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NEWS: Major Fractures Emerge in MAGA as Republicans Struggle to Coalesce the Party Around Affordability

Major fractures emerge in MAGA as Republicans struggle to coalesce. Trump officials celebrates cuts that led to Cholera deaths with cake. Ahmed el Ahmed is out of surgery and recovering.

Aaron Parnas Dec 15

Good morning, everyone. Happy Monday. This is a heavy morning. We have seen tragedy after tragedy. From the Brown shooting, where the person of interest has now been released, to the Bondi Beach terrorist attack, where the man who stopped the attacker is out of surgery, to the devastating news of Rob and Michele Reiner’s deaths, it has been a horrifying weekend.

At the same time, major fractures inside the Republican Party are coming into clearer view as costs rise and the party struggles to present a coherent direction for what comes next.

Thank you to everyone for the warm Hanukkah wishes, and for the messages checking in after my mild concussion. This platform is the best gift I could ask for this holiday season because we are reaching people across America, including many who will never sit down with traditional news. We are doing it together, and we are not backing down or selling out.

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Here’s what you missed:

• As he heads toward the 2026 midterms, President Trump faces growing voter frustration over high living costs that undercut his populist image—once symbolized by his McDonald’s campaign stop—with polls showing low approval of his economic handling, mixed price trends, and concern even among Republicans that denying affordability struggles while blaming Biden risks making Trump appear out of touch unless he pairs empathy with a credible case that his policies will eventually ease household financial pressure.

• A fracture is growing within the Republican Party over it’s future as more Republicans self-identify as “traditional” versus “MAGA” than ever before:

• Meanwhile, Republicans are growing weary over the direction of the country, as a growing number of Republicans now say the country is heading the wrong direction:

• ProPublica reports that Trump appointees and DOGE-linked officials celebrated deep USAID cuts even after being warned they would worsen South Sudan’s cholera outbreak, and that funding delays and terminations left clinics and sanitation programs shuttered during the crisis—contributing to a surge in cases and uncounted deaths—while senior officials publicly insisted lifesaving aid remained active and that no one died because of the cuts.

• The race to find a healthcare plan is on. With enhanced Obamacare subsidies set to expire soon, Democrats have coalesced around a straightforward push to extend them to avoid sharp premium hikes and coverage losses for millions, while Republicans are split between conservatives opposing any extension and moderates fearing electoral backlash, leaving GOP leaders advancing a narrow, fragmented health care package with no unified message or guaranteed path to prevent a looming insurance cost shock.

• After a mass shooting during a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach that killed at least 16 people, Ahmed al-Ahmed, a 43-year-old Australian citizen of Syrian origin, is being hailed as a hero after risking his life to tackle and disarm an alleged gunman; now in critical but stable condition after being shot multiple times, al-Ahmed’s family says he acted purely out of conscience and humanitarian instinct, drawing praise from Australian leaders and becoming a symbol of courage, unity, and selflessness amid national grief and fear of backlash toward Muslim communities.

• Authorities investigating the deadly Brown University shooting that killed two students and wounded nine say a detained person of interest will be released after the case shifted in a “different direction,” leaving the suspect potentially at large as the campus reels from the attack, classes and exams are canceled, and officials warn the development may heighten anxiety in a shaken university and surrounding community.

• Filmmaker and actor Rob Reiner, 78, and his wife Michele Singer Reiner, 68, were found dead with apparent stab wounds inside Reiner’s Brentwood, Los Angeles home in what police are investigating as a homicide; authorities have not publicly confirmed identities, a family member is being questioned, and city leaders are mourning the loss of a prolific director, actor, and political activist whose work shaped American film and culture for decades.

• A JetBlue flight traveling from Curaçao to New York narrowly avoided a midair collision near Venezuelan airspace after a U.S. Air Force aircraft without an active transponder crossed directly into its flight path, forcing the pilot to halt the plane’s climb, as JetBlue and U.S. military officials investigate the incident and stress that flight safety remains a top priority.

• A Syrian official told Politico that the gunman who killed two U.S. service members and an American civilian near Palmyra was a recent recruit to Syria’s internal security forces who had raised suspicions of possible Islamic State ties and was reassigned before the attack, underscoring both a major security breach and the fragility of the expanding U.S.–Syrian partnership as authorities launch sweeps to root out IS infiltration.

• The Washington Post confirmed that the Trump administration moved to potentially take control of Washington, D.C.’s three municipal golf courses by issuing a notice of default to their nonprofit manager, National Links Trust, escalating a quiet power struggle over prominent public land and opening the door for the president to operate the city’s public golf properties.

• Axios is reporting that Trump advisers are angrily criticizing Sen. Josh Hawley for launching a new anti-abortion group, viewing it as a politically damaging move that could hurt Republicans in the 2026 midterms and as a self-serving attempt by Hawley to raise his profile and position himself for a potential 2028 presidential challenge against Vice President Vance.

• Erika Kirk, the widow of far-right activist Charlie Kirk and new CEO of Turning Point USA, is set to confront Candace Owens in a private, face-to-face meeting after Owens fueled conspiracy theories about Kirk’s death, a clash that highlights deepening rifts and personal power struggles within the post-Kirk MAGA movement.

• Russia’s central bank is seeking about $230 billion in damages from Euroclear over frozen sovereign assets, a legal move meant to warn the EU against plans to use tens of billions of euros in seized Russian funds to back loans for Ukraine, as Brussels presses ahead with the scheme despite Moscow’s threats of retaliation and legal challenges abroad.

• Hong Kong media tycoon and pro-democracy figure Jimmy Lai was convicted of national security and sedition charges and now faces a possible life sentence, a ruling widely condemned by rights groups and Western governments as a politically motivated “sham conviction” that underscores the erosion of press freedom, judicial independence, and civil liberties under Beijing’s national security law.

Good news:

• In the largest wildlife trafficking crackdown ever, INTERPOL’s Operation Thunder rescued about 30,000 live animals and seized massive quantities of illegal animal parts and timber across 4,620 raids in 134 countries, disrupting global poaching networks, identifying more than 1,100 suspects, and signaling progress against trafficking of iconic species like rhinos while exposing a shift toward other animals and illegal logging.

• A New York City man, Bryan Reisberg, is boosting shelter dog adoptions by carrying them around the city in a backpack labeled “Adopt Me” and sharing the outings on social media, turning overlooked pets into viral stars and helping every featured dog so far find a home while significantly increasing overall shelter adoptions.

• A heartwarming video from the Queens Zoo shows two young Andean bears cleverly turning a fallen tree branch into a playful see-saw, delighting viewers while highlighting the species’ natural curiosity, intelligence, and love of climbing and play.

• In a world-first medical breakthrough, doctors successfully restored a legally blind patient’s sight using a 3D-printed, lab-grown human cornea, a development that could dramatically reduce donor shortages and transform treatment for millions suffering from corneal blindness.

See you this afternoon.

— Aaron