In 50 years, when we talk about this era of American politics, it will be truly impossible to capture the chaos, exhaustion, darkness and insanity of Donald Trump’s presidencies.
There won’t be adequate words to describe how much changed in such a short period of time, thanks to Trump’s utter debasement of the office and the GOP’s decision to follow him down one of the ugliest paths imaginable, all the while abandoning principles, morals and basic common decency.
When we tell our kids and grandkids that a major political party in America nominated a convicted felon to be president, a man who incited an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol, a man who was found liable for sexual abuse — and that his party was once the party of “family values,” the Christian Coalition, and law and order, who would believe us?
Trump’s corruption of conservatism, evangelicalism, the law, the Constitution and democracy has also had the regrettable effect of turning MAGA’s mouthpieces, including sitting lawmakers, into absolutely reprehensible ghouls.
Let’s start with Utah Sen. Mike Lee, a man I’ve spent time with and used to really admire before he contracted MAGA brain rot, like so many other once-normal and decent conservatives.
In the wake of the gruesome shootings of two Minnesota Democratic lawmakers and their spouses, Lee took to social media. Because, right after a tragedy, it’s always best to try to score political points with an audience of bots and trolls.
First, he posted on X , alongside a photo of the alleged gunman, “This is what happens when Marxists don’t get their way.”
And then, “Nightmare on Waltz [sic] Street.”
To put into context how grotesque this is, he posted this less than 24 hours after the shootings, while Minnesotans were still processing the horrific events of a targeted assassination and the gunman was still on the loose.
Of course, there’s also the fact that Lee got the politics of the gunman all wrong, assuming incorrectly that he was liberal. While he was tapped for a panel by Minnesota Gov. Mike Walz at one point — thus the “nightmare” post — Vance Boelter had a kill list of dozens of Dem lawmakers and abortion providers, was an outspoken evangelical Christian and, according to people who knew him, was a strong supporter of Trump.
After receiving widespread condemnation for the unconscionable posts, Lee quietly removed them but has not apologized. What a disgrace he’s become.
MAGA brain rot has had another effect, which is to put solving problems for Americans last on the list of lawmakers’ priorities. Instead, the most important job and political currency has become proving their loyalty to Trump.
This week, former Fox News host and Trump pal Tucker Carlson interviewed Sen. Ted Cruz, with the brewing Iran-Israel war as the main focus.
Carlson, to his credit, tried to pin Cruz down on some basic facts about Iran, saying, “If you’re calling for toppling a government, it’s incumbent on you to know something about the country and to think through the consequences of that. And you haven’t and you don’t. And I’m saying that’s reckless.”
After proving he knew very little about Iran, Cruz brushed off Carlson’s requests for basic facts and, with nowhere to go on substance, he predictably turned to MAGA’s favorite dodge — questioning Carlson’s loyalty to Trump.
“OK, you engage in reckless rhetoric with no facts, and to be clear, you put out a newsletter attacking Donald Trump and calling him complicit,” Cruz whined.
Carlson, not wanting to be out-Trumped, replied, “I campaigned for Donald Trump, and this is like, after antisemitism, this is the last refuge, ‘You’re an antisemite, and you hate Trump!’ I love Trump.”
So now, because a senator shamefully can’t answer questions about a country we might go to war against, we’re off the actual topic and onto a pissing contest over who’s the bigger Trump sycophant. Pathetic.
Another characteristic of MAGA brain rot? It leads very smart people to make very dumb decisions.
Last week, former Trump attorney John Eastman was told by a California appellate disciplinary panel the recommendation to disbar him for his efforts to help overturn the 2020 election would stand. Another judge had previously concluded Eastman had committed “multiple acts of moral turpitude” in service of Trump and his phony, ego-driven claims of election fraud.
Eastman is joined by many other former Trump lawyers who have since seen their law licenses taken away, either temporarily or permanently, and their reputations destroyed, from Michael Cohen to Jenna Ellis, Rudy Giuliani to Kenneth Chesebro, all because they got in bed with Trump and made terrible choices.
Whatever you thought of these people before Trump — and I’ve known many of them personally — it’s hard to imagine they would have sunk so low without his imprimatur, without his suffering practically no consequences for being a terrible person, without him dragging everyone in his orbit into the gutter with him.
They justify it all because Trump has convinced them that acting like he does is somehow a righteous cause that supersedes morality, the Ten Commandments and basic human decency.
Whatever actual issues draw voters in — and some are totally legitimate — they’re completely corrupted by MAGA brain rot. It’s real, it’s disgusting, it’s contagious, and it might just be incurable.
S.E. Cupp is the host of “S.E. Cupp Unfiltered” on CNN.
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