It’s nothing new. After all, this is America; one can and often does change one's opinions on political matters. So, it happens. Mitt Romney has changed. Mike Pence has changed. Marjorie Taylor Greene has changed. Liz Cheney has changed. Some of it is due to genuine political differences. Others moved away from the MAGA movement out of differing interests due to their affiliation with the political class, the gripes from the old guard, and or the dying gasps of what was left of the neoconservative grip on the Republican Party. At the height of the Tea Party wave, Matt Kibbe, former CEO of FreedomWorks, had the perfect line for the struggles ahead. This line rings true for the recent slew of Republicans who have become troublesome in the second Trump presidency.
It's nothing new, not even revolutionary. But it’s one of those trite sayings that remain eternal: sometimes you need to defeat the Republicans before you can beat the Democrats. We’ve seen that with Greene’s departure from Congress, MAGA, and the snuggling up with lefty groups, like Code Pink, as she tries to rehabilitate her image. Even going on The View and apologizing for her zingers against top Democrats, like Nancy Pelosi. Greene, the Democrats don’t care about you, but they will for sure exploit and help create more of a mess if it means damaging the GOP brand. Kentucky’s Thomas Massie could arguably be hurled into this circus over his antics over the reconciliation package over the summer and the Epstein files.
We had four Republicans join Democrats in support of a discharge petition on Obamacare subsidies, along with scores of others queasy over the recent shutdown, which was Democrat-induced: they wanted $1.5 trillion for illegal alien health care benefits and NPR funding. Greene opted to blame GOP leadership and is reportedly even trying to topple Speaker Mike Johnson before she leaves the Hill in January.
Again, at times, you must defeat the Republicans before you can beat the Democrats. It can come in the form of primaries, challenges, whipping votes—if your House isn’t in order at home, you can’t go to war with your enemies on the other side. I’m not saying anything you don’t already know, but it’s undeniable that current conditions have resurrected this adage. I’m not sure if that’s a good or bad thing.
There will always be Republicans like Greene and the other squishy members who will give us a hard time. And I almost forgot to mention that not all of them are federal; most of the Indiana Republican caucus in the state Senate can be dismissed as scuttling a redistricting move that was key for the 2026 midterms.
Is this healthy? Look, it’s good to have internal debates over the party's direction. Trump’s ascension in the GOP was not easy, but it also wasn’t some hostile takeover, despite what the Never Trump clowns would have you think: there was a brutal 2016 primary. It was a crowded field, with candidates considered heavyweights. Trump beat them all. And just because you’ve won, it doesn’t mean your legion of the defeated goes away. Trump learned that the hard way in his first presidency, with scores of so-called Republicans working to undermine him.
It’s something that’s neither good nor bad—it’s what it is. We will always have a tiny rebel contingent who isn’t on board or will flat-out betray us. It’s been this way since ancient Greece and Rome. Yet, for the GOP, in recent years, what’s been illuminating regarding those intraparty enemies is that they always leave.
Romney, who wants higher taxes on the job-creating and investing class now, quit the Senate. Liz didn’t leave on her own terms, but she got slaughtered in her state’s primary, not before begging Democrats for help to stay alive. Greene is going, but not before her congressional pension vests. They always leave. They either quit or we have to primary challenge, because serving Democrats in their political games, which was the select committee for January 6 in the case of Cheney, isn’t acceptable.
We’ll always have enemies at home, and there will be times when they cause significant damage and great annoyance, but they never win. They either lose or quit. And then wallow in self-pity until CNN or MS Now saves them, at which they’re full-blown Democrats anyway.
Rinse and repeat. It’s one of the reasons why many find politics unpalatable, and I agree. You need to be a psychopath to do this daily.
Ten years ago, we had a Republican Party that supported mass legal immigration, unfettered free trade, failed foreign adventurism abroad, and were constant losers.
— Theo Wold (@RealTheoWold) December 23, 2025
President Trump ran against them and won. They tried to beat him again in 2024 and failed.
But a lot of people…
