Newsweek: Civil War Explodes
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MAGA Civil War Explodes
Published
Apr 10, 2026 at 04:00 AM EDT
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By Mandy Taheri
Politics and Culture Reporter
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President Donald Trump’s war with Iran—and especially his threat that an entire civilization could be obliterated if Tehran did not reopen the Strait of Hormuz—has deepened divisions within the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, prompting some conservative allies to publicly denounce the president.
Why It Matters
The United States and Israel have been at war with Iran for nearly six weeks, beginning when the U.S. carried out strikes February 28 in an operation dubbed “Operation Epic Fury.” Dozens of top Iranian leaders have been killed in the conflict, including the long-ruling Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. The U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency has said more than 3,500 people have been killed in Iran since the war began, including at least 1,665 civilians.
The war has also expanded beyond Iran’s borders, with Israel carrying out military operations in Lebanon that have killed at least 1,700 people, according to the Lebanese Health Ministry.
Recent splits with high‑profile conservative figures such as Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly and former Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene highlight how loyalty to Trump increasingly defines MAGA over some “America First” stances and political ideology. The MAGA movement had already shown signs of strain over the Epstein files and Trump’s intervention in Venezuela, but the Iran war appears to have opened a far wider rift.
U.S. President Donald Trump holds a news conference in the James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House on Monday in Washington, D.C. (Photo ...Read More
What To Know
Over the past several days, Trump has intensified his rhetoric toward Iran in a series of Truth Social posts, fueling concern and widening a split with parts of his MAGA base.
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Former Fox News host Carlson publicly rebuked Trump on Monday over a profanity-laced Easter Sunday post on Truth Social threatening Iran—with the conservative podcaster taking particular aim at Trump’s mockery of Islam and what he called the deliberate bombing of civilian infrastructure. Carlson is among the most influential voices in the America First orbit.
Trump’s Easter post read: “Tuesday will be Power Plant Day, and Bridge Day, all wrapped up in one, in Iran. There will be nothing like it!!! Open the F*****’ Strait, you crazy bastards, or you’ll be living in Hell—JUST WATCH! Praise be to Allah.”
In March, the president publicly removed Carlson from the MAGA movement over his opposition to the Iran war. “Tucker has lost his way,” the president told ABC News. “He’s not MAGA.”
Tucker Carlson attends a meeting with President Donald Trump and oil executives in the East Room of the White House on January 9 in Washington, D.C. (...Read More
Just two days after Easter, Trump further escalated his rhetoric, writing that “a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again,” in reference to Iran. He continued that mass bombardment “probably will” occur and called the looming deadline for Iran to reopen the Strait of Hormuz “one of the most important moments in the long and complex history of the world.”
Many experts, scholars and critics said the president’s rhetoric suggested genocidal intent, while others voiced concern that his references to the scale of destruction raised fears he could consider using a nuclear weapon. Just ahead of the 8 p.m. ET deadline, Iran and the U.S. came to an agreement for a two-week ceasefire and the opening of the strait.
Megyn Kelly, front, speaks during Turning Point USA’s AmericaFest 2025, on December 19 in Phoenix. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Following the president’s Tuesday post, Kelly, conservative commentator and former Fox News anchor, said in an episode of her talk show and podcast, The Megyn Kelly Show, “shut up about that sh**! You don’t threaten to wipe out an entire civilization. We’re talking about civilians, just casually in a social media post.” She continued, “…But this is completely irresponsible and disgusting. This is wrong. It’s wrong. He should not be doing it.”
Other Trump supporters, like podcaster Joe Rogan, who endorsed the president in the 2024 election, linked the war with the Epstein files, saying on the Joe Rogan Experience, “Look, the Epstein files comes out. We go to war with Iran. It’s, it’s a good way to get people to stop talking about certain things.” Rogan has at times criticized the president and the MAGA movement.
Another podcaster, Shawn Ryan, wrote on X about Trump’s contradictions on Iran policy, saying, “A few weeks ago, he said he was going to liberate the Iranian people from an evil regime. Now he has changed his plan to kill them all. The President of the United States in a nutshell...”
