Firebrand who helped build MAGA claims movement poised to 'collapse under its own weight'

A former MAGA firebrand who helped build the movement now says it's going to "collapse under its own weight."

Pedro Gonzalez, a writer and former New Right activist who broke with Trump, made the prediction in a Vox piece published Monday by journalist Zack Beauchamp.

"When your movement revolves around taboo-breaking and boundary-stepping, but then you decide there are some boundaries that are worth respecting, it's a joke," Gonzalez told Beauchamp. "It's going to fail. It's going to collapse under its own weight."

Gonzalez is among a growing number of conservatives who helped fuel MAGA's rise and are now alarmed by where it has gone.

Axios reported in April that MAGA's most powerful media voices turned against Trump over the Iran war. Joe Rogan called it "insane, based on what he ran on" and said supporters feel "betrayed." Trump cast Tucker Carlson out of the movement entirely.

NPR and Brookings have both documented deepening splits over the Epstein files, Iran, and economic policy — with non-MAGA Republicans increasingly distant from Trump.

The Vox report points to Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) as a concrete example of the dynamic Gonzalez describes. Massie, a Kentucky libertarian who once joked that Trump's supporters were just voting for "…the craziest son of a b---- in the race," was pushed out of his seat by Trump after 14 years in Congress.

Non-MAGA Republicans are showing signs of low turnout enthusiasm heading into the November midterms, according to Brookings.