🪦 R.I.P. MAGA?
Peter Rothpletz on the potentially violent death throes of Donald Trump’s political coalition, Hakeem Jeffries’s new progressive primary challenger, and the DOJ’s bungled prosecution of James Comey.
On this day in 1970, Megyn Kelly, attorney, former Fox host, and now MAGA media darling, was born. Her illustrious career has included highlights like defending blackface as a Halloween costume, asserting both Santa and Jesus should only ever be depicted as white, and suggesting just last week that Jeffrey Epstein was “not a pedophile.” Talk about a #Girlboss!
Good morning! Peter here. This evening I’ll be hanging out at an NYC event with friend of Zeteo Jennifer Welch, who we all love, right? Unfortunately, that means I won’t be able to write tomorrow’s early morning edition of this newsletter. Here’s the good news: my pal and colleague Swin has agreed to sub in for me. Lucky YOU guys!
Now, in today’s ‘First Draft,’ a historically unpopular Donald Trump cannot stop the GOP’s savage civil war, the head of FEMA resigns right in the middle of hurricane season, the UN Security Council approves US “peace plan” for Gaza, and yet another billionaire is about to spike your electricity bill with an AI boondoggle.
Currently, anyone can read ‘First Draft,’ but it won’t always be free. Subscribe today to ensure you always get ‘First Draft’ in your inbox, and if you’re already a subscriber, you can always support our journalism even further with a donation.
The MAGA Coalition Cracks Wide Open
The authoritarian alphabet soup that is the MAGA GOP is finally, at long last, circling the drain.
Why? What could have possibly, POSSIBLY, brought this about?
No, it’s not President Donald Trump’s tariff regime that has done nothing but further exacerbate inflation and the broader cost-of-living crisis in this country. No, it’s not Trump’s steadfast defense of the H1-B visa program, because explicitly, in his words, the United States does not have people with “certain talents” to fill high-paying, healthcare-attached, white-collar jobs. No, it’s not even because of Trump’s utterly bizarre handling of the Epstein files, which, to be clear, has been the single most disastrous, coalition-shattering brouhaha of modern American politics.
The chief catalyst for MAGA’s utter implosion can be summed up by one man: Nick Fuentes. Yes, THAT Nick Fuentes. The white supremacist, homosexual-hating, Holocaust-denying Nick Fuentes.
Late last month, ‘First Draft’ detailed how Fuentes and his viral tête-à-tête with failed Fox host Tucker Carlson rocked the right to its core. It ignited a true and proper civil war, with the aforementioned Fuentes and Carlson, alongside the Heritage Foundation, and Candace Owens vs. Ben Shapiro, Bari Weiss, and representatives of the Republican Old Guard like Senators Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz.
What we are witnessing, like in a cliché, spooky-season horror flick, is a zombiefied return of an ancient and once-banished faction of the American right trying to reassert control over the party.
I speak of the bitter, isolationist, ethnocentrist, anti-immigrant, anti-queer, and extremely, EXTREMELY antisemitic revanchist conservatism of Henry Ford, Charles Lindbergh, and Pat Buchanan. I must reiterate: this is by NO means a new manifestation of reactionary bigotry.
This is a very old, very tired, and fundamentally ugly ideology — but one that’s nevertheless routinely weaponized by machiavellian (if not all-out sociopathic) characters throughout history on the right.
Allow me to prove my case…
Please consider this quote from a major, MAJOR Republican player in contemporary politics with regard to one of the previously mentioned fathers of the modern far-right, Pat Buchanan: “He’s a Hitler lover. I guess he’s an antisemite. He doesn’t like the Blacks. He doesn’t like the gays. It’s just incredible that anybody could embrace this guy.”
Any guesses?
That was your president, Donald J. Trump, in 1999.
This was Trump just last year: “There was a man, conservative man, Pat Buchanan, a good guy, conservative guy… good guy, wow!”
Yeah… No wonder Cheeto Benito enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner with Nick Fuentes.
Mark my words, friends, the GOP’s battle of tomorrow is not MAGA Trumpists versus the conservatives of old; it’s out-and-out Jew-hating, neo-Nazi fascists versus those who pretend they are not.
But I digress…
The battle of tomorrow is the battle of tomorrow. MAGA is dead today. Let me play a sad song on the world’s smallest violin.
🗞️ What You Need to Know
Brooklyn beef: Progressive New York City Councilmember Chi Ossé has officially filed paperwork to challenge House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries in the 2026 primary election. This is the first major primary challenge to Jeffries, who won his seventh term last year by 51 points.
FAFO FEMA: David Richardson, the acting administrator of FEMA, has resigned after roughly six months of leading the disaster response agency. Richardson, who was notably unreachable during the July Texas floods that killed more than 130 people, didn’t even last a hurricane season.
What bubble?: Jeff Bezos has appointed himself co-CEO of a new AI startup called Project Premtheus, according to the New York Times. The startup will focus on developing AI for engineering and manufacturing, and has already secured over $6 billion in funding. Can this bubble please pop already?? My energy bill is through the roof!
Hooligan Halligan: A federal judge found “genuine issues of misconduct” in the criminal case against former FBI Director James Comey, which could result in the case being dismissed. He noted that “the record points to a disturbing pattern of profound investigative missteps” that could “undermine the integrity of the grand jury proceeding.” The judge explicitly criticized former Trump lawyer Lindsey Halligan, who is prosecuting the case.
Trump incites violence, again: Indiana State Senator Greg Goode, a Republican, was the victim of a swatting incident just hours after Trump criticized him for not wanting to redistrict the state’s congressional map. No one was harmed in the attack. Will MAGA media cover this??? Doubtful.
