MAGA Wars:  DJT v MTG

By Alex Miller

Unthinking, uncomplaining fealty is the one thing Donald J. Trump prizes most in his MAGA base, and the compliant Republican legislature.  And up to now, Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (AKA MTG) has offered just that, towing the line and mindlessly mouthing the approved talking points.

But during the recent government shutdown, something changed.  Greene started branching out on her own, at first crossing the line to support the release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, then criticizing cuts to Medicaid which will disadvantage poorer rural communities in her District, and following up by lobbying for an extension of the COVID-era health insurance subsidies set to expire at the end of the year, accusing her Party of having no plan for healthcare.

Never one to ignore a slight, on November 15^th, Trump fired back at Greene on his Truth Social media platform, excoriating her complaints, calling her “wacky,” and conferring a demeaning nickname (always a sign of his special ire):  Marjorie Taylor Brown.  That initial epithet fell flat, requiring an explanation for MAGA-land to make it comprehensible (apparently, the inference was that, as green things decay, they turn brown).  So Trump just cut to the chase, calling her “Marjorie Traitor Greene.”

The bust-up between DJT and MTG is just one symptom of a growing fracture in the MAGA coalition, exacerbated by a dawning sense, after Democrats blew out Republicans coast-to-coast in off-off-year elections earlier this month, that Donald Trump is waddling and quacking very much like a Lame Duck. 

Other signs include:  after months of stonewalling, strongarming, and last-ditch efforts to prevent release of the Epstein Files, Trump was forced into an about-face on the issue, and now urges Republicans to vote “yes.”  When the government shutdown dragged on endlessly, affecting air travel, Senate Republicans refused to even consider his demand that they abolish the filibuster to lower the legislative threshold for turning the lights back on.  And recent polling shows that in addition to matching his lowest overall approval ratings from either term, Trump is currently supported by only 68% of registered Republicans(1), shockingly low for an incumbent president, who typically rates approvals of 90%+ within his own Party.

The Trump-Greene fracas is portrayed cosmically in a remarkable triple conjunction of all of MTG’s celestial markers, with asteroids Marjorie (21 Capricorn), Taylor (15 Capricorn) and Green (14 Capricorn) clustered together within seven degrees of the zodiac.  This extremely rare alignment opposes (180 degrees) Jupiter (25 Cancer), granting enhanced publicity and suggesting action in the political sphere.  With Jupiter is asteroid Donn (23 Cancer), identifying Donald Trump as her opponent.  The issues of contention are seen in a T-Square(2) formed with a combination of dwarf planet Eris (24 Aries) and centaur Chiron (23 Aries) on its fulcrum.  Eris signals disadvantaged, marginalized or disrespected populations, like the poorest of Greene’s constituents, at threat from Medicaid and insurance subsidy cuts, as well as the Epstein survivors, struggling for justice from his coconspirators, which Greene is attempting to support.  Eris is also a goddess of Discord, and promotes fractiousness, squabbling and strife. Chiron indicates maverick behaviors, which Greene’s current turnabout suggests, as well as wounding, both metaphoric and literal, which she is attempting to prevent for constituents, and has affinities with health concerns.

It appears that bit by bit, crack by crack, MAGA is crumbling.

Notes:  (1) https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/ap-norc-poll-finds-trumps-approval-on-government-management-eroding-among-republicans

(2) A T-Square is a dynamic pattern composed of two or more planets in opposition (180 degrees), each squared (90 degrees) a third.  It represents stress and conflict, with the fulcrum point (at the square) offering a possibility of resolution.

Sources:  reporting from MS NOW, PBS; chart data from serennu.com; graphic image by author

Title Image Credit:  drawn by ChatGPT