Trouble in MAGA Land?

The Hill…

Democrats ARE outshinning Donald Trump & Co.,  exposing a slight softening of Trump’s MAGA grip on the party faithful and they begin to turn each other…

Now, Vice President Harris’s unexpected rise to the top of the Democratic ticket has done more than just rekindle Democratic enthusiasm ahead of a make-or-break campaign. With over 15,000 journalists on hand, Harris has turned her party’s nominating convention into a must-cover media event unlike any since Barack Obama’s 2008 media frenzy.  

All that focus on Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, has left the GOP’s Donald Trump and JD Vance feeling the political chill. Trump has been sitting out much of the August campaign season, while Vance struggles with his deepening unpopularity among key swing voters. For the first time in this campaign, the Republican ticket looks weak and directionless.

Now some of Trump’s former allies have apparently seen enough.

The cracks in Trump’s political dam widened into a steady leak this week after former Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.) announced that she would cast her ballot for Harris in November. “After January 6, after Donald Trump has refused for four years to acknowledge that he lost, and his threats against democracy — I think it’s important to turn the page,” Comstock told CNN over the weekend.

Then there’s the far right, terminally online influencers who make up the beating heart of the MAGA movement. Those mostly young political movers include figures like neo–Nazi Nick Fuentes, who was once friendly enough with Trump to score a dinner invitation to Mar-a-Lago. Now Fuentes is casting doubt on the former president, saying he predicts a “catastrophic loss” for Trump and the GOP in November.

Likewise for long-time Trump ally and right-wing performance artist Laura Loomer, who rose to fame in part by riding Trump’s media coattails. “Have you noticed how weak so many of the Trump surrogates sound on TV?” Loomer asked in a post on X. “Needs to change FAST because we can’t talk about a stolen election for another four years.”

All of that criticism from former Trump loyalists has other MAGA culture warriors weaving conspiracy theories to explain away Trump’s weakness. Far-right podcaster Brenden Dilley used his platform to accuse Fuentes of being — of all possible things — a secret Democratic operative paid by the Harris campaign. The mind truly reels at the thought. …

…

Instead of focusing on the presidential race, Trump’s senior staff are now busy updating their resumes ahead of an expected mass-firing. That will leave Trump with plenty of free time this week to watch Harris and Democrats kick off a convention that will dominate the news cycle and push him even further from the headlines….

More..