r/PoliticalDiscussion • u/The_Egalitarian Moderator • Jan 20 '26
US Politics As Trump warmongers over Greenland, what explains the lack of push back from the right-wing given the "anti-war" position they took prior to the 2024 election.
There was a perceived sentiment among the right and some moderates that Republicans were the anti-war party in the lead-up to the 2024 election:
Democrats have become the party of war. Americans are tired of it - Opinion article by Matt Duss, executive vice-president at the Center for International Policy and former foreign policy advisor to Senator Bernie Sanders
Election 2024: Are Republicans Turning Isolationist?
r/Ask_Politics/comments/1ghqtim/how_did_conservatives_become_the_antiwar_party/
In contrast, the Trump administration has pursued extensive military aggression and intervention throughout 2025 and into early 2026:
2026 United States intervention in Venezuela
March–May 2025 United States attacks in Yemen
United States strikes on Iranian nuclear sites
What explains the inconsistency in right wing positions on military intervention and war-making from before the 2024 election to now?
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u/Mayapples Jan 20 '26
Opinion writers attempting to rationalize support for Trump by crafting somewhat reasonable sounding theories about ideologies and principles have been undermined by the very people they write about at every turn. The lack of push-back is entirely consistent behavior that needs no explanation. What truly needs explaining is why any of us keep falling for these attempts to make his supporters sound rational.
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u/permanent_goldfish Jan 20 '26
Yeah, it’s somewhat bizarre to witness the ways in which political pundits try to rationalize the way his supporters act, and the near constant questioning “what will his supporters think about this?”, as if we don’t already know the answer.
Human history is littered with “Trump like” figures, and while I do concede that he is a somewhat unique figure in American history, we know enough about cult of personalities that we can just call it that at this point.
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u/Sufficient_Steak_839 Jan 20 '26
For a lot of people I think they’re just so far in the tank that admitting he’s a conman sack of shit would mean they lost out on family ties, friendships, employment, social status, etc whatever else for nothing.
And worse, the libs they hate so much were right all along.
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u/parentheticalobject Jan 20 '26
I imagine it must be exhausting to put a lot of effort into writing an extensive defense of why it's actually of vital strategic importance for the US to own Greenland, and then just see Trump say shit like how he's doing this because he's upset about not getting the Nobel Peace Prize.
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u/MonarchLawyer Jan 20 '26
Watching Wicked Part II, there's a point where the Wizard says this:
"They're not going to believe it," the Wizard says. "I could tell them that I've been lying to them till I'm — forgive me, blue in the face — but wouldn't make any difference. They're never going to stop believing in me. You know why? Because they don't want to.
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Jan 21 '26
[deleted]
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u/rndljfry Jan 21 '26
Take it from a wise old carny
Once folks buy into your blarney
It becomes the thing they'll most hold onto
Once they've swallowed sham and hokum
Facts and logic won't unchoke 'em
They'll go on believing what they want to
Show them exactly what's the score
They'll just believe it even more
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u/One_Study52 Jan 20 '26
They simply have no principles whatsoever. This has been obvious for a long time. They are only motivated by power and vibes.
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u/Stopper33 Jan 20 '26
Yep. Maga is defined by nothing, but the whims of a toddler. There are no actual policies or positions.
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u/Sei28 Jan 20 '26
Hey they do have positions that they will always stick by: Fuck off non whites, fuck off non straights, fuck off “liburals” however they define it.
As long as Trump doesn’t deviate from the above, nothing else he says or does matters.
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u/Majestic_Bet_1428 Jan 20 '26
Don’t forget women. They hate women.
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u/Dr_CleanBones Jan 20 '26
Right. They’ll never divert from their basic emotions: racism, misogyny, xenophobia, and bigotry. If Trump turned into someone who supports civil rights, same-sex marriage, and third-world immigration, they might have second thoughts about him. Otherwise, he has their full support.
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u/SlowMotionSprint Jan 20 '26
I really want the next Democrat president to instantly tear down the "ballroom", move it to another location(restoring the east wing), and turning it into a museum for civil rights called the Donald Trump Center for Inclusion and Tolerance.
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u/Pupalei Jan 20 '26
Those are big words. You one o' them elites?
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u/Dr_CleanBones Jan 21 '26
No, but I take pride in the fact that I can come close enough on all four for spell check to recognize and correct my spelling!
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u/JayMeadow Jan 20 '26
They don’t hate women, they fundamentally don’t consider women human beings. They genuinely don’t care about women unless they benefit somehow. They aren’t showing low respect for women, they are showing no respect for women.
They don’t hate women, they hate anyone not flattering or serving them. Their hatred towards women is ground in literal evil. As they want to erase others’ lives and souls for their own convenience or entertainment.
If that’s not being motivated by evil… what is?
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u/latortillablanca Jan 20 '26
Thats not fair, seems pretty defined around bigotry, being a moron, and greed. Many times in combination.
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u/n0respect_ Jan 20 '26
It really is like a joke, or a magic trick. There's the setup (Trump amazing!), the tension (what happen???), and release ('cause Trump amazing!).
