MAGA Remains United, Not Divided
By Jason Jones, human rights activist and author
Published 18 Oct 2026
As the 2026 midterm elections approach, talk of a “split” inside the Make America Great Again (MAGA) coalition has become common. The reality, however, is different. The most dedicated members of the movement have chosen to keep the solidarity that brought them together in 2024.
I helped assemble that coalition during the 2024 presidential race. It brought together groups that usually opposed each other: social conservatives, pro‑life advocates, devout Christians, practicing Muslims, Quakers, disillusioned leftists and many first‑time young voters. All rallied behind a Republican ticket.
Together we achieved a historic victory and a moral mandate that emphasized the human cost of unchecked borders, reckless overseas wars and a ruling‑class that allowed the Jeffrey Epstein network to operate with impunity while the dignity of the most vulnerable was ignored.
In the final weeks of the campaign I visited Syrian Christian churches in Pennsylvania and met families who had directly suffered from Washington’s foreign policy. In those conversations we discussed Gaza, peace and the promises made by Donald Trump.
That diverse, all‑American patchwork of supporters truly became a people when they recognized their shared goal of electing a president who would break from the Washington establishment’s inhumane policies.
Today that coalition remains largely intact. What is changing is an effort by some to redefine MAGA. After the disastrous U.S.–Israeli war on Iran, Trump declared “I am MAGA” and began to align the brand with the ideology of well‑known neo‑conservatives such as Mark Levin. Consequently, MAGA is being turned into a blunt tool of the very war‑driven elites the original movement sought to displace. The brand now faces the risk of being dismantled in November, but that does not diminish the goodness and power of the movement that supported Trump in 2024.
A key factor in this shift appears to be the decision to support, fund and protect Israel at any cost as it carries out a genocide in Gaza and other atrocities across the Middle East. Election Day 2026 will likely be the first time public moral outrage is fully expressed, yet the most powerful politicians are doubling down on this stance ahead of the midterms.
A recent New York Times report said David Milstein, senior adviser to U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee and stepson of Mark Levin, repeatedly suppressed or rewrote embassy reports on Israeli violence against Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. Milstein allegedly blocked reporting on the killings of Palestinian Americans by Israeli settlers and security forces, yet he remains in his position.
I write as an American conservative and a Catholic. At a time when Washington is using America’s moral authority to shield Israel’s government from accountability while treating Palestinian lives as negotiable, my deepest convictions and my patriotism compel me to stand against some of the loudest self‑identified “patriots” and “conservative Christians”. I do not reject what they claim to represent; I still embrace it.
An April Pew Research survey found that 57 percent of Republicans and Republican‑leaning independents aged 18 to 49 viewed Israel unfavorably. Young conservatives have seen the same harrowing footage of the Gaza genocide as everyone else. The new self‑proclaimed leaders of MAGA, a movement that taught youth to distrust official narratives, cannot reasonably expect them to stop asking questions, especially when many prominent figures have kept their integrity and still carry the original coalition’s banner.
Trump’s former counterterrorism chief Joe Kent resigned in protest over the Iran war and publicly described the Israeli and lobbying pressure that helped bring it about. Former Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard recorded that Iran was not building a nuclear weapon and had not restored its enrichment capability since the twelve‑day war of 2025, undermining the “imminent nuclear threat” claim used to justify the current conflict.
Former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene and Congressman Thomas Massie opposed the Gaza genocide and the Epstein cover‑up. The Trump‑aligned donor class struck back: Greene resigned and Massie lost his primary after a multimillion‑dollar campaign to unseat him.
Conservative activist Carrie Prejean Boller defended Christian opposition to Israel’s violence in Gaza and challenged the ideology of Zionism. She paid a price, losing her seat on Trump’s Religious Liberty Commission, but proved herself a true leader in the movement.
Conservative commentators Tucker Carlson and Alex Jones used their platforms to confront Trump over the Iran war and U.S. support for Israeli abuses of Palestinians.
Even comedians and podcasters entered the debate. Joe Rogan, Theo Von, Tim Dillon and others opened their shows to Trump’s son Barron, who helped bring his father’s campaign to their audiences in 2024. Rogan endorsed Trump, while Von and Dillon offered critical perspectives, illustrating the complex media landscape surrounding the MAGA movement today.