Admittedly, Democrats have problems, but take a gander at MAGA. With the Epstein affair heating up, President Donald Trump has become increasingly testy. So irritated, he has become nasty to some of his earliest and best supporters. One backer that has drawn his fire is Marjorie Taylor Greene.

Her crime in Trump’s eyes was that she signed the discharge petition, which forced a vote on the release of the Epstein files. Now, despite her old status as a heroine of the MAGA movement, Greene is now denounced by Trump as “wacky” and, to put a finer point on his view, “a traitor”. Welcome to the world of Jeff Sessions, his first Attorney General, whose only mistake was being ethical. No such problems with Pam Bondi.

Coupled with Thomas Massie, the principled Libertarian from Kentucky, Greene has now been exiled from MAGAland. She is rightfully confused because her support for healthcare reform and transparency in the Epstein case was endorsed by Trump in the 2024 campaign. Perhaps this is the beginning of MAGA’s decline.

Unconditional loyalty to Trump is a day-to-day proposition. All Greene’s errors were to simply take the President at his word. For Greene, it must be a shock that a President she faithfully supported would express so much contempt for her personally.

Moreover, other members of the MAGAsphere are also placed in a difficult situation. Stephen Bannon was mentioned in the Epstein information released, as giving the felon advice on how to handle public relations. His War Room program on Real American Voices sounds more like Fox, a network he once dubbed “television for stupid people”. It is clear that a potential split exists.

This demonstrates the contradictory elements of MAGA. Populism is not Russell Vought or the revanchist Mike Davis’ attempt to indict every opponent of the regime. The clumsy enforcement of the anti-immigration campaign has weakened his most successful issue in the public mind. Tariffs are greeted by only increased prices, and when he pushes them, there is a reaction on Wall Street. But he loves to place his hand on a hot stove.

Perhaps Trump can reverse the follies of his first year of his second term. The look from the White House is not good. Trump’s Mar-a-Lago taste reminds many of the time Richard Nixon tried to dress the White House guards in gaudy, European palatial uniforms. And please, no more Great Gatsby parties.

Trump, whose political antenna is usually excellent, needs to return to general popular themes. Otherwise, it resembles a former Gilded Age political boss, William Marcy Tweed, the Tammany Hall fixer in New York City. Favors for the loyal, the stick for traitors.

Get rid of tariffs and stop the retribution campaign; these roads lead nowhere.