Do Not Be Fooled by MAGA Influencer’s Buyer’s Remorse
- Austin Abbring
- 19 hours ago
- 3 min read
As MAGA pundits begin to panic, Democrats should not throw out a line
By: Austin Abbring
May 17, 2026
We are finally beginning to see some fracturing among the MAGA sphere’s most persistent influencers and pundits. Tucker Carlson and former Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene have expressed regret and apologized for their recent votes for Donald Trump. Megyn Kelly has recently lashed out at Trump. Nick Fuentes has encouraged his viewers to vote for Democrats and to abandon the Trump administration. Candace Owens and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones have suggested the 25th Amendment should be invoked. This all comes far too little and far too late. The fact that it has taken these people ten years to recognize they hedged their bets on the wrong man is ludicrous.
MAGA influencers are realizing they need a career after this Donald Trump presidency. This is all an act of desperation and a clinging to relevancy. They are reluctantly coming to terms with the fact that this presidency, encapsulated in white nationalism, Christian fundamentalism, authoritarianism, and fascism, is something they will need to distance themselves from. Even MAGA comedians such as Andrew Shultz and Theo Von are having buyer’s remorse. These are hardly the deep-thinking political minds with any reasonable vision beyond what is directly in front of them right now; however, all of these people have large audiences.
Now, before we open our arms in the Democratic tent for Nick Fuentes, Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, and pundits of that ilk, let us not forget who these people are. We must take an indefinite pause on accepting any apologies. Nick Fuentes is a neo-nazi and misogynist through and through. Tucker Carlson is a despicable racist and Islamophobe, and has been for decades. Megyn Kelly attempted to differentiate between what the “actual” ages of pedophilia are in defense of Donald Trump’s ties to Jeffrey Epstein. As she suggested, there is a big contrast between eight-year-olds and fifteen-year-olds. You know, a normal line of thinking. We on the left should never allow any of these influencers from MAGA anywhere near the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party is conservative enough as it is. In fact, Gavin Newsom, a potential frontrunner for the Democratic nod in 2028, has had Ben Shapiro, Charlie Kirk, and Tucker Carlson on his podcast. We do not need these types of voices among the party's highest members.
I am in favor of engaging in productive conversations with people who have opposing viewpoints. However, there is a difference between reaching out across the aisle and platforming fundamentalists. Democratic leaders should be preserving that energy for flipping regular, working-class voters who have voted for Republicans for the last thirty years. A working class that is frustrated with both parties. Democrats should be at the forefront of appealing to those voters as they had before for decades in the previous century. Tucker Carlson, Candace Owens, and Nick Fuentes may buddy up to Democrats now that the MAGA movement is falling apart and this administration has been such a blatant, disastrous grift. However, keep in mind that they are still going to vote Republican in 2028, no matter how remorseful or angry they may seem right now. Let this repentance and indignation fall on deaf ears. These pundits do not deserve the opportunity to temporarily jump ship and hitch a ride on the Democratic Party’s lifeboat. They must be left un-tethered to tread water in the ocean. An ocean of hateful, nationalist, separatist, racist, xenophobic ideology, they have aided in perpetuating for years.