The US right wing can forgive Trump for anything – except his deeply unpopular war

The American right wing has forgiven Donald Trump for his affairs, impeachments, mass deportations and the platforming of JD Vance.But having stuck with him through all that unpleasantness, it seems that we may have discovered the one thing that is capable of splitting some Maga conservatives from Trump: all it took was him starting a war in the Middle East.On Tuesday Joe Kent, the US counter-terrorism chief who previously ran for office as an ultra-Maga, white nationalist-endorsed, Trump-loving figure, resigned his position in a letter that both criticized Trump for waging the war and crapped all over the president’s excuses for starting the conflict.“I cannot in good conscience support the ongoing war in Iran,” Kent said. Then the key bit: “Iran posed no imminent threat to our nation, and it is clear that we started this war due to pressure from Israel and its powerful American lobby.”Trump, as is his wont, reacted furiously, telling reporters it was “a good thing” Kent quit and claiming “every country recognized Iran was a threat”. (Trump himself has actually said that none of the NATO countries want to get involved in the US-Israel led conflict.) In a statement on social media, the White House press secretary, Karoline Leavitt, said Kent’s resignation letter was riddled with “false claims” and asserted that Trump “had strong and compelling evidence that Iran was going to attack the United States first”.Be that as it may (and it’s worth pointing out that Mark Warner from Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate intelligence committee, who was briefed on the operation before it began, has said he “saw no evidence that Iran was on the verge of launching any kind of pre-emptive strike against the United States of America), Kent isn’t the only one having doubts.Tucker Carlson, the permanently perturbed rightwing commentator, has described the Iran campaign as “disgusting and evil”. Megyn Kelly, the Fox News host turned podcaster, said: “I would like to be better convinced that this is worth the sacrifice of American blood and treasure.” Marjorie Taylor Greene, the oddball former congresswoman and one-time Trump ally, weighed in in support of Joe Kent on Tuesday, calling him “a GREAT AMERICAN HERO” (her caps) on social media.Other skeptics include former Trump adviser Steve Bannon and chirpy commentator Matt Walsh. But so far few elected Republicans have raised their heads above the parapet. In the Senate, only Rand Paul voted with Democrats to curb Trump’s war powers (John Fetterman, the Democratic Pennsylvania senator who is basically just doing his own thing now, voted against the resolution).If the war drags on, however, Republicans might find themselves under pressure to break with Trump, because (and whisper this): people do not like this war.The most hardcore Maga voters, the people who flock to Trump’s rallies and fly his flags from their sinking boats, have Trump’s back. But only 24% of independent voters – who are likely to be key in the looming midterm elections – approve of Trump’s handling of Iran, according to an Economist / YouGov Poll, while 63% disapprove. Young voters, the Washington Post reported, are having “buyers’ remorse”. In an NPR focus group of swing voters who voted for Trump in 2024, almost all of them opposed Trump’s Iran expedition. A separate poll by Zeteo found that 52% of Americans, including 26% of Republicans, believe Trump was “at least party motivated” to attack Iran to distract from questions over Jeffrey Epstein.Given that vulnerable Republicans in the House and Senate will need independent voters to keep their seats in November, could we start to see them speaking up against the conflict? And if they do, how will Trump react? (I have an idea.) It’s going to be something to watch as the conflict grinds on.