew Dallek, a historian at The George Washington University, told Axios.
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Why it matters: President Trump and MAGA rode back into power on a clear nationalist-populist policy platform. But in practice, a desire for vengeance and speed occasionally has eclipsed the movement's ideological priorities.
Driving the news: MAGA's digital army — backed by the Trump administration — has scoured the internet to find and report comments celebrating or mocking Kirk's killing, resulting in hundreds of firings.
- The campaign reached a crescendo when ABC suspended Jimmy Kimmel after his remarks about Kirk, following FCC Chairman Brendan Carr's warning that the network could face consequences if it failed to act.
- Many MAGA influencers openly celebrated Kimmel's removal — infuriating liberals, who argued they were suddenly opposing free speech and embracing the "cancel culture" they spent years railing against.
- Kimmel was reinstated Monday and is set to address the controversy on his show Tuesday night.
- "Jimmy Kimmel wasn't funny, his ratings were in the toilet, and his advertisers were revolting. Also the bellyaching from the left over 'free speech' after the Biden years fools precisely no one," Vice President Vance posted Friday.
- Other Trump supporters call it "accountability culture" — claiming that punishing those who mocked Kirk is different from conservatives losing jobs over COVID-19 vaccine mandates or refusals to use preferred pronouns in the workplace.
1. Government intervention: For years, conservatives blasted what they saw as a rising socialist impulse on the left. Yet Trump has expanded Washington's hand in the private sector — cutting deals that give the U.S. government a direct stake in companies such as U.S. Steel and Intel, and pressuring others to align with his agenda.
- MAGA, on the other hand, sees Trump as the ultimate dealmaker — and argues that his influence on private businesses is simply a way to reverse the damaging effects of globalization.
- MAGA argues that the tax cuts will drive growth and shouldn't be counted in the same as way as deficit spending. Plus, Trump's tariffs are adding billions to government revenue — though analysts say consumers pay the brunt in the form of price hikes.
- Trump supporters ignore the infrastructure law and insist the real credit belongs to him, pointing to trade deals and foreign investment they say are fueling new factories and jobs.
- MAGA insists that it was Biden's Justice Department that crossed a legal line by prosecuting Trump and Jan. 6 rioters, and that the president is simply restoring balance and ensuring accountability.
- MAGA says Democrats' policies justify those labels. Trump has never acknowledged his own role in amplifying extreme rhetoric, and treats any suggestion that political violence is a "both sides" issue as an insult.
Between the lines: "Trump has never been particularly interested in maintaining a value in defense of his opponents," Matthew Dallek, a historian at The George Washington University, told Axios.
- "He has been, since his emergence in 2015, very quick to do whatever he thinks is in his interest to suppress the opposition."
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" you could take a moment of a self-reflection and finally understand why using that strategy in the first place wasn't a good idea. It sets a precedent, and there's only so long you can rely on your enemies morals to protect you while you shit on them.