However, some Trump allies, including conspiracy theorist Laura Loomer and GOP Senator Lindsey Graham, have continued defending the president’s approach to Iran, even as divisions have widened within his MAGA base. But Loomer broke with the president over the ceasefire agreement, calling it “awful for America” and saying the United States should instead “destroy the regime.”
Conservative Calls for the 25th Amendment
Conservative political commentator and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones joined several other MAGA supporters and Republicans in calls for Trump’s removal from office, asking on his show Monday: “How do we 25th Amendment his ass?” Jones cited concerns about Trump’s Iran war strategy and warned of potential nuclear escalation.
The 25th Amendment allows the vice president and a majority of the Cabinet to declare a president unable to discharge the duties of office. A growing number of Republicans and Democrats have joined calls to invoke the 25th against Trump.
Jones then took issue with the president’s Tuesday post, writing, “The definition of genocide is destroying an entire civilization/people! Trump literally sounds like an unhinged super villain from a Marvel comic movie. This IS NOT WHAT WE VOTED FOR!!!”
Conservative commentator Candace Owens called Trump a “genocidal lunatic,” writing in an X post, “The 25th amendment needs to be invoked. He is a genocidal lunatic. Our Congress and military need to intervene. We are beyond madness.”
Earlier last week, Ty Cobb, who served as White House counsel during Trump’s first term, made similar calls. Appearing on The Jim Acosta Show, Cobb said the president is “clearly insane” and questioned why the Cabinet has not invoked the 25th Amendment.
Getty Images
“Given the fact that the Cabinet will not invoke the 25th Amendment for a man who is clearly insane—this war highlights that and these screeds that come out nightly, you know, at 2 a.m. or 4 a.m.—it highlights the level of his insanity and depravity,” Cobb said.
Greene, who publicly broke with the president last year and resigned from office, warned multiple times Thursday morning that she believes Trump is mentally unstable, and called for his removal from office.
“It’s absolute madness. How can any person that is mentally stable call for an entire civilization of people to be murdered? To be wiped out? To never come back again? That’s what the president called for,” Greene told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer.
“That shows there’s serious instability in his thinking, that not only would he say that in a private room, perhaps with his advisers, but actually go to his megaphone, his Truth Social, and post that for the entire country, and the entire world. It’s unreal. This should never be tolerated,” she added.
Trump’s Response to MAGA Splintering
In a nearly 500-word Truth Social post Thursday afternoon, Trump called out Carlson, Kelly, Owens, Greene and Jones by name, saying that they have “Low IQs” and are “stupid people.”
The post continued, “They don’t have what it takes, and they never did! They’ve all been thrown off Television, lost their Shows, and aren’t even invited on TV because nobody cares about them, they’re NUT JOBS, TROUBLEMAKERS, and will say anything necessary for some “free” and cheap publicity.”
The president said that “their views are the opposite of MAGA” and “MAGA agrees with me, and just gave CNN a 100% Approval Rating of ‘TRUMP,’ not Hand Flailing Fools like Tucker Carlson, who couldn’t even finish College, he was a broken man when he got fired from Fox, and he’s never been the same — Perhaps he should see a good psychiatrist! Or Megyn Kelly, who nastily asked me the now famous, ‘Only Rosie O’Donnell,’ question, or ‘Crazy’ Candace Owens, who accuses the Highly Respected First Lady of France of being a man, when she is not, and will hopefully win lots of money in the ongoing lawsuit…Or Bankrupt Alex Jones, who says some of the dumbest things, and lost his entire fortune, as he should have, for his horrendous attack on the families of the Sandy Hook shooting victims, ridiculously claiming it was a hoax.”
Trump added, “These so-called “pundits” are LOSERS, and they always will be.” The president concluded the post writing, “MAGA is about WINNING and STRENGTH in not allowing Iran to have Nuclear Weapons. MAGA is about MAKING AMERICA GREAT AGAIN, and these people have no idea how to do that, BUT I DO, because THE UNITED STATES IS NOW THE “HOTTEST” COUNTRY ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD!”
Loomer applauded the Truth Social post, writing in an X post shortly after, “I’m going to frame this Truth Social post. Incredible. Another L for the Woke Reich.”
What Happens Next
The midterm elections are widely seen as a test of the MAGA movement’s strength, particularly in races featuring Trump-endorsed candidates and in an election year when Trump is not on the ballot.
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