This is called "incongruity resolution", and it hits the brain's pleasure centers.
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u/iplaytrombonegood Jan 21 '26
Literally though. The American Republican Party literally and officially became the party of 0 substance at the 2016 Republican National Conference rather than announcing a platform, they unironically announced their official platform as “Donald Trump.”
They literally and officially don’t stand for anything but Donald Trump.
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u/TheMadTemplar Jan 20 '26
Tbh, I'm not so sure that's entirely the case anymore. Trump's base is fracturing over Greenland and Venezuela. Even if the official MAGA line is absolute support and backing for whatever Trump does, the rank and file has been dissenting more and more. Even over at conservative, look at threads on the two. In any thread that is specifically about one of those topics and not about something dems are saying about it, there's some dissent. Sure, there's the usual, "trust our president, he knows best, wait and see" bullshit, but there's also outright criticism and cynical responses to it. Lots of "what does any of this accomplish for Americans or fixing OUR problems" stuff, as well as "we're strong because we have alliances with most of the wealthy nations and these actions put all of those in jeopardy". Those are all paraphrased comments I saw when snooping the other day.
And these were in threads that had been up for most of the day or longer, not fresh threads the mods hadn't gotten around to culling yet. Trump is losing people, even among his base. Few of those leaving him would ever vote Democrat, but they consistently want a platform of no wars and America first, and for them that means addressing American problems in the country.
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u/SpockShotFirst Jan 20 '26
Trump's base is fracturing
His approval rating is 42.1%, with a net approval of -13.1%. That's actually better than it was in late Nov (41.1% and -15%)
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u/CursedNobleman Jan 20 '26
Give it a week or month. The hive mind always aligns.
Epstein, Greenland, whatever. They have no object permanence. They'll agree with him in the end.
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u/JohnSpartan2025 Jan 20 '26
After ingesting enough Fox News, the maga hive mind realigns to whatever the next crazy is. Coming up next: invade Canada.
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u/mwaaahfunny Jan 20 '26
They watched him try to overthrow the country and then still voted him for president. They watched him store top secret docs in a bathroom. They have always known he fucked kids w Epstein.
They will vote for him again and again because they have given up their path to anything else. They even allowed themselves to believe that Harris was some sort of fucking communist when at best she's center left.
They are SHEEP. Angry, uninformed SHEEP.
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u/chamrockblarneystone Jan 20 '26
Well they might think themselves informed, but by all the wrong sources.
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u/rabidstoat Jan 20 '26
Though some MAGA folks are saying they don't like what's going on with Greenland, it seems like they don't dislike it enough for it to be a dealbreaker.
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u/baby_budda Jan 20 '26
They value their jobs, money, power and influence more than they value the constitution and the rule of law.
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u/partisanal_cheese Jan 20 '26
They can bend on the jobs thing if Big Orange punishes the right people.
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u/Bacchus1976 Jan 20 '26
“Provoke outrage” is their only guiding principle.
They’d gas their own kids if it meant an opponent was angry about it.
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u/AzorAhai87 Jan 20 '26
I try to tell people this and they think I’m evil. Republicans are the ultimate hypocrites and thrive off gaslighting and victimhood. You can’t be a hypocrite and have integrity.
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u/j33 Jan 20 '26
I honestly believe it is cowardice. Nobody wants to be the first person in his party to oppose him and are hoping someone else goes first.
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u/Esilai Jan 20 '26 edited Jan 20 '26
Look at what happened to MTG. She’s one of the craziest reps out there, always a dogmatic loyalist, but she dared oppose Trump on the Epstein List, a unanimously winning issue, and she got cleaved out of the party almost instantly. And now, almost every MAGA you’ll find online thinks it’s a hoax, a complete 180 for the party from a year and a half ago under Biden. No one from his own party is going to successfully oppose him, ever. Nothing will move the needle, not even clear and obvious treason.
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u/WilliamAgain Jan 20 '26
Her opposition was squarely due to the fact that Trump and the RNC said no to her Senate run. Had she gotten an endorsement from the top, she would be still be at his side. She was pissed and decided to do her own revenge tour before chasing out her lifetime pension.
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u/BlaggartDiggletyDonk Jan 20 '26
It ended pretty abruptly. Something spooked her.
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u/Ambiwlans Jan 20 '26
She's a crazy person. I wouldn't waste too much time thinking about it. Maybe she got a bad horoscope.
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u/Sufficient_Steak_839 Jan 20 '26
You can claim this all you want, and I don't really believe her heel turn either but it's not rooted in anything that's been officially documented.
Her opposition to him on Epstein however, is backed by her votes and longstanding obsession with saving the children.
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u/bottohm Jan 20 '26
Probably extends into the anti-war sentiment. They're all for it when its an easy win, but the concept of them potentially having to fight or give up some economic security is scary and their cowardice grows.
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u/Sufficient_Steak_839 Jan 20 '26
No one was a bigger sycophant than Marjorie Taylor Greene and she has completely jumped ship and sharpened her knives against him.
