It's Over Like Never Before
Unfortunately, Trump and the Right completely misread the picture.
Scott Greer explains how the “vibe shift” is over:
What it does represent is a definite sign that the much-discussed “vibe shift” in Trump’s favor is over. We aren’t back to peak woke—far from it. But the culture no longer wants anything to do with Trump.
The vibe shift was most evident after Trump’s 2024 election. Football players did the Trump dance to celebrate touchdowns and sacks. Big-name artists agreed to perform at inauguration events. Trump even got Carrie Underwood to sing at his swearing-in. Celebrities did not replay the full-on meltdown they had after his 2016 win. They made light-hearted jokes and many seemed at peace with his second term. He was endorsed by many of the country’s biggest podcasters. Trump was normalized in a way he had never been before.
Flash forward to now, and it’s a completely different story. Trump can’t even get Martina McBride—who endorsed George W. Bush for president in 2004—to perform at a non-partisan event celebrating America’s birthday.
If Greer, a steadfast defender of President Trump at best, an apologist at worst, says it’s over, it probably is. After he won both the popular and electoral votes in 2024, Americans were getting used to the idea of Trump being around for the long haul. Unfortunately, Trump and the Right completely misread the picture.
The immediate narrative was that 2024 was a landslide victory when the numbers clearly showed it was anything but. Trump won the popular vote by a margin of only one-and-a-half percent and 58 percent of the electoral vote. Decisive, certainly, but a far cry from a landslide. The closest analogue to 2024 was 2004, and nobody ever called 2004 a landslide.
This meant that Trump’s margin for error was thin and barely a mandate. Sometimes, it’s when you’re winning that you need to be most careful. Instead, the Trump administration overplayed their hand. I believe they sincerely thought 2024 lent them a license to do anything they wanted and they’d never pay a price for it. They were dead wrong.
It took a while, but I’m finally not the only person who feels this way:
Greer explains why the vibe shift, which was always illusory in my opinion, ended:
Trump has become unpopular with the culture, but not for the same reasons given by my reply guys. It was clear that entertainers were cooling on Trump long before the Iran War. Joe Rogan and other brocasters turned on Trump over ICE raids. Last year’s strikes on Iran, the poor handling of the Epstein files, and the ICE shootings further depleted Trump’s cachet. The Iran War only made things worse, but it didn’t initiate the vibe shift’s reversal. A lot of factors are responsible, but Trump actually trying to deliver what he campaigned on—namely mass deportations—is what got the ball rolling.
Even if the economy were better and there was no Iran War, the vibe shift would probably still be over. A backlash was inevitable once Trump tried to implement what he campaigned on. The street battles in Newark over ICE raids demonstrate the strong opposition to full MAGA acceptance. The only way Trump could’ve maintained the vibe shift is if he had done no immigration raids at all. It was always going to be controversial to associate with Trump when he’s doing things that cultural tastemakers deem racist and “un-American.”
I agree that mass deportations, once implemented, would become unpopular. As I’ve explained ad nauseam, Americans are addicted to disorder and would rather our country become a chaotic free-for-all rather than inconvenience people who entered this country illegally. I say that without cynicism.
However, the idea that Trump couldn’t have done better isn’t entirely correct. It doesn’t matter if you deport 100 million in one year. What matters is that you ensure that changes are long-lasting. One big downside to a guy like Trump as president is that he’s not a long-term thinker. He’s very much focused on short-term, flashy achievements, rather than more enduring successes that don’t court as much public attention. Look, for example, at NASA’s success under Trump versus Homeland Security. It’s not just that NASA has a better public reputation. It’s because NASA is led by people who are good at what they do.
Yes, experience is overrated, but Trump’s second administration is a perfect demonstration of how experience does, in fact, matter to a degree. Experience turns even hardened ideologues into pragmatists. Trump is neither an ideologue nor a pragmatist, but he very clearly thinks he can just “do things,” or at least he should. Most politicians, especially in a democracy, intrinsically understand you cannot just do things, that everything has a price tag attached to it.
Trump’s appeal, of course, is that he’s a doer. The problem is, his ego makes it more important for him to appear like he’s a doer rather than actually being an effective one. The spectacle has always been first and foremost in Trump’s mind, so if he can put on a good show, he’s winning. Not only is this wrong, nobody wants to watch the Trump Show outside MAGA.
In fact, it used to be that politicians did their damnedest to avoid controversy. Trump seems to go out of his way to court it, then proceed to complain about “Fake News” and whatever. It was easier to defend Trump during his first term because the media was truly deranged and remains so. But you also have to learn and adjust, which Trump never does. If both in your mind and that of your supporters you can never fail, you can only be failed, then there’s nothing to fix. It’s the wrong mindset, but one which defines the entire MAGA movement.
Even if we rightfully believe the political class has discredited itself, experience still does matter. If we start turning to outside-the-box candidates for office, we need to make sure what experience they do have is a fit for the demands of political leadership. It hasn’t been all bad, no, but I think it’s impossible to deny at this point that Trump’s downsides outweigh his upsides, that what experience he does have isn’t a good fit for the demands of the presidency.
The vibe shift is over in part because Americans aren’t ready for strong leadership. That much is true. The vibe shift is also over because what Trump has delivered is the opposite of winning.
What do you think? Is it over for Trump? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Max Remington writes about armed conflict and prepping. Follow him on Twitter at @AgentMax90.
If you liked this post from We're Not At the End, But You Can See It From Here, why not share? If you’re a first-time visitor, please consider subscribing!
‘Most politicians, especially in a democracy, intrinsically understand you cannot just do things, that everything has a price tag attached to it.’
Obama just did things that no one knew about because the media covered for him. The changes in policing and education had the most detrimental impact but I’m sure there’s a boatload of others that we don’t know about.
Joe Biden just did things especially opening the borders and the tyranny during Covid. One thing that impacted me directly was his freeze on evictions but there was a myriad of others. Again the press ran cover for the old bastard.
I’m not happy with everything Trump does but I’m happier with his administration over every one prior to his going back to Nixon.
There will be no landslides in the future except for tribal factions coming together against the largest group who is fast becoming the largest minority.
The America of the now viral 1976 coke commercial is over; Trump is the last remnant of that era. Once he goes someone will hopefully prolong it but it’s not likely to last a generation.
The secret to mass deportation was #1. End the freebie benefits and paid ticket in. #2. Begin jailing CEOs, Boards, and management that employ illegals. #3. End the H1B visa program. Trump was never personally inclined to any of these, nor were his bosses. ICE raids were done because they would generate negative publicity. Trump was never put in to change anything. He was put in to keep a revolt from happening and keep the globalist agenda on track. If Hillary had won in 2016 we would have been shooting the next year. The same issue was there with a Kamala victory in 2024. It is a lost cause by working in their system. Build outside, like minded individuals cooperating in close geographical proximity, self sufficient, lots of water, food, medicine, knowledge, and ammo.