Our Nazi-Agnostic Vice President
Deep Dives
Explore related topics with these Wikipedia articles, rewritten for enjoyable reading:
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Führerprinzip
11 min read
The article discusses MAGA as a 'leaderless cult' and Trump's inability to guide the movement's future despite his total control - the Führerprinzip (leader principle) from Nazi Germany provides historical context for understanding personality-driven political movements and what happens when the leader becomes disconnected from ideological direction
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America First Committee
13 min read
Nick Fuentes leads the 'America First' or 'groyper' movement mentioned in the article - understanding the original America First Committee (1940-1941), its antisemitic elements, and figures like Charles Lindbergh provides essential historical context for the current ideological debates within the right
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Ghislaine Maxwell
1 min read
The article extensively discusses the Epstein files release and Trump's connections to Epstein - Maxwell was Epstein's key associate and co-conspirator, and understanding her role, trial, and the broader trafficking operation provides crucial context for the ongoing document releases
We got some unexpectedly great economic news this morning: Inflation-adjusted GDP grew at a 4.3 percent annualized rate in the third quarter of this year, a much stronger than expected number. (The release of the numbers, like so much economic data recently, was delayed by the government shutdown earlier this year.) This apparent strong growth stands in odd contrast to other, murkier economic indicators we’ve gotten recently, most notably a rise in the unemployment rate. But as they teach in business school: Growing is better than shrinking!
A little bookkeeping: No Morning Shots tomorrow or Thursday. A very merry Christmas to all who celebrate. Happy Tuesday.
MAGA Is Becoming a Leaderless Cult
by Andrew Egger
In recent weeks, right-wing infotainers have spent more and more of their time fighting over an existential question: Are neo-Nazis and hardcore antisemitic conspiracy theorists welcome in the MAGA movement? This weekend, Vice President JD Vance weighed in twice on the matter—once in each direction.
On Sunday, Vance spoke at Turning Point USA’s annual conference, AmericaFest, where he scolded attendees to set aside what divides them to focus on fighting the left. “When I say that I’m going to fight alongside of you, I mean all of you. Each and every one,” he told the crowd. “President Trump did not build the greatest coalition in politics by running his supporters through endless self-defeating purity tests.”1
And yet there remain some purity tests Vance seems at least half-heartedly willing to enforce. In an interview with UnHerd released yesterday, Vance finally took aim at one of the leading lights of the right’s burgeoning neo-Nazi faction. “Anyone who attacks my wife, whether their name is Jen Psaki or Nick Fuentes, can eat shit. That’s my official policy as vice president of the United States. . . . Antisemitism and all forms of ethnic hatred have no place in the conservative movement.”
There’s a lot to unpack in Vance’s position, which seems facially unsustainable and self-defeating.2 If there’s no place on the right for neo-Nazis, but the neo-Nazis are unwilling to self-deport from the coalition, then the only way to get them out is for the rest of the coalition to enforce a no-Nazis standard—exactly the sort of
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