Former MAGA Allies Break Ranks: "25th Amendment His Ass" After Iran Threat

When Even the Conspiracy Theorists Think You've Gone Too Far

Donald Trump's threat to erase 93 million people from existence has accomplished something remarkable: it broke the MAGA cult's spell for some of its most devoted members.

"How do we 25th Amendment his ass?" conspiracy theorist Alex Jones asked on his show this week, after Trump posted that "a whole civilization will die tonight, never to be brought back again" unless Iran reopened the Strait of Hormuz. His guest suggested physically tackling Trump and pretending he's having a health crisis while JD Vance takes over. "It literally needs to be something like that. It's that bad."

Former congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene went even further, tweeting in all caps: "25th AMENDMENT!!! Not a single bomb has dropped on America. We cannot kill an entire civilization. This is evil and madness." She followed up by calling out everyone in Trump's orbit: "I know all of you and him -- he has gone insane and all of you are complicit."

She's right on both counts.

The Threat Itself Violates International Law

Jennifer Rubin, editor in chief of The Contrarian, told The Daily Blast podcast that Trump's genocidal threat is itself a crime under international law. "The threat of genocide is not allowed," she explained. "Even if we don't get the worst of the worst, having made the threat, he has put us in a position in which the United States is essentially threatening to do what we have condemned Russia for doing in Ukraine."

The irony is thick: Trump's apocalyptic religious language mirrors the Islamic fundamentalism he claims to oppose, translated into his "weird Christian white nationalist view of the world," as Rubin put it. The fundamentalists, it turns out, were us all along.

What Happens When You Leave the Cult

Rubin noted that Jones, Greene, Tucker Carlson, and others represent what happens when devotees finally break free: "Suddenly everything becomes very clear. You're willing to abandon your idolatry. You're willing to assess his words as they are spoken or written."

These aren't exactly profiles in democratic courage -- we're talking about people who spent years enabling Trump's worst impulses. But their willingness to finally call out his madness matters, especially given their large followings within the MAGA base.

The question is whether this moment of clarity will last or evaporate the second Trump backs down from his latest threat.

The 25th Amendment Won't Happen (But It Should)

Removing Trump through the 25th Amendment would require JD Vance to grow a spine and a majority of the cabinet -- currently filled with what Rubin calls "deluded toadies" -- to go along. Then Congress would need to approve it with a two-thirds vote in both chambers.

None of that is happening. But Rubin argues it's still critical to keep talking about it: "There has to be a greater discussion of his mental unfitness, his emotional deterioration, which the legacy media has consistently refused to confront."

She's right. The media spent years treating Trump's obvious unfitness as a matter of partisan opinion rather than observable fact. Now that even Alex Jones can see it, maybe the rest of the country will catch up.

The Real Danger: Going Back to Normal

Rubin's biggest fear is that if Trump backs down and doesn't actually commit genocide this week, "everyone will reset and we'll go back to normal." Trump will get credit for not blowing up the world instead of being held accountable for threatening to do so in the first place.

"The same kind of excuse-mongering and rationalization will take hold," she warned.

That's the pattern we've seen for years: Trump does something disqualifying, people express outrage for 48 hours, and then everyone moves on to the next crisis. His allies rationalize. The media both-sides it. And Trump faces zero consequences.

Congress Has Tools It Refuses to Use

Even if the 25th Amendment is a non-starter, Congress has other constitutional powers it could deploy: impeachment, oversight, control of the purse, and the power to declare war.

"How about starting there?" Rubin suggested.

But that would require Republicans in Congress to prioritize the country over their political survival. It would require them to stand up to a president who has shown he will destroy anyone who crosses him. It would require courage.

We're not holding our breath.

The Coalition That Could Be

There's now a potential coalition for Trump's removal that spans from Marjorie Taylor Greene to every Democrat in Congress, from Alex Jones to national security professionals horrified by Trump's recklessness. That's a lot of people.

But coalitions don't matter if no one acts. And right now, the people with the power to remove Trump -- his cabinet and congressional Republicans -- are still choosing complicity over country.

Greene was right: they're all complicit. And unless they find the courage to act, Trump's madness will continue until he finally follows through on one of his apocalyptic threats.

The question isn't whether Trump is fit to serve. Even his former allies know he isn't. The question is whether anyone with the power to stop him will actually do it.