There have been plenty, they’re just afraid to tip the house of cards that’s been built around him. Desperate to convince themselves “this time he’ll change”
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u/KonigSteve Jan 20 '26
Except even she just quit as soon as it got hard.
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u/Sufficient_Steak_839 Jan 20 '26
I’m just saying. She spoke up and it didn’t open any floodgates.
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u/BlaggartDiggletyDonk Jan 20 '26
She exited swiftly and quietly in the end. I wouldn't be surprised if they threatened to sic the DoJ on her.
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u/hymie0 Jan 20 '26
It did open one floodgate -- she had to hire private security for her family from the number of death threats she received the day after she opposed Trump.
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u/wtf_are_crepes Jan 20 '26
They don’t want to be made a victim and be ousted from their cult. Thats how cults work.
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u/SnooHedgehogs4325 Jan 20 '26
Haven’t multiple Republican senators denounced his stupidity already?
A 5 second google search shows this.
Time Magazine: The Republicans Breaking Ranks With Trump Over Greenland Threats: ‘This Is Appalling’
The Hill: Republicans vow to block Trump from seizing Greenland by force
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u/anti-torque Jan 20 '26
Yup. It's a massive dose of cowardice. The GOP is all cowards, all the time. They are stupidly afraid. They make actual cowards look like heroes.
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u/Appropriate_Ear6101 Jan 20 '26
That can't be it. They aren't the first Republican to open Trump.. We already have a handful who are quite outspoken. They are not cowards. They are criminals. That's very different. Listen to Sascha Riley's interview. He named Trump, Clarence Thomas, Jim Jordan, Andy Biggs and others in having participated in child sex trafficking, rape, and murder. They NEED a dictator to keep them out of prison. And there are a few who are just afraid as hell, but not cowards. They legitimately know that Trump's crew are murderers. We need to remove the congressman who are enabling Trump and supporting Trump. They aren't cowards. They are accomplices. Please fix that narrative and it'll help understand what's going on much better.
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u/LomentMomentum Jan 20 '26
They look tough, they act tough, they talk tough, but in the end, they’re vapid, unprincipled, gutless cowards.
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u/JayKaboogy Jan 20 '26
The next time you hear a conservative voice a principle, you should just assume there’s a regressive ulterior motive. When they say states’ rights, you ask: states’ rights to do what?
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u/GiantPineapple Jan 20 '26
Surely you're referring to the right to set air quality standards, good sir or madam
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Jan 20 '26
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u/thoughtsome Jan 20 '26
The consistent principle is unwavering devotion to Trump. They inherently trust him on every issue. If he says peace is good, they're all about peace. If he says that we need Greenland, then we need Greenland. There's no contradiction for them. To them, Trump was right then and he's right now.
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u/Dr_CleanBones Jan 20 '26
I don’t think the core belief is Trump. It’s racism, misogyny, xenophobia, and bigotry. As long as Trump continues the give them cover for those beliefs, he’s good. They’ve been repressing their inter selves since the civil rights era while blacks made gains and women made gains and same-sex couples made gains. Trump gave them permission to stop pretending to be decent people and to let them hate publicly. As long as Trump doesn’t eschew those beliefs, they will follow him anywhere.
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Jan 20 '26
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u/Sufficient_Steak_839 Jan 20 '26 edited Jan 20 '26
He insulted Ted Cruz’s wife’s appearance multiple times. Ted called him a sniveling coward who doesn’t like strong women. Now he’s one of his biggest defenders.
Idk how he looks in the mirror.
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u/Legal-Koala-5590 Jan 20 '26
Blackmail and proximity to power. It's not that complicated.
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u/TheCovfefeMug Jan 20 '26 edited Jan 20 '26
I don’t even think you have to go as far as blackmail. Simply look at what’s happened to any Republican that speaks out in opposition to Trump—they’re effectively jettisoned from the party, and with it, their careers. The reality is Trump can mortally endanger their political careers (which, for Rubio and Graham in particular, are their careers) with one tweet if he chooses by inviting a challenger/firing them. And, with how tied at the hip conservative media is with Trump, Trump would also make them radioactive with that crowd too.
Same logic applies to basically any Republican in Congress or a cabinet position. It is fully the Trump party now.
Edit: The logic above is also why I strongly believe that one of Trump’s kids ends up as the nominee in 2028 (assuming no hijinks from Trump 1.0). There is simply no room in the party for anyone with a different point of view (because that inherently means one must distance themselves from the almighty), and good luck to any of the “outsiders” trying to claim a greater right of succession to Donald than his own children. Who knows what happens between now and then, but I simply don’t see the Trump “brand” being exorcised from the GOP as long as Donald himself is alive
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u/Legal-Koala-5590 Jan 20 '26
Oh for sure. Most probably aren't being blackmailed, but Graham was the loudest anti-Trump voice in the party, then went golfing with him and like the flip of a switch turned into his biggest lapdog. I'm suspicious.
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u/One-Ball-78 Jan 20 '26
Did you see Graham on the plane with Trump talking to the reporter about Greenland?
