politics
Hindsight Is 2024
Some institutions jumped onto the MAGA bandwagon after the 2024 election, but it hasn’t taken long for those decisions to look shortsighted.
TL;DR
- Institutions faced a dilemma on how to respond to Donald Trump's return to the White House in 2025, with some resisting, some appeasing, and others aligning with the perceived MAGA shift.
- David Ellison's media conglomerate, Skydance, attempted to merge with Paramount and install Bari Weiss at CBS News with a more conservative editorial stance, but faced setbacks.
- Attempts by right-wing influencers to court MAGA news consumers have also seen audiences shrink, reflecting Trump's own difficulties in maintaining his coalition.
- Elon Musk's relationship with Trump and its impact on X and Tesla sales are also mentioned, with X shedding users and Tesla sales struggling.
- Many institutions that resisted Trump's 2016 win are now more involved in politics and vulnerable to pressure, while those that courted MAGA news consumers have not guaranteed success.
- The Heritage Foundation reworked itself but is now shut out of the White House, and some mainstream Republicans who remade themselves as MAGA Republicans have faced negative consequences.
- A "broken pipeline" for conservative government and nonprofit organizations is attributed to prioritizing "blind ideological loyalty instead of competence or intelligence."
- The risk of betting on a long-term realignment is that politics can snap back quickly, leaving those who wagered wrong with lasting consequences.