Image: Keystone/Watson
analysis
After Tucker Carlson, Steve Bannon is also distancing himself from the president.
April 23, 2026, 8:14 p.mApril 23, 2026, 8:14 p.m
Last fall, Steve Bannon made brief headlines by declaring in an interview with The Economist: “Trump will continue to be president after 2028, and people should just come to terms with that.” The former chief strategist in the White House also hinted at a plan that already exists, but the details of which he will only announce at a later date.
In the fall of 2025 there will be euphoria in the MAGA camp. The Trump 2.0 government purred like a well-oiled machine: a majority in both chambers of Congress, demoralized Democrats, a merciful Supreme Court – what could go wrong? Unlike the first term in office, there were no internal concerns, only loyalists who blindly implemented everything the president ordered.
On a coalition course with Trump: Steve Bannon.Image: keystone
And unlike between 2016 and 2020, this time there was no chaos. There was a plan, the infamous Project 2025. This plan was also systematically implemented: state officials were fired in droves, elite universities’ funding was cut, elite law firms were brought to their knees, media outlets were punished with high fines and critical journalists were intimidated. The path to an authoritarian Trump state à la Orban seemed wide open.
Meanwhile, Steve Bannon is striking a completely different tone. He no longer speaks of a bright future, but of impending defeat. “They (the Trump administration) gave away the entire damn state of Virginia to the Democrats, and it will be decades before we can fix that,” he raged on his podcast. What had happened?
Virginia voters narrowly approved a law allowing temporary gerrymandering (redistricting) that could result in Democrats winning 10 of 11 seats in the upcoming midterm elections. They would thus gain five seats and further increase their already very good chances of winning the election in November.
Trump scored a classic own goal in Virginia. It was he who started the gerrymandering war by calling on Texas to do exactly that, which Governor Greg Abbott, who was loyal to him, promptly did.
Texas Governor Greg Abbott.Image: keystone
In doing so, however, the president triggered a chain reaction. Although electoral districts are traditionally only redrawn every ten years after a census, California and other states followed Texas’ example. Ari Fleischer, former press secretary for George W. Bush and still an influential figure in the Grand Old Party, explains contritely to the Wall Street Journal: “If Texas hadn’t jumped the gun, this would have been avoidable and we Republicans would be in a better position now. We looked for a fight and lost it.”
The Virginia gerrymandering debacle is just the latest example of events that are disastrous for the Trump administration. The president himself probably doesn’t know how the Iran war will continue. The same applies to the customs chaos. The Epstein files regularly appear in the headlines, and with his dispute with the Pope, Trump has not only offended Catholics. His approval ratings are now at 33 percent. Even Joe Biden didn’t fall that low back then.
Viktor Orban sends his regards. It’s not just Steve Bannon who is panicking. Tucker Carlson has also definitely broken with Trump. The former star host of Fox News is or was once considered the most powerful MAGA influencer, and many even saw him as Trump’s successor in the Oval Office. He is also said to have played a key role in JD Vance being chosen as vice president.
Meanwhile, Saul became Paul. In his podcast, Carlson practices active remorse. “We have to deal with our conscience,” he explained in a conversation with his brother. “It will torture us for a long time, and I would like to apologize for leading so many people down the wrong path.”
Regrets: Tucker Carlson.Image: keystone
Carlson campaigned heavily for Trump in the run-up to the 2024 elections. His enlightenment came not on the road to Damascus, but on Trump’s route to Tehran. When he vowed to destroy an entire civilization in one night, this was the famous straw that broke the camel’s back. “This is pure evil,” explained Carlson, who already considers the war against Iran to be a monumental mistake.
Bannon and Carlson are getting more and more supporters. Megyn Kelly, also a former Fox News star, has also turned away from Trump, as have Marjorie Taylor Greene and Alex Jones. There are also comedians Joe Rogan, Theo Van and Tim Dillon. Especially in the bro scene, they ensured that an above-average number of young men voted for Trump.
As usual, the president dismisses this with the phrase that they are all “low IQ” types, people with a low intelligence quotient. Will this be enough? Every day, MAGA members also see how the price of gasoline has exceeded $4 per gallon, how food and rent are becoming more and more expensive, and how Trump has clearly broken his promise not to start any more wars.
Paradoxically, Trump voters in red states suffer disproportionately from their idol’s policies. The majority of them lose the subsidies for their health insurance premiums and have to see their hospitals closed.
The farmers, traditionally loyal to the Republicans, are now experiencing one of their worst crises. Because of the tariff dispute, the Chinese have stopped buying their soybeans. Now, due to the closure of the Strait of Hormuz, the price of fertilizer, which they urgently need, has increased by more than 30 percent. Zippy Duvall, the president of the American Farm Bureau Federation, told the Financial Times: “Farmers are facing a headwind that hasn’t been blown in generations. Their future prospects are bleak and they need help.”