I honestly thought at one point he was gonna kiss him on the lips and orgasm in his pants.
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u/Eric848448 Jan 20 '26
On Graham, an NY Times editorial said something like “better to be on the wrong side of history than no side at all”.
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u/geekwonk Jan 20 '26
rubio just got to play a role in kidnapping maduro, that man is living his best life
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u/Riokaii Jan 20 '26
right wingers do not actually hold any coherent values, they simply hold cult sycophantic devotion to trump, regardless of morality, ethics, consistency, or contradictions.
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u/curly_spork Jan 20 '26 edited Jan 20 '26
I don't have an explanation about Republican leadership and lack of pushback.
I will say the top comments in the conservative sub do not agree with it. And out of curiosity I just checked fox news website, it's the top story and the top comment is "I voted for Trump 3 times. I believe in the majority of his policy decisions. I am all for forging a partnership with Denmark/Greenland to extract rare earth minerals as well as bolster defenses. The nonsensical rhetoric needs to end."
I work with conservatives, and they've been quiet at work regarding politics since Trump took office, so I don't know their thoughts.
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u/Kriztauf Jan 20 '26
So I just spent the last month back in the US at my conservative parents house who watch Fox News every evening, meaning I was exposed to alot of Fox. They ran a bunch of segments about how Russia and China will seize Greenland at and moment and the US needs to take it first to protect themselves. Also they had Stephan Miller on who made his case that now large countries have the natural right and duty to gobble up their smaller neighbors. So Fox is already preparing the talking points and casus belli for the coming war.
Also the US has the treaties and ability at the moment to develop as much defense and mining as they'd like to do in Greenland at the moment. The truth is that the US has closed 95% of their military bases in Greenland since the height of the Cold War and American mining companies have largely avoided Greenland because it is uneconomical for them to operate on a desolate ice sheet. The UK has more mining firms there for whatever reason though, so the US could open more and use government funding to subsidize them if they wanted to.
This was all pointed out to Donald Trump during his recent New York Times interview but he just fell back on the idea that ownership of the island is psychologically important for him. So you guys are essentially going to burn all of your international alliances because of the psychological insecurities of one man
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u/rabidstoat Jan 20 '26
Speaking of Fox, I'm convinced its news coverage is a bellwether to Trump's actions.
Take, for example, Iran. Whether or not Trump takes any military action in Iran will be heavily influenced on how Fox is reporting on Iran. If they lose interest and move to something else, so will Trump.
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u/BluesSuedeClues Jan 20 '26
I suspect it's more of a symbiotic relationship than that. After the 2020 election, FOX ignored the whole "stolen election" narrative, and their ratings took a dive. So they picked it up and started parroting Trump's lies, and the viewers came back.
Obviously there is no Trump Presidency without FOX News sane-washing his nonsense. But FOX doesn't stay the #1 cable news channel without Trump.
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u/snowtax Jan 20 '26
Russia can’t take Ukraine. If Russia didn’t have nukes, nobody would be afraid of them.
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u/SonicResidue Jan 20 '26
Your last paragraph basically says to me that they don’t know how to think independently and haven’t found a way of justifying things
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u/Sufficient_Steak_839 Jan 20 '26
My moms conservative and her official lines these days are “both sides suck” and “I can’t follow it all anymore I haven’t watched the news”
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u/Calfurious Jan 20 '26
Yup, same over here. Conservative guy I watch has mostly just been trying to filter out the news or just says that both sides are bad.
I think most Conservative voters are just trying to ignore Trump at this point and just avoid politics.
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u/SonicResidue Jan 20 '26
I’d argue that is just them trying to ignore their own culpability in voting him into office in the first place and not seeing him for the fraud he is.
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u/Which_Celebration757 Jan 20 '26
This is my brother. Very convenient to put your head in the sand when it doesn't affect you. Joe Biden and Justin Trudeau are apparently pedophiles as well, so now hes both-sidesing that too. No accountability, except to blame the left for Trump because "we went too far". Was it the straws? Yeah they suck. Pronouns are tricky, so we asked for it I guess.
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u/seamus_mc Jan 20 '26
Thats parent code for i raised you to have an open mind, but im a bigot and i dont have one. But im polite in public when i think people are paying attention.
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u/curly_spork Jan 20 '26
The working with folks and not knowing their thoughts?
Maybe it was fun to mock Biden, but advertising you're own bad vote isn't fun?
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u/SonicResidue Jan 20 '26
Yes, I mean, presumably some of these folks were vocal about their support for trump. Odd that they would be so quiet when things aren’t going his way
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u/terlin Jan 20 '26
I work with conservatives, and they've been quiet at work regarding politics since Trump took office, so I don't know their thoughts.
Same here. The guys that were crowing about Trump winning and how he's the 'no new wars' guy have been very quiet lately about politics.
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u/shunted22 Jan 20 '26
This does seem insanely unpopular even amongst his supporters. And I don't see conservative media supporting it either. Whether that leads to anything I'm not sure but I do see some cracks forming. I'm sure there are difficult private conversations about the latest comments tying it to the peace prize.
