#1760 Hot Mess: Conservative Chaos Below the Surface of Trump's Authoritarian Regime
Best of the Left - Leftist Perspectives on Progressive Politics, News, Culture, Economics and Democracy
Jay Tomlinson
4.6 • 3.4K Ratings
🗓️ 26 December 2025
⏱️ 207 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Air Date 12/26/2025
Authoritarian governments are always very focused on making it look like they have everything on absolute lock down. Everyone in lockstep, everything proceeding according to plan. But they do this for propaganda purposes, not because it has anything to do with reality. In fact, the opposite is always true. All of which is to say that conservatives are not in chaos because Trump is particularly chaotic, though he is. They're in chaos because that is the natural result of attempting to enforce monolithic thinking and ideological conformity.
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KEY POINTS
KP 1: The Republicans Bucking Trump Part 1 - Today, Explained - Air Date 12-9-25
KP 5: The Republican Party's 'Civil War' Part 1 - On The Media - Air Date 11-12-25
KP 6: Candace Owens at a Turning Point Part 1 - What Next - Air Date 12-17-25
(00:56:36) NOTE FROM THE EDITOR
On why chaos is endemic to authoritarian governments
DEEPER DIVES
(01:02:30) SECTION A: GOP LAWMAKERS
A1: Marjorie Taylor Greene Vs Donald Trump Part 1 - Americast - Air Date 11-21-25
A5: Marjorie Taylor Greene Vs Donald Trump Part 2 - Americast - Air Date 11-21-25
(01:45:12) SECTION B: STATE POLITICS
B2: The Republicans Bucking Trump Part 2 - Today, Explained - Air Date 12-9-25
(02:01:08) SECTION C: CLASHING IDEOLOGIES
C1: The Republican Party's 'Civil War' Part 2 - On The Media - Air Date 11-12-25
(02:57:28) SECTION D: CANDACE OWENS
D1: Candace Owens at a Turning Point Part 2 - What Next - Air Date 12-17-25
D2: Candace Owens Is Not Your Friend - Hysteria - Air Date 9-25-25
D3: This Toxic Feud Just Got WAY Worse - The Majority Report - Air Date 12-22-25
SHOW IMAGE CREDITS
Description: Graphic depicting the Republican Party elephant icon on concrete with a giant crack running through it.
Credit: Internal composite design, Elements from Pixabay | Pixabay License
Produced by Jay! Tomlinson
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to this episode of the award-winning Best of the Left podcast. Authoritarian governments are always very focused on making it look like they have everything on absolute lockdown, everyone in lockstep, everything proceeding according to plan. But they do this for propaganda purposes, not because it has anything to do |
| 0:21.8 | with reality. In fact, the opposite is always true. All of which is to say that conservatives are |
| 0:28.2 | not in chaos right now because Trump is particularly chaotic, though he is. They're in chaos |
| 0:35.0 | because that's the natural result of attempting to enforce monolithic thinking and ideological conformity. |
| 0:43.0 | For those looking for a quick overview, the sources providing our top takes in about 55 minutes today includes Today Explained, Start Making Sense, Good News for Lefties, It Could Happ happen here, on the media, what next, and |
| 0:56.6 | why America. |
| 0:58.1 | Then, in the additional deeper dives happen to show, there will be more in four sections. |
| 1:02.4 | Section A, GOP lawmakers, followed by Section B, State Politics, Section C, Clashing Ideologies, |
| 1:09.8 | and Section D, Candice Owens. |
| 1:12.4 | But first, a reminder to check out our new show solved on the Best of Left YouTube channel. |
| 1:17.2 | We're really proud of the show we're making, and you're going to get real value out of it. |
| 1:20.8 | Plus, you checking it out actually helps us find new viewers on YouTube. |
| 1:24.6 | So thanks in advance for all of your views, likes, subscribes, and |
| 1:28.0 | comments. That's all on the Best of Left YouTube channel. Linkin the show notes. And now, |
| 1:33.2 | on to the show. |
| 1:38.3 | Politics, power, Congress, all things we're interested in today. And I know in the last few weeks, we've heard quite a few Congress people say they're going to retire, even resign. |
| 1:49.4 | What is the scope of this angst in Congress? |
| 1:52.9 | What's the source of it? |
| 1:54.3 | Yeah. |
| 1:54.6 | So the scope could be pretty big. |
| 1:59.6 | You know, I'm hearing from Republican sources, lawmakers, aides, people close to |
| 2:04.3 | these people who are expecting a lot more retirement announcements in the coming weeks. |
... |
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