‘OK with me’: Trump said he would be “OK” with launching strikes on Mexico, purportedly to stop drug trafficking into the US.
Jet-setting joke: Ahead of Saudi Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman’s visit to the White House today, Trump told reporters that he is planning to sell F-35 fighter jets to Saudi Arabia. This is the country that carved journalist Jamal Khashoggi apart with a BONE SAW.
🧠 Pop Quiz!
Which friend-turned-enemy and noted musical theater enthusiast did Marjorie Taylor Greene call a “little bitch” during a House vote to impeach Joe Biden?
Keep your eyes out for the answer below!
☕ What’s the Tea?
Now I hand it over to my colleague who will be covering for me on this newsletter tomorrow morning… Zeteo’s Swin Suebsaeng, as well as Andrew Perez, have all the latest details on MTG vs The Donald.
Back in the day, Donald Trump couldn’t wait to get Marjorie Taylor Greene on the phone – to gossip, to ask about this or that political shitshow. He would even tell people about how jacked she looked, and insisted that she could easily “take” large Republican men he knew in a fist fight, sources who’ve endured Trump’s rambling about this tell us.
All of that has been blown to hell, with the two members of the ultra-MAGA, conspiracy-theory-flinging elite continuing their online and media flame war against one another. And it’s all because one, little dead billionaire pedo had to get between the two of them.
Trump’s crusade against his former favorite congresswoman and devout loyalist is on track to get even nastier – given how hurt his feelings are.
“He feels very betrayed,” a senior Trump administration official tells us. “He gave her the most coveted endorsement in American politics, and she’s just spitting in his face.” When asked to summarize Trump’s current mood, one GOP source who’s recently spoken to the president about the Georgia Republican rep. would only say: “Destroy MTG.”
In Trump’s party, devotion to the personality cult is the top policy priority. Deviate from that, and the former host of ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ will issue some incredibly catty fatwas against you.
Now that is SPICY TEA indeed, Swin and Andrew. For more on the MAGA fallout, be sure to read their full piece here.
🇵🇸 Don’t Forget Gaza
‘Peace’ plan: The UN Security Council (UNSC) approved a US-backed resolution in a 13-0 vote, with China and Russia abstaining, that establishes an “International Stabilization Force” in Gaza, moving forward with Trump’s plan to demilitarize the Palestinian enclave. Hamas rejected the resolution, saying it imposes an “international guardianship mechanism” over Gaza.
Vague ‘statehood’ reference: Notably, the UNSC resolution includes a reference to a possible future “credible pathway to Palestinian self-determination and statehood” – text Israel had objected to. The wording around possible statehood, however, is vague and conditional on Palestinian Authority reforms.
And in the occupied West Bank…
Dozens of masked settlers set homes ablaze near Bethlehem amid escalating attacks. Israeli media reported that Israeli forces only arrived after the attackers left, and they made no arrests.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed the escalating settler violence against Palestinians on a “small extremist group" and vowed justice. His defense minister, meanwhile, said Israel would expand its West Bank settlements, which are illegal under international law.
🚨 Don’t Miss It!
It’s the vote in the House on the Epstein files discharge petition today. Zeteo will have all the latest breaking news and analysis – plus Mehdi will speak to Rep. Maxwell Frost of Florida, who sits on the all-important House Oversight Committee, which released those 20,000+ Epstein documents last week.
Keep an eye out for our latest coverage in your inbox!
🌏 Anywhere But America
🇵🇭 Mass protest in Manila: More than 650,000 people rallied in Manila, Philippines, as part of a three-day protest in response to a major corruption scandal involving government officials pocketing billions in funds allocated for flood control projects.
🇵🇱 Polish railway explosion: Poland said today that “everything indicates” the weekend explosion on a railway line leading to the Ukrainian border was “initiated by the Russian secret services.” No casualties resulted from the explosion.
🇩🇪 Germany to resume arms sales to Israel: Germany announced it will lift its restrictions on weapons exports to Israel on Nov. 24, citing a “stabilized” ceasefire, despite continued Israeli violations in Gaza.
🇸🇩 ICC seeks life sentence for Sudanese war criminal: The International Criminal Court said it is seeking a life sentence for Janjaweed militia leader Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, who was convicted for his role in the atrocities – from mass rape to mass executions – committed in the Darfur region between 2003 and 2004.
🇰🇷 South Korea proposes talks with North Korea: South Korea’s deputy minister for national defence policy, Kim Hong-cheol, proposed military talks with North Korea to establish clear borders in an effort to ease tensions as North Korea repeatedly crossed the border line.
🦊 Fox Watch
“Grandma doesn’t need slippers.”
That’s Fox guest Jade Warshaw’s Grinch-y advice for Americans struggling through the holidays as Trump drives the economy off a cliff. What a winning message for MAGA!
🧠 Trivia answer: Beetlejuice stan Rep. Lauren Boebert
💬 QUOTE UNQUOTE
“Bing bing bing! They end up using more water. So, I gave them, as you know, unlimited water, Biden came back with a rigged election, and he immediately restricted the water again. But I came back in and immediately unrestricted it again. So now you have unlimited water to clean your damn dishes, and other things, your hands!”
ICYMI From Zeteo
Zeteo’s Melanie Riehl, Akshay Gokul, and Minnah Arshad contributed to this newsletter.
Still want to get Zeteo content, but not this newsletter? You can unsubscribe directly from ‘First Draft’ by going to ‘manage subscription’ in Substack, scrolling down, and toggling the button for ‘First Draft’ off.
Yes, R.I.P. to MAGA, indeed. May it rot in hell.
Great article, Peter! (Just curious what film you chose this past weekend.)
Have a fabulous day!
Thanks.
Cheeto Benito -- now that's a nickname that will really stick!