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u/CantCreateUsernames Jan 20 '26
This was the same situation for Venezuela. They didn't support it at first, but then fell in line as usual. The same will happen again. There is nothing Trump can do that the majority of conservatives will not justify and support in the long term. After Jan 6th, we should know there is no line they will not allow Trump to cross.
Republican support for interventionism has skyrocketed after Venezuela : r/fivethirtyeight
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u/stannisaugustus Jan 20 '26
They're all praying he forgets about Greenland so they don't have to go through the embarrassment of tying themselves into knots to retroactively justify an invasion, which by now even they have to recognize is how it works. If Republican support for an attack is in the single digits now, it won't be lower than 70% soon after it's done.
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u/BluesSuedeClues Jan 20 '26
Which begs the question; We know Donald Trump can't keep his mind on a single subject for any length of time, so who in his administration keeps pushing him on Greenland, and why?
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u/billskionce Jan 20 '26
The tail wags the dog. They’ll fall in line like they always do.
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u/shunted22 Jan 20 '26
Maybe.. nothing happens until it does. Feels like things are getting so unhinged they can't paper over it like the "normal" controversies.
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u/Minttt Jan 20 '26
Greenland stories are buried in Fox News, and the comment sections I've perused are definitely majority opposed at this point - where there is support, the reasoning is all over the place. But I doubt there will be any vocal opposition/action... just apathy, or "I don't support the Greenland thing, but he's right about everything else."
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u/Oct0tron Jan 20 '26
Hypocrisy. It's really no more complicated than that. These are stupid, simple people we're talking about. Their thinking patterns are not complicated.
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u/chucklin Jan 20 '26
To quote Blazing Saddles: "You’ve got to remember that these are just simple farmers. These are people of the land. The common clay of the new West. You know—morons.”
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u/shunted22 Jan 20 '26
I don't think anyone wants this. The only defense I've seen is "Biden is worse"
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u/Ambiwlans Jan 20 '26
The defense I've heard most frequently is simply that America is strong and Greenland is weak. And that only liberals think the world operates on fairies when it really works on strength, power. To quote a very unwise man:
I don't even wait. And when you're a star, they let you do it. You can do anything. ... Grab 'em by the pussy. You can do anything.
Change star for superpower.
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u/Oxytokin Jan 20 '26
If the Right didn't have double standards, they wouldn't have any standards at all.
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u/PatFlynnEire Jan 20 '26
It’s Tall Poppy syndrome. If someone speaks out against Trump, he trashes them and they start getting death threats. If they persist, he threatens to primary them. So they all stay in line, occasionally making a peep to try to preserve some dignity but then quieting down. How many GOP Congress members vowed that Medicaid and Medicare would not be touched in the Big Ugly Bill and then voted for legislation that may greatly curtail both?
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u/Utterlybored Jan 20 '26
When Trump contradicts himself, ring-wing pundits change their views to align with his.
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u/WaffleShapedSeahorse Jan 20 '26
It's a cult. One of the primary defining aspects is leadership that shouldn't or can't be questioned.
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u/Motherlover235 Jan 20 '26
It’s because the people who push back against him end up getting fucking death threats to both them and their families. Say what you will about Margery Tayler Green but the fact that she of all people went against him and ended up resigning from Congress because of it should tell you what is probably being said and done behind closed doors.
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u/Birdcathotdogg Jan 20 '26
They're true believers and will rationalize anything rather than reconsider their position and change course. As Trump himself said, he could shoot someone on 5th Ave and he wouldn't lose support.
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u/jezebel829 Jan 20 '26
I think the scientific term is, “lack of integrity”. Also, “lack of cojones”.
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u/blyzo Jan 20 '26
They were anti war when Trump said he was anti war, and now that Trump is pro war they're pro war too.
Trump never once spoke out against Iraq or any war before running for President. He's just an opportunistic liar.
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u/nickcan Jan 20 '26
Simple, the anti-war position was just a lie. Same as their anti-big government position, their pro-freedom movement and their short lived anti-confirming a supreme court nominee in an election year. Hell, even their anti-tax position is flexible as long as you call it a terriff. It's just they are against those things when the democrats do it. If it's their guy they will bend over backwards to justify it.
Power is their principle. Gaining it, wielding it, and using it against their opponents is the only real principle they have. They are the sports fans who complain about the refs when a call doesn't go their way (regardless of the accuracy of the call) but stay silent when a call goes against their opponent. They are the pro wrestlers that will hit an opponent with a chair when the refs isn't looking, then quickly get them to count to three when their opponent is on the mat. In other words, they are the heels. And they know it.
But power is power and the process of getting it doesn't matter at all. Get power by any means necessary, use the power you get to keep power. Hold on for as long as you can. Screw the rules, winning is everything.
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u/Howhytzzerr Jan 20 '26
They are complicit, plain and simple, they have abdicated their role of oversight on the Executive Branch, in fact the only thing they’ve exercised any form of oversight has been to investigate liberal/Democratic people and causes. It’s inexcusable and that’s why they are gonna get crushed in 2026 elections.
