WASHINGTON, April 16 (Xinhua) -- Top conservative influencers, who usually march in lockstep with U.S. President Donald Trump, are turning against him over the war with Iran.
In recent weeks, a significant rift has emerged within the MAGA ("Make America Great Again") movement, as high-profile media supporters and conservative influencers publicly criticize Trump's military actions against Iran.
Prominent conservative figures have broken with the president, citing concerns over what Trump himself has called "forever wars."
Trump's former supporter and MAGA icon Tucker Carlson has been among the most vocal opponents of the war on Iran. He called Trump's threatening and profanity-laced Easter Sunday message to Iran "vile on every level."
Carlson, who said the Easter holiday is about peace, labeled Trump's threats to attack civilian infrastructure as potential war crimes.
The podcaster, like many others in the MAGA movement, suggested that Trump is under undue influence from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Highly influential MAGA figure Megyn Kelly has joined the chorus of criticism, questioning Trump's departure from his "America First" agenda, whereby Trump promised not to involve the United States in foreign wars that are not key to the nation's security.
Conservative radio show host Alex Jones warned that the president is in "freefall" and criticized his handling of the Iran conflict.
MAGA darling Candace Owens has aligned with other critics in opposing the war, contributing to what some observers call a "splintering" of the MAGA base.
Experts note that the trend marks a significant shift, as Trump's supporters used to support the president no matter what he says or does.
Brookings Institution Senior Fellow Darrell West told Xinhua: "Key conservative influencers are turning against Trump on war. They think he has broken his campaign promises to put America first and focus on domestic priorities. They also feel there is no clear strategy on Iran."
"These defections pose big problems for Trump because these criticisms are coming from people who used to support him, not his critics. The more these criticisms emerge, the bigger the political problem for him in this year's elections," West said, referring to November's midterm elections.
As key conservative influencers turn against Trump over Iran, the president says the war will soon end.
In an interview on Wednesday on the Fox Business show "Mornings with Maria," Trump said he believes the conflict is "very close to being over" and claimed Iran wants to "make a deal very badly."
But Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmail Baghaei said on the same day that no specific dates have been set yet for a new round of U.S.-Iran talks, after talks in Pakistan over the weekend "collapsed."
Christopher Galdieri, a political science professor at Saint Anselm College, said the trend of conservative influencers turning away from Trump is "really striking."
"Part of it may be that Trump's supposed isolationism was what drew these folks to Trump in the first place, and with that gone they're more open to questioning the whole MAGA project," Galdieri told Xinhua.
He added that the trend might lead to increased criticism within Trump's base, although he remains "the clear leader of both the Republican Party and the MAGA movement."
"So while some folks may be dislodged by criticisms from within the movement, many more are going to stick with Trump to the bitter end," Galdieri said.
Some wondered if media watchers are making too big a deal out of the trend.
Clay Ramsay, a researcher at the Center for International and Security Studies at the University of Maryland, chalked it up to simply creating a storyline that keeps fans engaged.
"Once an influencer's fan base has grown past a certain point, the influencer doesn't need to express full allegiance to Trump. It's better for the ongoing story to mix it up a little," Ramsay said. ■
