Politics

The MAGA voter split that could spell trouble for 2028 Republicans

Published

7 months ago

November 28, 2025

President Donald Trump has held his coalition together throughout much of the first year of his second term in office like few other figures could — albeit at times with bailing twine and a red MAGA cap — but cracks are starting to show, according to the latest results from The Blue Light News Poll.

And it’s clear whoever tries to pick up the MAGA mantle ahead of 2028 has some serious work to do to keep the coalition together.

For starters, a significant portion of 2024 Trump voters — more than a third — do not consider themselves to be MAGA Republicans. And not only are they less loyal to Trump than self-identified MAGA Republicans, the poll suggests some of them have already begun to turn on him: Non-MAGA Trump voters are much more likely to blame Trump for the state of the economy, say he has too much power and be pessimistic about the future.

The results underscore just how sui generis the cohort that reelected Trump was — and foreshadow the GOP’s coming challenges.

More than half of Trump’s voters last year — 55 percent — describe themselves as MAGA, but a critical 38 percent do not, according to the survey, which comprised 2,098 U.S. adults online and was conducted Nov. 14-17, with a margin of sampling error at plus-or-minus 2 percentage points.

And it’s here where the fissures start to emerge: Among those self-described MAGA voters, 47 percent say the current economy still belongs fully to Biden, compared to just 26 percent of non-MAGA Trump 2024 voters.

This divide becomes even starker on areas Republicans typically don’t own, like health care, where the White House is struggling to forge a path to extend expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies: 85 percent of MAGA Trump voters trust Republicans more to bring down health care costs, whereas just 55 percent of non-MAGA do — with 19 percent instead trusting Democrats and 27 percent saying they don’t know.

When it comes to trusting a given party on the economy, 88 percent of those MAGA voters back Republicans generally; but only 63 percent of non-MAGA Trump voters support Republicans, with 28 percent saying neither party or don’t know.

On affordability, the issue that Trump has said delivered him the election, and the one his own White House deputy chief of staff James Blair has said he will be “very focused on,” non-MAGA Republicans are more concerned by the cost of living than their MAGA counterparts: 59 percent to 48 percent.

Among the other findings centering on the economy:

The non-MAGA cohort is less likely to feel Trump has taken the chance he had to change things in the economy: 65 percent of MAGA compared with 46 percent of non-MAGA.

MAGA Republicans feel their personal financial situation has improved over the past five years (52 percent to 24 percent), whereas non-MAGA GOPers are virtually tied (37 percent to 36 percent).

In a fascinating divide, 73 percent of MAGA Republicans expect their personal financial situation to improve over the next 5 years, compared with 57 percent of non-MAGA Republicans.

Similarly, MAGA feels better off than the average American (49 percent to 17 percent), whereas non-MAGA is torn (30 percent to 29 percent).

What does this all mean ahead of the fast-approaching midterms? Already, we have evidence from the off-year elections that the 2024 Trump coalition isn’t holding, with Latino and young male voters shifting back to Democrats. On generic ballot vote intention, 92 percent of MAGA Republicans backed the Republican candidate, while 62 percent of non-MAGA did.
There’s something in the MAGA Republican voter mentality — a kind of economic optimism — that is durable even amid the current turmoil. Trump’s definition of reality permeates their own.

And the GOP has less than four years to turn Trump voters into reliable Republican voters.

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Politics

Support for Iran’s team – but not for regime

Published

2 hours ago

June 22, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

LOS ANGELES — The political tensions surrounding Iran’s national soccer team were on full display Sunday at SoFi Stadium, where Iranian American fans loudly booed during the playing of Iran’s national anthem before the team’s World Cup match against Belgium.

Among the crowd were several supporters displaying Iran’s pre-revolution Lion and Sun flag, a symbol associated with opposition to the current regime. FIFA prohibits the flag inside tournament venues, but some fans carried it anyway — and at least one supporter waved it during the anthem in an act of defiance.

Conversations with Iranian American fans at the stadium in Inglewood revealed a consistent message: Their protests were directed at Iran’s government, not at the players representing the country on the field. An Iranian American man from Seattle who gave his name as Majid said that he appreciated the opportunity to “confront the tyrannies that are happening.”

“Iran is hostage for the past 47 years or so to a regime that is promoting terrorism and chaos in the region,” he said. “For the team, we support them. But the anthem, the flag — we don’t support it.”

That distinction was evident throughout the match, which ended in a scoreless draw. While the anthem drew intense jeers, Iranian players received loud cheers on corner kicks and takeaways.

The game, held amid U.S.-Iran talks to end the monthslong war between the two countries, was the second of two matches Iran played in Los Angeles, home to the largest Iranian community outside of Iran. Both ended in draws.

Politics

‘Don’t count on me to say bad words’

Published

4 hours ago

June 21, 2026

Blue Light Newsroom

The French minister for sports, Marina Ferrari, was in New York City to support her national team, which will play its second match tomorrow against Iraq. On Monday, she dropped by the French consulate across from Central Park for an event organized by Business France to discuss the opportunities this year’s three-country World Cup represents for French and American companies.

Panelists included French Football Federation President Philippe Diallo, New York City Economic Development Corporation interim CEO Jeanny Pak and representatives from the NFL and the New Orleans Saints, which are playing the first ever professional (American) football game in France this fall at a stadium in the Paris suburbs.

In prepared remarks, Ferrari talked about Franco-American cooperation, not just for major sporting events, but also for America’s 250th anniversary.

“France will be, as it always has been, at your side,” she said.

In an interview afterwards, Ferrari answered questions in English about politically outspoken French footballers, Qatari influence in French sports and the beautiful game being divided into quarters by TV commercials during World Cup “hydration breaks.”

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What do you think of football becoming a four-quarter sport instead of a sport of halves? Are the Europeans concerned that this World Cup has made it into a four-quarter sport?

In France, we have been working with the broadcaster and they took the engagement not to put advertising during those pauses. For us, it’s important. When we organize in the future such a competition — with the weather and with the climate change — we will have to adapt the competition. So I understand clearly why those times now exist, but in France we take care about not pushing so much advertising during this time.

You talked about sports uniting. What do you think of Kylian Mbappé and others on the team taking stances against the far right?

I think a player is a citizen like anyone, so they can express their feelings, their political views, or their opinions. It is not forbidden — but, while playing, stop when you are wearing the shirt of France. But I think they are free to do that.

Paris 2024 was such a successful Olympics. What have you talked to Americans about to pull off a World Cup and an Olympics? And how are you meeting that same level for the Winter Olympics in 2030?

I think that we’ve got to think together about the future of these Olympic Games in winter, because you know, with the climate change, having snow in the future is more and more uncertain. So we’ve got to think, how do we produce snow in the future without taking water from the consumption of the citizens. So we have a lot to do on that, because in the future I think that only a few countries will be able to organize again [Winter] Olympics and Paralympics, so we’ve got really to create a new model, a sober model for the future and for the next generation.

Are you concerned about Qatari dominance of French domestic football, given the country’s sovereign wealth funds ownership of champion club Paris Saint-Germain?

We are proud of having Paris Saint Germain. I hear this bad buzz, blah blah blah, the investors, etc. I think we are lucky to have such a club, so don’t count on me to say bad words.