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In an ill-fated effort to make nice with MAGA, Newsom started a podcast promising "honest discussions with people that agree AND disagree with us," all "without demeaning or dehumanizing one other."

The American people and their leaders also had numerous opportunities to “drown-proof” their democracy at the ballot box, through the rule of law and addressing the deep societal problems that birthed Trumpism, MAGA, authoritarian populism and the larger antidemocracy movement.

For the one and only time in my life, I have become MAGA—and it feels amazing.

But setting aside the soap opera aspects of the break-up, the catalyst for MAGA's big catfight was the budget bill that's currently sitting in the GOP-controlled Senate — and Musk isn't the only one who's got a very big problem with it.

This matters because Peterson is up there with Musk for representing the more secular, nerdy wing of MAGA, which also happens to be comprised of some of the most fairweather Trump supporters.