Musk v. Bannon: How to Drive a Wedge in the MAGA Coalition
Trump's coalition is already fraying before he takes office
An enjoyable battle has bubbled up between the hardcore MAGA wing of the GOP and the tech bros who helped finance Trump’s successful 2024 campaign. The avatar of these clans are Steve Bannon, the Right Wing podcast host/pardoned criminal/former Trump strategist, and Elon Musk.
The tension has been brewing for months but blew up over the holidays when Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy argued for expanding the H1B visa program used by tech companies to bring in engineers and other highly trained workers. Bannon took things to another level at an event in Italy over the weekend. According to Breitbart, Bannon told an Italian paper:
I will have Elon Musk run out of here by Inauguration Day. He will not have a blue pass to the White House, he will not have full access to the White House, he will be like any other person … Peter Thiel, David Sachs, Elon Musk, are all white South Africans,” Bannon observed. “He should go back to South Africa. Why do we have South Africans, the most racist people on earth, white South Africans, we have them making any comments at all on what goes on in the United States?
For despondent Democrats still reeling from the election, the Musk-Bannon contretemps are a welcome distraction. Nothing wrong with a little schadenfreude, especially at the expense of two of the worst people in the world.
However, Democrats can find more than enjoyment from Bannon v. Musk. Their rift before Trump is even sworn in as President shows the fragility of Trump’s coalition and offers a roadmap for our strategy in the Trump era.
Democrats Have One Job
On a daily basis, the job of Democrats in Washington is not to govern. At the federal level, Democrats have no real ability to do so. We can’t introduce bills, call anything to a vote, or hold committee hearings. Since Trump and the GOP plan to use the Budget Reconciliation Process to pass all of his major agenda items, we can’t even use the filibuster as leverage to demand changes.
On the off chance that the Republicans want to collaborate on something consistent with our values, we should accept. Where we have leverage to influence policy, we must use it. However, our primary task is pretty simple — break up the Trump coalition before the next election.
This isn’t just a job for Congressional Democrats. Let’s be honest; they have a limited megaphone. Every Democrat needs to chime in; from our prospective presidential candidates, to folks in the media (like me), and activists (like you).
So, how do we do it?
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