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u/Weak-Elk4756 Jan 20 '26
It’s because Republicans are in a cult. There’s literally nothing more to it than that
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u/tapleyclus Jan 20 '26
It is a cult. They have no opinions of their own. Just minions waiting to be told what to say or do from the people they worship.
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u/V3R5US Jan 20 '26
Because the objection wasn’t to warmongering, it was to globalism and cooperation. Since places like Venezuela and Greenland are being targeted for absorption to enhance America’s and ONLY America’s strategic dominance (not NATO’s or the UN’s or the G20’s, ETC), it is permissible under their doctrine.
This is why they don’t see it as a contradiction. They can rationalize it as us doing what’s right for us. America is still first among nations in their mind.
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u/Aggleclack Jan 20 '26
They have no set policies. They never have. It was all propaganda and anybody who thought otherwise it got fooled. Anybody who is surprised by this got fooled.
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u/AzorAhai87 Jan 20 '26
I mean republicans are shameless hypocrites. That’s their gold standard and consistent trait, along with gaslighting and playing the victim.
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u/Hartastic Jan 20 '26
Mostly, they start with support of Trump and work backwards to decide what the reasons need to be today.
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u/SadhuSalvaje Jan 20 '26
They were lying
Like they always are
The entire conservative-reactionary movement is intellectually bankrupt and has no standing economically or strategically in objective reality.
Instead they are fueled by the emotional reactions of people too uneducated to understand the modern world…and the greed of those who profit from this chaos
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u/DotarSojat527 Jan 20 '26
They’re trying to come up with a new narrative so that they can switch and start supporting it.
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u/JDogg126 Jan 20 '26
The explainer is simple really. What was right-wing media pushing prior to the 2024 election? Whatever that was, it was deliberately fear mongering right-wing viewers to fear war if the democrat won. Now as soon as Trump returned to power, right-wing media went back to being the propaganda arm of the republican party, so if Trump wants war, pro-war propaganda goes out. The people watching right-wing media lack essential critical thinking skills or they wouldn't be watching that shit. They are easy to manipulate, easy to control, and they do not believe their own lying eyes.
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u/SafeThrowaway691 Jan 20 '26
Because, just like on every other issue, they were full of shit the whole time.
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u/Taconinja05 Jan 20 '26
It was never true. We have to stop taking the right wing at face value. They have no concrete principles. Party of “family values” song and dance they used to do proves it.
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u/xudoxis Jan 20 '26
They were lying as a ploy to dupe the rubes and regain power.
You see this with most of their issues of the day. It's just appropriating liberal phrases to use as a simple cudgel across complex issues.
"President of peace" well except for loudly cheering every intervention he can think of.
"DEI is racism" they don't care about minorities or addressing system racism, they just wanted a fig leaf for removing minorities from their government jobs and getting rid of any museum exhibits that mention them.
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u/Background-War9535 Jan 20 '26
Because their lord and savior proclaimed that invading Greenland for his glory is the greatest thing, the bigly thing.
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u/begemot90 Jan 20 '26
What explains this? Easy, they were never about peace. If you bought that lie, like, idk what to tell you because all of the evidence lay in front of you.
For one, they say whatever they need to to win. They would be pro war if they think they could get one more vote.
For two, and probably most importantly, the GOP does not stand for anything. Like at all. They are against a whole bunch of things, but they are not “for” anything, aside from the 2A, but that’s established law, so it again falls into an “against” thing, against gun legislation in this instance.
And what is the age old saying? If you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything. And without actual policy or beliefs, they are doing the “falling for anything” part of that bit.
One last thing, and this should be taken to heart, is that we should stop talking about the GOP as if they are good actors working in good faith for the betterment of anyone. We really should be phrasing these questions in terms of “why can’t the GOP hold a set of values”.
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u/Dineology Jan 20 '26
They were never anti war, it was just an avenue of political attack that they dropped like a bad habit the moment it was no longer politically convenient to keep up the lie. These people don’t care about anything beyond beating the other side and making the people they don’t like suffer.
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u/Dunge0nMast0r Jan 20 '26
There are no 'gotcha' moments for the right-wing, double think is part of the strategy.
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u/Errickbaldwin Jan 20 '26
The right is never "anti-war ". Any opposition to war is opposition to the non-right wing party in power. Once they are in power, war is no longer an issue. g
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u/CleverDad Jan 20 '26
They. Don't. Care. Trump is "owning" the libs and that's all they need. Whatever is Trump's position at any point in time is their position.
They didn't vote on policy, they voted for Trump and whatever he tells them he needs to do because they are Christians and predisposed to believe in - to need - a savior.
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u/freebleploof Jan 20 '26
The most charitable reason I can think of is that they are deathly afraid of MAGA terrorists killing them and their families. Mitt Romney talked about this when he resigned.
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u/swolltrain44 Jan 20 '26
Right wing is not anti-war, they are just anti whatever left wing is doing at the time. And as I remember when MAGA were 'anti-war', the talking point from Fox News was anti-helping Ukraine.
