After Republicans’ heavy Nov. 3 midterm losses, the MAGA movement is asking whether it faces an existential reckoning: some supporters who once saw Donald Trump as its greatest asset now treat him as a liability, The Straits Times reports, based on a Reuters investigation.

Voters angry over fuel prices, the Iran war and Washington corruption handed Democrats decisive congressional majorities. The defeat is being read not only as a repudiation of the president, but as a referendum on the political and cultural force he built from 2016.

In Dallas, after an event tied to Senate candidate Ken Paxton, a three-time Trump voter summed up the mood: “People are pissed off at Trump. Trump has cost us.” Reuters interviews with activists, influencers and strategists show a coalition turning its anger inward.

Stolen-election claims from 2020 have largely gone quiet. Instead, many blame Republican leaders, White House advisers and, in some cases, Trump himself for broken promises on living costs, the Iran war and the Epstein files.

Trump’s first major response was to double down: he promoted Stephen Miller, architect of the hardline immigration crackdown, to replace Susie Wiles. Hardline influencers cheered the move, but it deepened doubts among those who want a MAGA less tied to one man.

Steve Bannon said the movement “has to rebuild” around an aggressive populist-nationalist agenda. Social-media analysis found a slice of loyalists still back MAGA but not necessarily Trump as leader — while a vocal minority call the brand “dead.”

Source: ‘Trump has cost us’: After midterm losses, MAGA asks if it’s over — The Straits Times