MAGA activists push 'hyperpartisanship' and reject compromise: 'Trump is in charge!'

PHOENIX — As Congress struggles over a deal to keep the government open, the message coming from the beating heart of Trump world is clear-cut: Don’t compromise.

Speakers at a conference of conservative activists here this week said that Donald Trump’s election victory should be a warning to those who try to block his agenda — Republicans and Democrats alike — that they need to give way.

“We don’t need partisanship now; we need hyperpartisanship now,” Steve Bannon, a former Trump White House senior adviser, told a raucous audience gathered at the Phoenix Convention Center for AmericaFest.

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Mocking the efforts by House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to strike a bipartisan agreement that would avert a government shutdown, Bannon said: “The conversation is over. President Trump came back from the political dead and on the shoulders of the most powerful populist movement in the history of the world … won a landslide victory.”

“We have nothing else to discuss,” he continued. “It’s only about the execution of President Trump’s plan.”

Trump has said that “unity” will be the theme of his inaugural address on Jan. 20. But those close to him sounded a triumphalist note at the Turning Point USA event, suggesting the MAGA movement won’t brook any concessions.

Another speaker, Donald Trump Jr., took aim at the 38 House Republicans who voted against a spending measure that aligned with his father’s priorities. He urged the grassroots activists to “primary the hell out of” Republican lawmakers who impede the president-elect’s policy goals.

In Washington, the younger Trump said, “It’s not just the Democrats that are our foes. It’s a vast majority of the Republicans.”

“Just because they have the ‘R’ next to their name doesn’t mean anything anymore,” he added. “Honestly, the Republican Party of a few years ago is gone. This is now the America First party. Donald Trump is in charge!”

Little gets done in Congress absent bipartisan cooperation. Republicans will hold slim majorities in Congress when Trump takes office. Under Senate rules, major legislation often requires 60 votes, a super-majority that isn't possible to reach without support from both parties.

In trying to negotiate a compromise that would keep the government up and running, Johnson is looking for the elusive sweet spot that would appease Trump while also garnering enough votes to pass.

But coming off an election that saw Trump capture each of the seven battleground states, the MAGA movement is in no mood to see Johnson bend.

In a call-and-response, Bannon asked the crowd if Johnson should be speaker. “No!” people shouted.

“The political class is infected with a malignant cancer,” he said. “That cancer is bipartisanship, right?”

Already, there are questions about whether Johnson will be able to keep his position as speaker when the new Congress convenes next month. A number of conservatives on social media were floating tech billionaire Elon Musk — who, along with Trump, helped tank the bipartisan government funding bill this week — as a possible replacement. (Technically, the speaker does not need to be a sitting member of Congress.)

Audience members react as Bannon takes the stage at AmericaFest 2024 in Phoenix on Thursday.Cheney Orr / Reuters

The speakers at AmericaFest also called for the Senate to confirm Trump's Cabinet picks. Tucker Carlson, the former Fox News host and a Trump ally, described opponents of Tulsi Gabbard’s nomination for director of national intelligence as threats to the nation.

Any Republican senator who votes against Gabbard is “an enemy of the United States. Period,” Carlson said.

Gabbard is one of several Trump picks who have come under tough scrutiny. Dozens of former national security officials signed a letter criticizing her selection, saying she lacked the necessary experience and questioning whether she could offer unbiased intelligence analysis.

When Gabbard ran for president as a Democrat in 2020, Russian state propaganda often portrayed her candidacy favorably while denigrating that of Joe Biden and other Democratic candidates at the time, according to research from the Foreign Policy Research Institute, a think tank in Philadelphia.

Trump Jr. urged the crowd Friday to exert pressure on Congress to advance his father’s plans. He singled out Sen. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, who has been deliberating over whether to support Pete Hegseth, the president-elect’s pick for defense secretary.

“Call them out. Call their offices. Put on that pressure,” Trump Jr. said. "Make them feel the pain. Joni Ernst learned this a little bit the hard way. ETP. Education through Pain.”

Who will take over the MAGA movement after Trump leaves office is unclear. Trump is limited to only one more term, though Bannon, for his part, seemed undeterred.

"Trump 2028!" he said as he finished his speech, drawing a roar of approval from the crowd.

Trump Jr. then took the stage.

"Well, guys, I want to thank Steve for that pre-endorsement for 2028."

More cheers.

"Kidding, I'm kidding," he said.