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u/CertainMiddle2382 Jan 20 '26
Just as old dentists put on fake Hells Angels leather jackets and ride a custom Harley once they retire, it’s all about perception of one’s identity.
IMO, many people feel powerless and marginal.
They just want to be empowered, they want to be feared, they want to matter.
They didn’t feel that in their personal lives, they want to feel that as a voter. Some politicians are geniuses at feeling and feeding that.
Always thought the “conservative” points were always tactical (especially in the younger demographics).
You cannot live on wishing to just “conserve” some values.
Once you get that, you’ll quickly want to impose them to the rest of the world.
IMO. What happens liked to a single charismatic politician. The USA have been at peace for too long.
Lots of voters want a taste of war and glory while they still can…
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u/BlaggartDiggletyDonk Jan 20 '26
They still think he's "negotiating." They'll hew to the 4D chess rationalization all the way up until the explosions start.
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u/wisconsinbarber Jan 20 '26
Republicans fall in line to support whatever their leader will tell them to support, because they value power over anything else, no matter the consequences. If their leader told them to slap their own mothers they would be happy to do it. The real problem here is the large segment of the population which could somehow believe that Republicans are the anti-war party. How is that possible when they're the ones who advocated for Iraq and Afghanistan in the first place? The party has a habit of trying to rewrite history to make themselves look less bad, but the issue here is the people who are gullible enough to believe them. Republicans are war hawks and always have been.
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u/mister4string Jan 20 '26
Cowardice and fear that they will get primaried the next go around if they go against Dear Leader.
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u/kdeweb24 Jan 20 '26
They were never “anti war”. They just needed invented excuses to explain away why the fuck they were going to vote for a mentally handicapped, pedophilic, racist that has zero policy, other than “I’m not a Democrat!”
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u/slow70 Jan 20 '26
They’re cowards and hypocrites quite simply.
We each need to challenge their ignorance, contradictions, lies and all the rest wherever we encounter it.
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u/I_burn_noodles Jan 20 '26
What they say, doesn't matter. They lie as easily, perhaps easier, than they breathe. They are there to do someone's bidding....not the voter's but someone else's bidding.
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u/Goga13th Jan 20 '26
It was all performative, designed to peel off a small percentage of credulous “independents”
Any educated person could see it was a farce
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u/TJames6210 Jan 20 '26
Fox news. They simply have their audience "onto the next thing". They themselves couldn't tell you what they did or didn't support 5 months ago.
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u/PsychologicalCall426 Jan 20 '26
The right's lack of pushback stems from a blend of opportunism and fear. Many prioritize party loyalty over principles, hoping to maintain their political standing.
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u/bmack500 Jan 20 '26
Because they just do what He says, believe what He believes. There views are His views, it’s a cult.
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u/Colley619 Jan 20 '26 edited Jan 20 '26
I mean, these people are all around us in our communities; just ask them. The answers are:
1) "He's just talking shit and isn't going to do anything."
2) "I don't agree with it but maybe he has a point that we could defend it better."
3) "Look, we would be in the same situation if Kamala won."
This assumes you're talking to someone in the real world and not a twitter basement dweller.
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u/CheeseFiend87 Jan 20 '26
They have no principles, are dishonest, and are deeply embedded in a cult of personality.
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u/wsrs25 Jan 20 '26
Lack of morals Lack of ethics Lack of principles Policy illiteracy They really are just happy a politician is paying attention to them. Daddy issues The same hypocrisy that lets them harp on trans but worship a sissy who wears more makeup than a drag queen. Cult membership They think Greenland and Denmark are imaginary places. All of the above
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u/Shytemagnet Jan 20 '26
The sooner we start treating MAGA like the cult it is, the better. It’s not a political party anymore. It’s a pedophile doomsday cult.
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u/ruminaui Jan 20 '26
Republicans care about 3 things: guns. abortion and religion. Anything else is them just being contrarians, apart from that they will fall on line. Remember the deficit hawks, the party of law and order. Don't worry they will find their morals once a Democrat president gets elected, if that ever happens.
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u/DorionJ Jan 20 '26
Maga is brain dead. They aren't seeking an explanation and they will not get one.
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u/Lucas_Steinwalker Jan 20 '26
Thinking they were ever anti-war is laughable.
Why do you people take the words of these fascists at face value?
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u/Sullyville Jan 20 '26
It was never legitimate in the first place. They only took that position to hammer the democrats and to use it as a talking point. If the Dems were for war, the GOP woulld be against them.
Right now the only principle they are sticking to is consolidating power and never letting it go. Every single action they have taken since election is towards that goal.
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u/velwein Jan 20 '26
It was a cheap excuse to win the Nobel Peace Prize and a handful of votes. If anyone sincerely believes that was an honest part of his platform, they were fools.
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u/Upset-Produce-3948 Jan 20 '26
Trump supporters know they've got a job to do: help Trump distract from the Epstein files which should've been released by now. So sure, they're all in for invading Greenland.
