{"id":4659,"date":"2026-08-12T22:06:57","date_gmt":"2026-08-12T22:06:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=4659"},"modified":"2026-08-12T22:06:57","modified_gmt":"2026-08-12T22:06:57","slug":"trumps-power-is-collapsing-as-maga-becomes-impotent-michael-steele","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextaddressamerica.com\/?p=4659","title":{"rendered":"Trump’s power is collapsing as MAGA becomes impotent: Michael Steele"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Ex-RNC Chair Michael Steele tore into President Donald Trump this week, asserting that his struggling endorsements are a sign that his influence is collapsing as his MAGA base grows “fractured and dissipated.”<\/p>\n

Read more Trump flayed for \u2018widespread lack of honesty\u2019 in vicious MS NOW takedown<\/a><\/p>\n

Trump has long boasted of his “kingmaker” status within the GOP, claiming that his endorsements are bulletproof in Republican primaries and using them to threaten lawmakers who step out of line. The current midterm cycle, however, has provided numerous examples of his waning influence, as it did on Tuesday, when his endorsed candidates fell short in Minnesota and South Carolina. Pillow salesman and election fraud conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell suffered a bruising loss in the GOP primary for the Minnesota gubernatorial race, while Sen. Darline Graham Nordone, who selected to finish her brother Lindsey Graham’s final term, fell short of a definitive win in her primary, sending the race to a runoff.<\/p>\n

During a panel segment on MS NOW’s “On the Line” Wednesday, host Alicia Menendez noted how Trump seemed to try to obscure the failure of his South Carolina endorsement in particular, claiming to like all of the candidates, a move that signaled his growing insecurity.<\/p>\n

“He<\/span> knows that this question of<\/span> whether or not he can be a<\/span> kingmaker is now in the ether,” Menendez suggested.<\/span><\/p>\n

“It’s very, very much in the<\/span> ether,” Steele responded. “The MAGA base has<\/span> fractured and dissipated in a<\/span> number of ways for a number of<\/span> reasons. And… the bigger<\/span> reasons are twofold. One is the<\/span> downward pressure of the economy on them. You know, it<\/span> didn’t just hit democrats. It<\/span> hit them to imagine that. And<\/span> two, the Epstein files<\/span> still play [as] a big, big narrative in that space. And so,<\/span> you know that Trump tries to<\/span> cloud the airwaves and create<\/span> the noise around elections and<\/span> voting and getting people riled<\/span> up about something.”<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Read more MAGA just realized the \u2018big problem\u2019 with Trump\u2019s budget<\/a><\/p>\n

He continued: “But at the<\/span> end of the day, you know, as he<\/span> said, they’re all trumpers, and<\/span> he doesn’t really care one way<\/span> or the other who the nominee is<\/span> to be. To be rather frank about<\/span> it, this is the least… exciting and<\/span> important thing in<\/span> Donald Trump’s universe,<\/span> because it’s not an art, it’s<\/span> not a ballroom. It’s not<\/span> something he can build and<\/span> construct. He has to actually<\/span> deal with human beings. And he<\/span> doesn’t really like that so<\/span> much. So the reality for him,<\/span> for those candidates, is you’re<\/span> out there swimming on your own.”<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Elsewhere in the segment, Steele also tore into Trump’s endorsed candidate for governor in Wisconsin, Tom Tiffany, who won the party’s nomination on Tuesday, saying it would be the “ultimate corruption” to put a known election denier in that office.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

“It is the ultimate<\/span> corruption of the process in<\/span> the system,” Steele said. “It is <\/span>profoundly antithetical to what<\/span> the citizens of that state<\/span> decided<\/span><\/span><\/span>. And that then becomes<\/span> a problem for that governor. I<\/span> mean, you know, these things<\/span> don’t happen in a vacuum. You<\/span> know, if… i<\/span>n 2020, [Georgia Gov. Brad] R<\/span>affensperger and others<\/span> decided, okay, we’ll play with<\/span> Donald Trump. You cannot<\/span> discount the outrage from the<\/span> citizenry and the voters out<\/span> there when hearing that <\/span>text or hearing those tapes,<\/span> then realizing that their<\/span> governor cheated, stole the<\/span> votes from them.” <\/span><\/p>\n

He continued: “That’s going<\/span> to be a real impact on the<\/span> state. And so what you’re<\/span> seeing here… <\/span>is the<\/span> party now is all about feeding<\/span> that chaos. If it doesn’t get<\/span> its way, it’s all about<\/span> feeding that beast. That beast<\/span> is Donald Trump, at the end of<\/span> the day, giving him what he<\/span> wants. But there are<\/span> consequences for that. We see<\/span> some of that play out already.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Read more Karoline Leavitt torn apart after her exit note is flagged for being AI<\/a><\/p>\n