In the second half of the 20th century, American conservatism was largely guided by the vague boundaries set by William F. Buckley, the intellectual reference and founder of the magazine National Review in 1955. His thesis, simplified, was that in order to regain dominance after the era of the New Deal and progressivism, the right had to "merge" three previously separate or even conflicting schools: social conservatism, an anti-communist and aggressive foreign policy, and liberal market theses. A transformation from "regional dogmas to a true national canon." The basis of the Ronald Reagan revolution.
But according to Buckley, it was not enough to include, but it was necessary to exclude. Full of contradictions, with changing sympathies towards Franco, McCarthy, or apartheid, he formally renounced the aforementioned motto of the French Popular Front, stating that in his worldview there was no place for "irresponsible right-wing." As one of his biographers has written, despite the many examples in which the writer and commentator faltered or overlooked extremist attitudes, "Buckley watched over the movement he founded. And in what he considered his greatest achievement, he kept it free, as much as possible, from extremists, fanatics, crackpots, antisemites, and racists," expressly people like the members of the John Birch Society. As his magazine stated upon his death in 2008: "He created modern conservatism as an intellectual and political movement, and prevented it from veering into fanaticism.". Today, some of the authors marginalized by him for reasons and with completely different profiles, such as Sam Francis or Joseph Sobran, but also liberals like Murray Rothbard or Ayn Rand - who described the National Review as "the most dangerous magazine in the United States" - are back in vogue.
This fused coalition of conservatism remained reasonably stable for a long time. But in the early 21st century, with Obama's victory, it proved insufficient. Progressive ideological changes to expand the base, such as an absolutely pro-Israel stance (Buckley publicly repudiated Pat Buchanan with an entire issue of the magazine dedicated to him for having rhetoric "equivalent to antisemitism") and the total surrender of the evangelical movement, were not enough. And that's where Trump, the MAGA movement, and a constellation that unites the heirs of the Tea Party, the "national conservatives," Vance's post-liberals, the far-right, supporters of monarchies, dictatorships, or a unitary Executive, fanatics of the most incredible conspiracies or anti-vaxxers, tech gurus, social media influencers, etc., appeared. An impossible group, with common interests, and a clear leader, but now experiencing the beginning of something akin to MAGA civil wars, a free-for-all fueled by antisemitism, the Epstein case, and power struggles.
On October 28, Tucker Carlson interviewed Nick Fuentes. Carlson is one of the most powerful and controversial media figures in the United States: a millionaire, former star presenter of Fox News, personal friend of Donald Trump, media guru of the MAGA universe, and the only Western journalist with direct access to Vladimir Putin. Fuentes, a 27-year-old white nationalist influencer, is the current figure of the American radical right. Racist, antisemitic, an apologist for Hitler (or Stalin, as he said in that interview), a Holocaust denier, misogynistic, transphobic. A religious, political, and social hardliner who went viral on the day of the presidential elections in November 2024 when he wrote: "Your body, my decision. Forever", a mockery of feminism, the right to choose, and abortion after Trump's return to power.
The video of their conversation has 6.5 million views and has dominated newspapers and talk shows. Fuentes is somewhat of an outsider, a radical who insults, humiliates, is cruel, with an enormous and growing following, mostly young white men known as Groypers. The main social platforms have banned him for his content, but Elon Musk restored his access to X. Now he goes live four or five days a week on Rumble, participates in all kinds of podcasts, like those of conspiracy theorist Alex Jones, and tweets to his loyal followers - 1.1 million on that platform - under the motto: "America first. Christ the King". Programs in which he not only incites and attacks imaginable enemies but also and especially against, in theory, allies. People like Ben Shapiro or the late Charlie Kirk, for being soft or insecure.
But at the same time, Fuentes is not a kid at home with a computer. He has access to important people in the Party and the president's circle. In 2022, he visited Trump at Mar-a-Lago, his Florida residence, along with his unexpected friend, rapper and fervent antisemite Kanye West. Fuentes is a reference for many young Republicans, inside and outside Congress and the White House. Someone who has taken up the mantle of equally controversial and racist figures, like one of the Trumpist influencers in his first term, Milo Yiannopoulos. And whom Carlson whitewashed for over two hours in a conversation, which some analysts see as an implicit authorization from Trump, a way to give approval to content that was previously taboo but necessary for the upcoming cultural battles and among the youth, following the void left by Kirk after his assassination.
The conservative world is at war since then. Conservatives against populists, Christian Zionists against Israel critics, racists against establishment: a rupture that shows the seams of a party that thought the figure of its leader was enough to contain extremists and now does not know how to handle the situation. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, now ambassador to Israel and a Christian Zionist, or senators like Ted Cruz, Mitch McConnell, and Lindsey Graham, columnists and congressmen, have raised their voices. Ben Shapiro, with 30 million followers on social media, called Carlson an "intellectual coward" and "the greatest disseminator of vile ideas in the United States."
