by Stefano Vaccara
NEW YORK (USA) (ITALPRESS) – The war against Iran is producing a political effect that is shaking the White House: an obvious fracture in the MAGA base. After an initial silence, the Trump administration launched a real media offensive to defend military intervention. But the most delicate front is not that of democratic opposition. It’s the inside one. Influencers and commentators historically close to the world “America First” criticized the operation, claiming that a clear justification was not given and fearing a return to the “infinite wars” Trump promised to archive. The statements of the president, first an action presented as limited, then the hypothesis of a long campaign, without excluding the use of soldiers on the ground, fueled the refusal of a decision considered a “tradiment”. Among the most critical voices of the media conservative universe were Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens and Mike Cernovich, to whom commentators such as Matt Walsh and Megyn Kelly added. Figures that in recent years have supported Trump or in any case have amplified the narrative “America First” and that now question the coherence of a military intervention perceived on one side of the base as a betrayal of the anti-interventionist approach.
Meanwhile, some members of the Republican leadership have worsened the situation by giving surprising explanations about the decision to attack Iran, with Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Congress Speaker Mike Johnson who claimed that the action was a preeminent response to the prospect of an imminent Israeli attack and a direct threat to American forces, a subject that in the MAGA base played as a subordination to Israel’s interests rather than a defence of the United States. This tension does not arise in the void. Malumors in the MAGA galaxy had already emerged in the previous weeks with the management of Epstein Files, a theme that had fueled suspicions and accusations of opacity in the most radical base. The war in Iran did not create the fracture: it accelerated, also increasing the suspicions that Epstein was an Israeli intelligence agent and that the Netanyahu government could have files and videos compromising on Trump.
The first political test bench arrives today with the Election Day of the primary in several states, including Texas, North Carolina and Arkansas. But it is Texas to attract national attention, by political weight and symbolic value. The Republican race in the Senate is the most observed challenge. The incumbent John Cornyn, figure of the Conservative Establishment, addresses a growing pressure on the party’s most ideological wing, embodied by Attorney General Ken Paxton. Paxton, a controversial figure but rooted in the most radical base, represents a more aggressive and identity view of the Texan conservatism. The result will be read as an indicator of the leadership of the Republican Party: strengthening the establishment or further shift to the hardest line of the MAGA movement. So far Trump has not formalized an endorsement, a choice that many observers interpret as a sign of caution. A direct intervention of the President could in fact turn the primary into a personal referendum on his leadership in a moment of internal tension.
Also several primaries for the House see significant internal clashes, with Republican deputies forced to defend themselves from challengers to their right, in some cases for personal issues or for alleged alignment insufficiencies with Trump. The vote will measure as much as the basis for absolute loyalty or electoral pragmatism. On the democratic front, the competition for the Senate is equally significant. Deputy Jasmine Crockett, an expression of the progressive wing, faces James Talarico, a state representative with a more moderate and dialogue profile. The Crockett-Talarico duel reflects a wider tension in the party: pointing on an identity and left mobilization or trying to intercept the centrist electorate in view of the November elections. In this context, Vice-President JD Vance joins. Former critic of the wars abroad, he publicly defended the White House, underlining the centrality of the nuclear question. But his intervention appeared measured, almost technical. For a politician who would like to be the heir of trumpism, the challenge is delicate: to show himself loyal without alienating that part of the base that fears an abandonment of isolationist doctrine.
While the White House defends the military operation on the international level, the holding of the coalition that brought Trump to power is measured. Primaries, starting from Texas, will say whether fever in the MAGA base is a contingent episode or the beginning of a deeper fracture that will be decisive in the November elections for Congress.
– photo IPA Agency –
(ITALPRESS).