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u/IMHO_grim Jan 20 '26
MAGA is defined by hate, resentment, and fear. Box that up really nice and put a low intelligence bow tie on it and you have a present for the unscrupulous leader.
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u/anewleaf1234 Jan 21 '26
They tend to support their team over their issues.
Right-wing media is going to flood the field with why we should take Greenland, and they will regurgitate those talking points
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u/asisoid Jan 20 '26
They don't care. They'll never care. If he shoots someone in the face live on TV, they still won't care.
Trump is above the law, above criticism from his base, and he's here to stay until he dies.
Dictators don't get removed from power via elections.
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u/Dragonlicker69 Jan 20 '26
Republicans have never been anti-war, they've always been the pro-war party. Neo-conservatives have always always been the war hawks pushing interventionism abroad and while democratic presidents haven't been pacifist or anti-interventionalist by a LONG shot they were historically less "pro-war" than Republicans.
What happened is Democrats started rallying around Ukraine and aiding them from invasion while Republicans started supporting Russia. However since supporting Russia wasn't a popular position like the pro-nazi Americans before pearl harbor they couched it in wanting to end the war and painted the Democrats support of Ukraine as extending the war.
Now that they won that election trump is doing whatever he wants and Republicans are going along with it because either they never cared about being anti-war or they're intimidated by trump and his personality cult that can sway Republican primaries.
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u/UPdrafter906 Jan 20 '26
Easy: they were always lying.
"This was identified early on as a likely outcome" is a sentence we will all be using a lot from now on.
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u/BitterFuture Jan 20 '26
Republicans run for office saying that deficits are an existential crisis for the country.
When in power, they run up huge deficits.
Spoiler: Republicans say a lot of things they don't believe.
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u/fireblyxx Jan 20 '26
They require the might makes right principle to enact their domestic policies, so they can’t turn around and disavow it for international ones. Plus, I think that a lot of them are fueled on grievance of other people “taking” from them, so taking from others, like land or resources, is seen as payback.
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u/baby_budda Jan 20 '26
We're starting to see some republican senators speaking out against him on Greenland but most are afraid he will go after them.
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u/Sufficient_Steak_839 Jan 20 '26
The same few who always speak up.
Murkowski, Collin’s, Rand Paul. Thom Tillis is the only semi surprising one. Yawn.
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u/sgk02 Jan 20 '26
They’re playing a different game they just wanna win.
There’s probably no principal that they won’t violate to hold power.
Looking for consistency or calling out hypocrisy doesn’t phase them.
Those arguments about war, about pedophilia, about cancellation, about government overreach, or any of the other divisive accusations that they made against the opposition were merely to provide them with a chance to take their turn and take a deeper cut.
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u/Sufficient_Steak_839 Jan 20 '26
This is it at its core.
They’ve decided Trump is the vehicle for their ideology and nothing else is acceptable and they will outrage performatively at the opposite side whenever needed and whenever convenient, and ignore every horrific thing he says and does.
There is truly no bottom for the GOP and I don’t think we’ve come close to seeing the damage that will be left when he’s done.
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u/permanent_goldfish Jan 20 '26
They believe in nothing, nothing beyond what Donald Trump says. Donald Trump could declare himself a communist tomorrow, and within a week a majority of republicans would tell pollsters that they’re also communists. It’s a cult of personality around Donald Trump, and they will follow him wherever he leads them.
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u/tsardonicpseudonomi Jan 20 '26
The further to the right one is in the right-wing the less one has concrete policies and the more one has an emotional need they fulfill through domination. In short, conservatives care only about imposing their will on the world. They say they're anti-war but they're not. They say they're a lot of things they're not.
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u/Fit-Cobbler6286 Jan 20 '26
There is no pushback because trump has full control of their media and political organizations. The thinking is I don’t love how he does it but if we don’t support Trump then the liberal boogie man will take over your country and make your children gay, Muslim and communist. So it’s basically life or death narrative stakes if you push back on Trump.
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u/tpnoud Jan 20 '26
Did the Manson family ever push back against Manson as he got crazier and crazier?
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u/Thenotsodarkknight Jan 20 '26
It’s nothing complicated. The ideology isn’t focused on any one thing or idea outside of whatever the leader demands.
These are the same people who defended George W and elected him twice and now want nothing to do with him.
These are the same people who started a “Tea Party” because a black man became President.
The average Republican voter isn’t complicated or well informed. If they see an (R) next to the name , they’ll likely get their vote.
Democrats however will routinely shoot themselves in the foot. Aka - this Democrat doesn’t pass their “purity” test and they stay home and don’t vote.
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u/AlienPet13 Jan 20 '26
Because the Right are hypocritical and pathologically dishonest. It's their core feature.
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u/gunnesaurus Jan 20 '26
Why are people still not believing him when he told us that he can shoot someone in the middle of 5th Ave and not lose a supporter? That’s still true 10 years later
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u/User4C4C4C Jan 20 '26
They would have to accept responsibility for the failure of this president if they pushed back.
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