Trump ("I don't know much about Fuentes, but if he wants to interview him, let him do it, people have to decide for themselves") and Vance (whom Fuentes calls a "race traitor" for being married to an Indian woman) have remained on the sidelines, as they did days earlier when Politico revealed that young Republicans, some of them holding political positions, in the Executive and various branches of the Legislature, had a messaging group where they discussed gas chambers, Hitler, and group rapes. Some of them even had swastikas in their offices, but the vice president downplayed it: "Stupid kids' jokes."
But others, like Kevin Roberts, president of the influential Heritage Foundation, considered "the brain of the conservative movement," have sided with Carlson, "a close friend" who opposes the "cancel culture." Professors, researchers, and sponsors have left the think tank in protest, marking the first serious blow to the movement in a long time. Roberts had to issue several statements to condemn Fuentes more directly, not only for using much of the favorite language of extremists, such as the expressions "poisonous coalition" and "globalist class," swearing that he was not aware of their antisemitic connotations. His chief of staff, Ryan Neuhaus, forced to resign due to the scandal, has since been spreading content on social media that claims conservatives should not have canceled Pat Buchanan or openly racist authors like John Derbyshire and the aforementioned Sam Francis. One of them was a photo of Buchanan with a revolver and the phrase: "His legitimacy will gradually be proven."
But the antisemitic issue is by no means the only crisis open in the MAGA universe. Nor, perhaps, the deepest. On Friday night, congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene announced that she will leave office on January 5. The decision comes after weeks, months, of progressive distancing from the policies and style of the president, in almost every aspect. Taylor Greene is a figure whose weight is difficult to understand outside the United States. She was the quintessential MAGA representative, an absolute loyalist of the president, a blind believer in the QAnon conspiracy and any others that emerged. A fierce critic of immigration or anyone who dared to go against the party and the leader. Until she wasn't.
Disillusioned by Trump's role in the Epstein case, the Gaza war, and the police towards Israel, she had a change of heart. She apologized for her divisive role and "toxic rhetoric." She criticized Republicans for the government shutdown and the president. And he had enough. A few days ago, he started calling her Marjorie Traitor Greene, a "traitor" who had "lost her mind." After the criticisms came the attacks, the hatred, the threats. And the congresswoman who had most incited the masses began to feel the price of going against the leader. Days later, aware that she could not withstand the pressure, and that she could not win primaries with Trump against her, she stepped aside.
The war is open in all directions. Taylor Greene against Laura Loomer, an eccentric figure. A proud Islamophobe self-proclaimed journalist, and a friend and advisor to Trump, who pulls strings in the White House and manages to have National Security officials fired almost on a whim. An addict to social media where she attacks, insults, and threatens non-stop in all directions, who has appointed herself as the abuser of the president's enemies. "I am a prophet of doom whose disaster warnings are criticized and ignored," she says of herself. Loomer is in a constant war. For example, against former National Security Advisor Mike Waltz, and dozens of other officials.
There is much more. The movement's base, believers in conspiracies, millions of them, have erupted against FBI director Kash Patel and his deputy, whom they see as traitors and sellouts to the deep state for not using their position to reveal the truth. There is influencer Jack Posobiec (who believes Franco and Pinochet are examples to follow for MAGA and speaks of "white genocide" and includes Nazi winks in his tweets) and his hatred for Attorney General Pam Bondi for her handling of the Epstein papers.
Steve Bannon, a mortal enemy of Elon Musk and the tech gurus. And both, Posobiec and Bannon, in a campaign against the U.S. ambassador to Israel. Nick Fuentes against Vance, warning that he will do everything possible to sink his presidential aspirations. Everyone (including Turning Point, the organization created by the late Charlie Kirk) against Candace Owens, the woman sued by Emmanuel Macron for saying that his wife is actually a man. And Owens against Bill Ackman, the millionaire investor turned Trump supporter who tried with millions of dollars, his and his friends', to have Zohran Mamdani win the Mayorship of New York. Or the fallen from grace congressman Thomas Massie, one of the few Republicans who insisted on the need for absolute transparency with the papers of the pedophile financier, now turned into the number one enemy of the White House.
The Epstein case "has broken MAGA," warns Taylor Greene. Self-inflicted damage almost impossible to digest, as seen by the base. The damage is significant, as acknowledged by Steve Bannon. But there are more catalysts and symptoms. The collapse of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative and Republican anchor. The bombing of Iran or the alignment with Israel has angered isolationist and America First supporters. Aid to Argentina has infuriated farmers. And Trump's words saying that "foreign talent" needs to be brought in because there is none in the United States have offended nationalists like Bannon, who demand mass deportations and border closures, as well as scientists and elites who came with special visas. "Everyone was talking about how blatant the corruption was. It's at levels you read about in history books," denounced Mike Cernovich, the Pizzagate conspiracy theorist and MAGA influencer, after a visit to Washington a few days ago. The cracks have all emerged at once and just a year before the next legislative elections.