What type of MAGA are you?: Epstein MAGA, Groyper MAGA, or Massie-ite
- JM Valat De Córdova
- May 30
- 5 min read
(NEW YORK MET., AREA, NY) – There is a spectre haunting America, the spectre of the MAGA civil war. You will oftentimes see news outlets write about this and exaggerate the exact impasse that is actually occurring. So, we at The Radical Times will try to avoid this. Instead, we will describe the various influencer-led, idiot-led, and politician-led factions within the MAGA movement.
It is worth noting that not all self-identified republicans are MAGA Republicans; however, at this stage in time, the non-MAGA republicans are all essentially in a small minority. Their best performance in this primary season was in their attempt to re-elect Rep. Thomas Massie, the libertarian who regularly broke with Mr. Trump over the handling of the Epstein files, deficit spending, and the war in Iran.
Or, in other words, the man was a principled libertarian. Someone who stood behind his principles of: not liking pedophiles, not liking deficits, and not liking sending our youth to die in the Middle East. It should be noted that Rep. Massie would’ve most likely been more electable than the MAGA loyalist that Mr. Trump hand-picked to replace him.
Indeed, Mr. Trump’s intervention in the Texas GOP primary in favor of former Texas Attorney General and impeached fraudster Ken Paxton has seemed to already backfire a mere handful of days after the primary, with democratic state senator and priest-in-training James Talarico taking a three-point lead in Texas, of all places.
Once again, reviving the hopes, dreams, and fears of Blexas within the minds of liberals and conservatives alike.
In fact, 30 percent of those who voted for four-term senator John Cornyn in the primary will vote for Talarico, according to that same bombshell poll reported earlier today. Aggregators like Real Clear Politics also have Talarico with a small lead, although it is important to note that it is still months away from polls closing and Texans deciding their next senator.
All of this preamble is to say that there are consistent ideological differences between members of Mr. Trump’s ‘MAGA coalition, and that there are significant figures on the ideological right who constitute an ideological break from the Trump above everything position that many (perhaps even the majority) in the party believe.
The Neo-Nazi Groypers
First, and unfortunately, the most insurgent are the Groypers. Their primary influencer leader is Nicholas Fuentes, a far-right ‘activist’ who once proclaimed that Jeffrey Epstein was “cool” and is also known to think that “Hitler is cool.”
While Fuentes was a fringe figure for a significant time in politics (almost a decade), mainstream media attention followed his surge in popularity, particularly after Charlie Kirk’s death (with whom Fuentes had a long-standing feud). Fuentes has been reported on extensively by mainstream outlets and has millions of followers on YouTube.
Fuentes and his ilk essentially believe that Mr. Trump is not an authoritarian, and it is for that reason that they continually criticize Mr. Trump as being far too moderate for their liking. Fuentes has repeatedly stated that if Mr. Trump were doing “what they say he is,” that it would be “based.” (Based is a Zoomer slang term for agreeing with a political opinion, used particularly vociferously on the online right.)
This faction has significant backing by the youth of the party, and is seen by some on the left (but certainly not most) as allies, particularly on the issue of Gaza, where Fuentes’ rabid antisemitism disallows him from siding with the majority of the ideological right in America.
In fact, it is likely that if the MAGA right can maintain its hold on young Zoomer men, it will likely be because they listened to Fuentes and others like him on the Groyper Neo-Nazi right. This ‘New Right,’ as it has so often been termed, is dangerous, growing, and profoundly stupid.
One of the disciples of the right opposition to Mr. Trump, the Mormon ‘investigative journalist’ Nick Shirley, recently violated US regulations by staying at a hotel that supports the state sponsor of terrorism, Cuba. He also claimed that he could not leave Cuba, despite being perfectly able to (some have humoursly suggested that he never went to Cuba, and in fact just stayed in a Miami Airport bathroom for half an hour).
Fuentes is best thought of as an ‘Anti-Piker’, i.e., he is what Piker is to the progressive left, without much of the on-the-ground organizing experience, but essentially used similar formats of live streaming to a loyal audience to gain prominence and mainstream coverage.
The principled Massie-ites
Moving on from the Groypers, we have what I have termed the ‘Massie-ites’, which is to say that I believe that these people actually have nominal principles that they attempt to proscribe to. It is tempting to call these the moderates, but of course, a principled hard-right libertarian is not necessarily ‘moderate’ because they oppose fascistic governance.
This faction is essentially losing all power that they hold, and as of now are not as prominent a faction within MAGA and the broader GOP as they should be. Think of your Marjorie Taylor Greenes, your John Cornyns, even your Thomas Massies (MTG being the only one of these who did not lose a primary, largely because she resigned)
Although it should be noted that they very well may fare well in a post-Trump world, if Mr. Trump respects the Constitution and decides not to run for a fourth time in order to obtain a third term. However, without elected representatives, like Marjorie Taylor Greene, Thomas Massie, or John Cornyn to represent them, it’s hard to imagine any of them winning a 2028 nomination in a party that is still largely loyal to Mr. Trump.
The Pro-Epstein faction
The final, the oddest, and the hardest to enumerate are what we have termed the ‘Epstein Supporters’. You may very well assume that there would be no supporters of Epstein; however, if you were paying attention to the Neo-Nazi Groyper Section, you’d know that to not be the case.
You may very well, however, be shocked to learn that the former Fox News host Megyn Kelly defended the disgraced New York financier, saying that he was “not a pedophile” because he slept with 15 and 16-year-old “women” and not “little girls.” This commentary and this section can best be described as Trump continuity.
So, to review: we have seen that there is a Right-opposition to Mr. Trump in Nick Shirley, Nick Fuentes, and other such idiots, such as the no-longer bow-tie-wearing Tucker Carlson. We have seen the principled opposition, who are greatly losing ground to the Epstein-aligned GOP.
So what type of MAGA are you? Which ultranationalistic faction will win out when or if Mr. Trump decides to relinquish power (or, possibly, who will be the President to a future Vice President Trump, an office which has no term limit?)
