Trump Tells Them What’s Right, What’s Wrong, What’s Real

I spent a good chunk of this weekend arguing with conservative pundits and influencers about the assassination of Melissa Hortman. And far too many of them are still denying the objective truth: she was murdered by a radicalized Republican who hated abortion. Melissa’s assailant had a hit list of pro-choice Democratic legislators he planned to kill. But because he was once reappointed to a bipartisan committee by Tim Walz, the right has spun up a conspiracy theory that Walz himself ordered the hit on Hortman and others.

What it has me reflecting on this morning is just how morally bankrupt and untethered from reality the MAGA movement has become. They’ve fused Donald Trump and their media ecosystem into a single source—not just of information, but of morality. And I want to connect the dots here, because this is part of a much larger sickness.

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Let’s start with Tom Homan, the White House border czar. Over the weekend, we found out he accepted a $50,000 cash bribe from undercover FBI agents. Now, it's not the GOP’s fault that Homan was corrupt and dumb enough to take it—but it is their responsibility to investigate. Especially since it's on tape. But Trump, Pam Bondi, and Kash Patel killed the investigation. Why? Because they need Homan. He’s central to their campaign of fear and cruelty toward immigrants. And what was conservative media’s response? A bunch of pathetic excuses to reframe the narrative and morally justify blatant corruption.

They claimed the deep state made him take the bribe. Megyn Kelly straight-up said she didn’t care because she hates immigrants. Some claimed he wasn’t officially in office yet, so it somehow doesn’t matter. It's absurd. The FBI did solid work here—you can bet that $50,000 wasn’t the first time he got dirty—and the MAGA crowd is defending it because Trump said it’s okay. So it’s okay.

Same thing with the Epstein cover-up. They used to scream about releasing the Epstein files, exposing elite pedophiles. It was maybe the one thing I agreed with them on! Then, the moment Trump, Bondi, and Patel said “nah,” every conservative influencer fell in line. Suddenly it’s a hoax. A nothingburger. Why? Because the cult leader said so.

Same with the economy. Trump’s out here telling people everything’s cheaper, the job market is booming—total fiction. Anybody managing a household budget or trying to get a job knows it. And they’re hiding the latest inflation report, which was supposed to drop Friday. You know why: the numbers must be brutal, and they contradict Trump’s fantasy version of reality.

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Back to Melissa Hortman. She was assassinated—and conservatives are bending over backwards to blame anyone but the radicalized Republican who did it. More so, they’re still trying to pin Charlie Kirk’s shooter on Democrats—despite having no evidence of his ties to left-wing groups. Let’s be real: if you’re picking up a gun to kill anyone—Charlie Kirk included—you don’t share my ideology.

At the memorial last night, aside from Erica Kirk—who gave a surprisingly graceful speech and forgave the killer, which I respect—most of the speeches were unhinged. Trump’s, especially, was offensive. There was no call for unity, no grace—just more of the same poison. Because again: in MAGA world, morality flows from Trump. It’s okay to hate. It’s okay to turn on your neighbors. Trump says so.

I come back to what I wrote Friday: Trump is a fascist. And a key trait of fascism is becoming the sole source of truth and morality for your movement. No matter what evidence you show them, they believe Tom Homan isn’t corrupt, Tim Walz ordered Hortman’s murder, Charlie Kirk’s killer was a leftist, the economy is great, prices are down, housing is cheaper, and everything’s better than it was nine months ago. All lies.

What Republicans do not realize is that their actions are actively eroding Americans’ faith in government. Turning a blind eye in the face of blatant corruption, obstruction of justice, and refusing to uphold democratic principles of transparency, accountability, and justice because “Trump said so”—be it for the Epstein case, Melissa Hortman’s assassination, or Homan’s bribery scandal—is also political suicide. By refusing to hold their own base or colleagues accountable, Republicans are not protecting their party—they’re accelerating its collapse. Every time they excuse corruption, indulge conspiracy theories, or shrug at unlawful behavior, they deepen the public’s sense that the government is broken and rigged. Trust in government is already at historic lows, and this cynicism only pushes more Americans to disengage entirely—or worse, to embrace even more extreme, anti-democratic movements.

It’s dangerous. It’s cult behavior. And it’s bleeding into everything. Just look at the Jimmy Kimmel situation—they’re flat-out lying about what he said and justifying Trump using the FCC to get him suspended. It’s all grievance politics now. They claim the government is persecuting them. Roseanne Barr even blamed Obama for her getting fired seven years ago. She tweeted something racist, ABC fired her—as is their right—and now she’s blaming an administration that wasn’t even in office at the time.

Some of them are delusional. But many of them—Trump, Miller, Vance—know exactly what they’re doing. They’re polluting the public mind, positioning themselves as the sole arbiters of truth, and using that authority to justify corruption, lies, and political violence. That’s how they get to “it’s okay for Tom Homan to take a bribe,” or “it’s okay for Trump to take a $400 million bribe from the Qatari government.”

That’s the rot. And it’s why more and more people are turning against this administration, whether they admit it or not. MAGA is trying to manufacture the illusion of popularity and success—but we all know better.

Don’t let them gaslight you.

And as tempting as it is, don’t detach from people in your life who’ve gotten swept up in this. Engage with them. Have the hard conversations. That’s why I keep bringing my dad on the show—we don’t agree on everything, but those debates keep him tethered to some version of reality. And they sharpen me too. If you never talk to someone who disagrees with you, how do you really know what you stand for?

Trump wants to isolate people into echo chambers where he’s the only voice that matters. We can’t let that happen.

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