Time magazine names Trump "Person of the Year 2024"
time.com
time.com
Which leads me to my point which is it feels Trump leadership is waning. That the people carrying the torch for MAGA like Musk or JD Vance or Vivek feel more significant than Trump himself.
We’re not quite there yet, which is probably why Trump gets person of the year, but I wonder if every year after this Trump’s presence will wane and wane as Game of Thrones plays out for the MAGA crown.
Alternatively, MAGA doesn’t survive Trump and his influence grows upon his death, but that probably assumes he does well over the next few years and dies at the height of his influence. I think Trump has already reached mythical status, I don’t really think any failures will be blamed on Trump himself which leads to that thought that maybe I’m wrong and his influence grows even into old age and death, and it’s the influence of the inheritance that wanes.
there's nothing weird about it. US Presidents always get it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Person_of_the_Year
Eisenhower won in 1952 and the person of the year was Queen Elizabeth the 2nd
The endangered earth won in 1988 HW bush got it in 1990.
Maybe it should have been a repeat of 1969 where the person of the year was middle America / the silent majority who elected Nixon
Anyway, mainstream media seemed settled on MAGA succession with the choice of Vance. These kinds of movements forbid doubt in their adherents. There’s cultural doubt about Elon and Vivek, but not JD Vance. With Trump deciding not to pay Rudy’s bill for representing him, Rudy showed doubt so he’s out.
I suspect Project 2025 will operationally subsume MAGA. Projects like Contract for America and the Tea Party try to attach the anger toward one issue onto their other culture war issues. Note that Gingrich and the PPP scammers of the Tea Party never intended to live up to traditional rectitude and morality. These are all messy political winners who need a way to hint who’s the in-group. They “get it” without having to actually say it.
The friction in succession will be that Vance is indirectly representing Thiel and directly representing P2025. As opposed to his former views on Trump as “America’s Hitler”, which probably won’t corrode the myth you’re talking about. Maybe 60% of GOP lawmakers have thought such things and Vance is a bridge to them.
Hitler -> Stalin
Putin -> Obama
Trump -> #MeToo
Taylor Swift -> Trump