The Trump-Musk feud can only hurt the GOP, which is weaker than it seems

The Hill

a day ago

Dear Republican Party: If you don't believe you can blow the upcoming Florida governor's race, the 2026 midterm elections and the presidential election in 2028, you are delusional.
Why? Four main reasons: complacency, stupidity, broken promises and President Trump exiting the political stage.
The thermonuclear feud between Trump and Elon Musk makes such devastating losses much more likely.
How could such a brutal reversal of Republican fortunes come about? First, because I believe that the mainstream Democratic Party will eventually finally find the will and the intestinal fortitude to tell the far-left activists — who are controlling the narrative of their party and destroying their brand with working-class Americans — that the adults are back in the room and will be reasserting their authority.
As Politico reported last week in a piece titled 'The Great Un-Awokening,' more and more influential Democrats are seeking to move the party back towards the center. The start of the piece says it all: 'Ambitious Democrats with an eye on a presidential run are in the middle of a slow-motion Sister Souljah moment. Searching for a path out of the political wilderness, potential 2028 candidates, especially those hailing from blue states, are attempting to ratchet back a leftward lurch on social issues some in the party say cost them the November election.'
As I have said in this space before, far-left politicians such as Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) — who have managed to make themselves the face of the Democratic Party to many Americans with their transparently attention-seeking rants — continually push two main messages: hatred of Trump and the idea that everything must be viewed and addressed through the prism of identity politics. But more and more mainstream Democrats seem to have had enough.
As Politico reported, Rahm Emanuel — the former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton, two-term mayor of Chicago and potential 2028 Democratic candidate — said, 'Stop talking about bathrooms and locker rooms and start talking about the classroom.' That message will resonate with working-class Americans.
Next, we have the example of the July 2024 election in the U.K. between the Conservative Party and Labour. The left-wing media in the U.K. and the U.S. would have their audiences believe that Keir Starmer and the Labour Party 'crushed' the Conservative Party. While that makes for an effective talking point to the uninformed, it is simply not true. Starmer and Labour won because the Conservative vote fell off a cliff. The number votes for Labour was essentially the same as five years earlier. What changed dramatically was the number of people who came out to vote for the Conservatives — because so many of them felt betrayed, played and outright deceived by the Conservative 'leadership,' they simply stayed home.
The same can easily happen to the Republicans in 2026 and 2028. Accountability is a thing to voters. Keeping your word is a thing. Not being part of the D.C. swamp is a thing. Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-Fla.) made this very point recently when he blasted Republicans in Congress.
Speaking of Musk, many do believe he literally put his life on the line when he first bought Twitter, enthusiastically supported the election of Trump in 2024 and became the face of the Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE. Musk has openly talked of the many death threats directed at him because of these moves.
To that very point, DeSantis said, 'Musk went into this DOGE effort, he was getting lampooned. I mean, like they're firebombing his Tesla dealerships, media smearing him relentlessly, his business has suffered. All this stuff because he basically said, 'Look, we can't keep doing this, and we need to moderate and reduce the amount of money that the federal government is spending.' And yet, we have a Republican Congress, and to this day … not one cent in DOGE cuts have been implemented by the Congress.'
Note to Republican 'leadership': Conservatives pay attention to this. Voters of faith pay attention to this. Independents pay attention to this. If you become what you promise to fight, a substantial percentage of these voters will stay home.
Speaking of 'voters staying home,' we come at last to Trump. As I have said in this space in the past, I believe he is the greatest and most effective president in our lifetimes. No doubt many on the left will vehemently disagree with me, as is their right.
That said — and what is not in dispute, as it is an irrefutable fact — tens of millions of Americans agree with me. They don't believe in the Republican Party. They don't believe in fictitious Republican 'promises' and they don't believe in any of the Republican 'leadership.' They believe only in Trump.
More than that, they are keeping track of who is supporting him and who is seemingly betraying him. And once Trump exits the political stage, that Republican 'leadership' will be staring down the most important question of their political lives: How many of those tens of millions of Trump voters will simply stay home?
Trump and Musk are on the outs at the moment, and Democrats are overjoyed. I would caution them that such celebrations are not only premature, but counterproductive.
Ironically, given this 'feud,' I and many others happen to believe that Trump and Musk are both 'once in a century' figures, men who have moved the political and entrepreneurial needles like none before, and been viciously attacked by the far left and the Democratic Party.
Two men who do — or soon will — realize that not only will the country and the Republican Party benefit from their alliance, but so will they and their brands. No matter the bitter disagreements, they are stronger united than apart.
Douglas MacKinnon is a former White House and Pentagon official.