 "The confusion over Trump’s intention started minutes before he held a critical meeting in South Korea with Chinese President Xi Jinping. File image/AP")
US President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement is turning on itself — not over policy or politics, but over who truly belongs under its banner.
According to a report from Axios, the latest rift within MAGA has been fuelled by deep divisions over Israel — a clash entangled with a mix of -isms: nativism, antisemitism, racism, sexism, and Trumpism itself.
The infighting burst into the open this week after white nationalist Nick Fuentes appeared on Tucker Carlson’s podcast for a friendly two-hour conversation. Fuentes, a Holocaust denier who spoke of “organized Jewry” during the interview, drew widespread backlash, including from MAGA figures who accused Carlson of platforming extremism.
Ideological fault lines widen
The uproar reflects a broader identity struggle within MAGA — how far the movement should go in tolerating its fringe voices. Some Trump loyalists, like right-wing activist Laura Loomer, say they’ve been rejected by fellow supporters simply for being Jewish.
“I always said that you had to be a Trump loyalist and America First. But there are people out there that say I don’t belong in MAGA because I’m Jewish,” Loomer said as quoted in the report.
Fuentes, meanwhile, framed the split as a fight between pro-Israel conservatives and his “America First” faction. “One side is obviously dug in on supporting Israel… and on the other side you’ve got Tucker and people like the groypers,” he said, warning, “I think it’s going to get ugly.”
From unity to infighting
Once united by Trump’s personality, MAGA is now battling over purity and ideology. A leaked group chat from the New York State Young Republicans — containing racist and pro-Nazi remarks — intensified the debate over whether anyone in MAGA should be “canceled,” exposing the irony of a movement that built its brand on opposing cancel culture.
Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts defended Carlson, saying, “Canceling him is not the answer either. When we disagree with a person’s thoughts and opinions, we challenge those ideas in debate.”
But Senator Ted Cruz hit back: “If you sit there with someone who says Adolf Hitler was very, very cool… and you say nothing — then you are a coward.”
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Analysts say the fight over Israel and identity is testing the core of MAGA. For now, Trump’s dominance keeps the movement intact — but once he leaves the stage, the battle over who defines “America First” could shape the future of both MAGA and the Republican Party itself.