“Fearful of His Base”: Trump’s Decisions Driven by MAGA Outrage, Says Morning Joe
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On MSNBC’s Morning Joe Tuesday, co-hosts Joe Scarborough and Jonathan Lemire agreed that Donald Trump remains heavily influenced by fear of backlash from his MAGA base, often making decisions detrimental to his own agenda.
Scarborough highlighted Trump’s pattern of discussing potential compromises only to later retreat, seemingly worried about disappointing his supporters. “For somebody who controls his base as much as he does, he’s awfully fearful of it,” Scarborough remarked.
He pointed to Trump’s reluctance to discuss Operation Warp Speed, the program credited with accelerating COVID-19 vaccine development and distribution. “He will not talk about Operation Warp Speed… perhaps one of the great achievements scientifically over the past 50 years,” Scarborough noted. “He did one time with Bill O’Reilly and he got booed.”
Operation Warp Speed, which rolled out vaccines in record time during the COVID-19 pandemic, remains a notable accomplishment. Yet Trump has largely avoided celebrating it, seemingly wary of the segment of his base that harbors skepticism toward vaccines.
Scarborough then posed a question to Lemire: “Is there any reason to believe that he’s going to move — that he’s not going to be as constrained by his base this time, or is it going to be more of the same?”
“More of the same,” Lemire responded. He agreed that Operation Warp Speed should be celebrated, adding, “That should be his first room in his presidential library, that accomplishment. They did it in 10 months and distributed during a global pandemic.”
However, Lemire underscored Trump’s tendency to prioritize division over unification. “This is someone who, when given the choice between being a unifier or divider, almost always chooses division.”
Lemire also cited Trump’s indecision regarding Kash Patel as a potential pick for FBI director. “We have reported that Trump was waffling about whether he wanted to put [Kash] Patel up for the FBI director job because they didn’t think he would be confirmed,” Lemire explained.
He added that Trump was ultimately swayed by figures like Steve Bannon, who urged him to pursue Patel’s nomination regardless of the challenges. “There are moments when he still, despite never running for election again, seems fearful of alienating the base too much,” Lemire concluded.
The discussion underscored Trump’s persistent reliance on his base, often at the expense of political pragmatism or legacy-defining achievements. Even as he avoids future elections, the influence of MAGA loyalty continues to guide his decisions.
