Don't Buy the Fake News. MAGA Is Not Split on Iran.
Five brand new polls confirm Republican voters have the President's back—especially those who call themselves MAGA. An honest headline should read “Influencers Once Again Disconnected From MAGA Base"
Ever since President Trump took out the Islamic Regime of Iran’s leadership, the media has been desperately casting around to find—or create—a “MAGA split” on the issue. The vast majority of mainstream and legacy journalists are liberal, and their analysis is inextricable from their loathing of the President and their desire to tear him down. One of the forms that desire takes is their endless attempts to convince you that the President has lost the support of the people—especially on issues where the Leftist media truly hates the President’s agenda. Unfortunately, some very high-profile isolationist podcasters and influencers are only too happy to play along, especially when it comes to the Middle East, lending credence to the myth pushed by the Left that the President’s position is unpopular on the Right.
This dynamic played out over Operation Midnight Hammer. It’s played out over the President’s ongoing support for Israel. And it’s played out over the Epstein files. In each of these cases, a small number of very loud influencers broke from the President, allowing the media to paint Trump as losing support on the issue, when in each of these cases, he has massive MAGA backing.
That is the dynamic you’re seeing play out now.
New polling out of CNN found that 77% of Republicans approve of the weekend’s military action. When asked if Trump has a clear plan for handling the Iran situation, that number rose to 83%. And when it comes to those who identify as “MAGA Republicans,” the number who said they strongly support the President’s decision jumped by a whopping 30%.
Here’s CNN:
MAGA Republicans are 30 points more likely than non-MAGA Republicans to say they strongly approve of the decision to take military action, 34 points likelier to say it will reduce the threat Iran poses to the US and nearly 50 points more likely to say they have a great deal of trust in Trump to make the right decisions about US use of force in Iran.
A new CBS poll found even higher support: 85% of Republicans support the U.S. taking military action against Iran. 85%! It was joined by a Fox News poll which found that 84% of Republicans support the President’s strike on Iran. A Washington Post poll found 81% of Republicans support or strongly support the President’s strikes on Iran, while a Reuters/Ipsos poll found 82% support the President.
80-85% support is … not a split.
Not to be deterred, our intrepid journalists tried to precipitate the split themselves. Almost as soon as the strikes in Iran were announced, ABC’s Jonathan Karl reached out to podcaster Tucker Carlson, who has opposed the President’s foreign policy more often than not this term. Carlson told Karl that the President’s decision to go to war with Iran is “absolutely disgusting and evil,” four words that launched a hundred cable news hits about the “MAGA split over Iran!”
The take-home lesson here isn’t just that the media lies. It’s that unlike Democrats, who seem to agree more or less with their media and influencers, there’s a big gap between the MAGA commentariat and the MAGA voter.
Carlson was soon joined by the usual suspects. Former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene and anti-Trump Republican Thomas Massie joined the Democrats in soundly opposing the operation in Iran, as did Megyn Kelly and a few other high-profile influencers and podcasters.
Already on Sunday, I warned people they should expect to see lots of “MAGA fractures over Iran strikes” headlines in coming days—especially in the anti-Trump, pro-Ayatollah leftist media. Their evidence, I predicted, would be four podcasters on one side vs. the vast majority of MAGA voters on the other.
Dear reader, the media did not disappoint!
“MAGA Infighting Grows Over Iran Strikes” promised Newsweek.
“The MAGA Backlash to Trump's Iran War Has Begun” crowed New York Magazine.
“MAGA Already Hates Trump’s Iran War” brayed The Bukwark.
“From ‘America First’ to ‘Always America Last’: Trump promised to stop wars. His grip on his base is being questioned now that he’s started one” wrote The Atlantic.
Someone should inform these people that it’s not called a “divide” when it’s four podcasters on one side and 80% of Republican voters on the other. That’s called wish-casting.
An honest headline would read “Influencers Once Again Disconnected From MAGA Base.”
The braying—of both the isolationist influencers and the Left-wing media trying to make them a thing—went into hyperdrive after a video of Secretary of State Marco Rubio was deceptively edited to make it sound like we had to go to war with Iran because Israel said it was about to strike. “Rubio’s war remarks blow open MAGA’s Israel divide,” said Axios, in a piece who for evidence of a “divide” cited—you guessed it—five influencers.
I’m not saying there aren’t legitimate reasons to worry that we might get bogged down in Iran—though from everything I know about President Trump, especially in his second term, that just seems unthinkable to me, utterly inconsistent with everything he has done and everything he has said.
I’m just pointing out that a super-majority of 80% of Republicans have the President’s back on this, despite how thirsty the media is to hurt him by pretending he’s losing support over Iran.
The idea that these strikes are not in our interests as Americans seems ludicrous to me. And it’s not just that the Ayatollah was committed to destroying the West. As I keep pointing out, Iran isn’t just about Iran. It’s about China.
We’ve kneecapped our greatest adversary, who is refusing to come to Iran’s aid apart from sending good vibes. We’ve freaked the hell out of Russia—which is also refusing to lift a finger to save their ally. We’ve revealed that “allyship” from our adversaries gets you bubkis! President Trump is picking off our adversaries one by one, isolating them from each other and from their oil, and exposing them as junior league.
What could be more America First than that?
The take-home lesson here isn’t just that the media lies. It’s that unlike Democrats, who seem to agree more or less with their influencers, there is a big gap between the MAGA commentariat and the MAGA voter.
This piece has been updated to add new polling from CBS, Washington Post, Reuters/Ipsos, and Fox News.


I keep seeing these polls which show Trump going down in approval with his actual voters. They are 180 degrees from what I'm hearing from my friends who voted Trump. All of us are saying his actions are exceeding our hopes and no oe that I know of is reversing their support for Trump.
Hi Batya!
I’m a new subscriber and I want you to know that you’re doing great and important work. I’ve also purchased your book, Second Class. Your thinking really aligns with my own. Thanks for all you’re doing!