Analysis
Trump’s
MAGA base defies conservative pro-Israel doctrine
Rep.
Marjorie Taylor Greene, a leading far-right voice in Washington, this week
became the first Republican lawmaker to call Israel’s military actions in Gaza
a genocide
By AFP and
ToI Staff
Today, 10:55
am
https://www.timesofisrael.com/trumps-maga-base-defies-conservative-pro-israel-doctrine/
Unconditional
support for Israel has long been an entry requirement in American Republican
politics, but that orthodoxy is being challenged by influencers in US President
Donald Trump’s populist base — where invocations of the “special relationship”
are falling on deaf ears.
Images of
starvation and suffering in Gaza have given new impetus to a debate that has
been simmering in Trump’s Make America Great Again, or MAGA, movement over
whether US involvement in the Middle East is consistent with the president’s
“America First” platform.
One sign of
the change came in an X post from far-right firebrand congresswoman Marjorie
Taylor Greene, who on Monday went further than any Republican lawmaker has
previously in using the word “genocide” to describe Israel’s conduct, while
also condemning the Hamas-led October 7, 2023, attack that started the war.
“It’s the
most truthful and easiest thing to say that Oct 7th in Israel was horrific and
all hostages must be returned, but so is the genocide, humanitarian crisis, and
starvation happening in Gaza,” she posted.
Israel has
always enjoyed broad bipartisan support in Congress but the rise of the MAGA
movement, which has an isolationist bent, has challenged the ideological
foundations of the “special relationship.” MAGA realpolitik seeks to limit US
involvement in foreign wars to those that directly impact its interests, and in
particular the “left behind” working class that makes up Trump’s base.
Pro-Trump
think tank The Heritage Foundation in March called on Washington to “re-orient
its relationship with Israel” from a special relationship “to an equal
strategic partnership.”
And earlier
this month, Greene, a leading MAGA voice in Washington, DC, proposed a measure
to cancel $500 million in funding for Israel’s missile defense system. It
failed by a vote of 422-6.
Last month,
she was one of a group of MAGA influencers to vocally oppose the US joining
Israel’s strikes on Iran’s nuclear program, along with former Trump adviser
Steve Bannon and former Fox News host Tucker Carlson.
Another MAGA
influencer, Candace Owens, has become a vocal critic of Israel while leaning
into antisemitic rhetoric. Greene, too, has a record of conspiratorial social
media posts, and has been accused of antisemitism in the past. Carlson, who now
hosts a show on X, has repeatedly criticized US ties with Israel and has
fielded his own accusations of antisemitism.
“You can
only really pledge your loyalty to one person or one country,” Carlson said in
a June speech to Turning Point USA, a conservative group. “Anybody, by the way,
who serves in a foreign military should lose his citizenship immediately. There
are a lot of Americans who’ve served in the IDF. They should lose their
citizenship.”
In general,
strong expressions of disapproval have been subdued by a sense that they are a
betrayal of Republican thinking, according to some analysts — especially after
the October 7 Hamas attacks. And the criticism may not be filtering down to
Republican voters more broadly.
A recent
poll by Gallup found that while most Democrats and independents oppose Israel’s
military actions in Gaza, 71 percent of Republicans approve, with 78% likewise
approving of the Israeli strikes on Iran. Two-thirds view Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu favorably.
At the same
time, a new CNN poll found the share of Republicans who believe Israel’s
actions have been fully justified has dropped from 68% in 2023 to 52%.
Youth seems
to be the driver, according to a Pew Research poll from April. While
Republicans over age 50 haven’t changed much in their pro-Israel outlook since
2022, the survey showed that the US ally’s unfavorability among younger adults
has climbed from 35% to 50%.
“It seems
that for the under-30-year-old MAGA base, Israel has almost no support,” Bannon
told Politico.
The Nelk
Boys, young pro-Trump podcasters, received backlash from their listeners after
hosting Netanyahu earlier this month. In response, they hosted conversations
with several influencers known for promoting anti-Israel and antisemitic
conspiracy theories.
Netanyahu
and Trump are thought to be largely aligned, though there, too, reports of
severe malnutrition in Gaza appear to be causing friction. On Monday, the US
president acknowledged that “real starvation” is happening in Gaza and vowed to
set up food centers in the enclave.
Asked if he
agreed with Netanyahu’s denials of the Gaza hunger crisis, Trump said, “Based
on television, I would say not particularly, because those children look very
hungry.”
Vice
President JD Vance went further at an event in Ohio, discussing “heartbreaking”
images of “little kids who are clearly starving to death” and demanding that
Israel let in more aid.
Political
scientist and former US diplomat Michael Montgomery thinks the tonal shift
might in part be emotional — with TV images of starving children resonating
more profoundly than the aftermath of airstrikes.
“Perhaps it
is because no civilized people see starvation as a legitimate weapon of war,”
the University of Michigan-Dearborn professor told AFP.
Democratic
strategist Mike Nellis described the Gaza food emergency as “one of those rare
moments where the crisis has broken through the usual partisan gridlock.”
“You’re
seeing people across the political spectrum who just can’t stomach it anymore,”
he told AFP.
Sem comentários:
Enviar um comentário