Influencer Brett Cooper: “What actually is MAGA now? ... I would have considered myself MAGA, but I don't. I'm not giving Trump a 100% approval rating personally.”
Cooper: “Honestly, I kind of feel like a total buffoon”
Published
Citation
From the March 31, 2026, edition of The Brett Cooper Show, uploaded to YouTube
BRETT COOPER (HOST): Now, I am showing you all of this just so you have the full picture of what the event looked like because if you went on X, you probably would have seen people saying things like this. “Apparently, CPAC is empty this year. Curious how this keeps happening to groups that align themselves with the post liberals and the new right influencer scene" aka thanks, Josh Hammer, the “retard right," America first, non-Zionist, groypers, whatever you want to call them. And then you have that same side, the “retard right" saying lmao, boo. This is because of Ted Cruz and Josh Hammer. They did this. They ruined CPAC.
Like I'm sorry, controversial opinion. Maybe everybody ruined it. Maybe everyone is just too busy with their normal lives. Maybe they are just too busy trying to make ends meet in this economy. Maybe they are hoping that we do not get dragged into another decades-long regime change war in the Middle East. Maybe they are hoping that we don't hit $200 oil. And maybe they just couldn't be bothered because of all of that to attend this convention. Maybe they aren't fired up right now and they don't really think any of these people could actually fire them up. Maybe they are demoralized and checked out because in a lot of ways that's how I feel.
Like I used to get behind this microphone, like back on comment section leading up to the 2024 election, and I was so excited to talk about politics. I had so much hope. There was so much unity. You had this like incredible coalition. Like I remember getting chills watching the insane Trump ad where they talked about unity and you had Tulsi Gabbard and RFK Jr. and JD Vance and Kash Patel and Trump and he was talking about strength through peace and he was talking about unity with the left and the right and a positive hope for America and I'm like where where did that feeling go? And why am I sitting here every day going oh my god like what am I going to talk about today because everything just seems so depressing.
And it's all ironic because then you have the admin posting things like MAGA is a hundred percent behind Donald Trump. Trump has a a hundred percent approval rating with MAGA. And that's kind of why I was asking you guys that question at the beginning because it's like, OK, then what actually is MAGA now? Because I have like 10 MAGA hats. I would have considered myself MAGA, but I don't. I'm not giving Trump a 100% approval rating personally. Maybe you guys are. I personally am not. Like, who actually identifies with that anymore? And I'm not saying that in a like a rhetorical way of like “who could identify," but like actually who is that base? Because the last time I checked, Trump said that MAGA was just the people who always agreed with it based on Truth Social posts. So, I don't even know what to think anymore.
So, yeah, I would say that this whole weekend watching it unfold on social media was disheartening, but also not completely surprising. Like, I am not shocked at all that most of these speakers were speaking to empty chairs.
And honestly, I kind of feel like a total buffoon. I don't know if that's the right word to say. Maybe it's just that I think it's ironic because literally this time last year, like March and February of last year, I was making all of these videos about how the left was having this massive crisis, an authenticity crisis. They didn't have a leader. They had no positivity. There was no unity, which was why they failed in 2024. And that kind of unity and genuine joy, not the fake Kamala joy, but the genuine joy is what in my opinion like emotionally pushed Trump over the finish line for so many voters in 2024.
And then a year later, here I am feeling demoralized and disheartened, watching CPAC unfold online, looking like a red, white, and blue Barbie Dreamfest. Meanwhile, at the exact same time, this is what the No Kings protest looked like across America.