The Post-MAGA Era

Right before the Republican primary for Florida governor started, Politico released an article on the future of James Fishback’s politics, in which it stated the following:

“When it comes to Fishback, the biggest question looming over Tuesday’s results appears to be less about his winning or losing, but whether his candidacy will serve as a signal flare heralding the post-MAGA era.”

Fishback was realistically never going to win Florida, which not only has the highest rate of boomers migrating there compared to other states, but is also one of the leaders in sheer boomer population size.

However, Fishback succeeded in bringing in a large number of young voters who were sick of the current state of ‘Trumpism’, earning him 10% of the vote despite facing over 10 opponents in the primary, including Trump-endorsed Byron Donalds and current lieutenant governor Jay Collins. At college campuses during the primary, Fishback was immensely popular.

Even considering the possibility that Fishback may never return to politics, his ideas have been celebrated by millions of young men around the country, and his run encouraged influencers such as Nick Fuentes, who told his followers to look towards the future and consider Fishback’s run as just the beginning of a “manual” which will eventually lead to a new Republican Party.

S.clips@whitesocksclips

Nick Fuentes says Fishback created the blueprint for 2028 "I'm interested in the political project that installs a FAR right nationalist into the White House in 2028, 2032, or 2036... James Fishback, although he didn't give us the governorship, he gave us the manual."

5:15 AM · Aug 19, 2026 · 5.15K Views

5 Replies · 31 Reposts · 224 Likes

Nick’s calls should be considered valid as the use of social media by politicians continues to rise. Many politicians currently in power already use it, but a majority of users of apps such as TikTok and X/Twitter consider how politicians use it to be ridiculous, “corny”, and seemingly too desperate in that politicians try too hard to relate to young people through outdated trends.

This is what made James Fishback so popular, especially as a majority of young men and women were introduced to his campaign through Instagram, where he now has half a million followers, and X/Twitter, where he now has 270K followers.

Sure, he tried to lean on older viral trends from time to time to relate to voters, similar to any old politician or candidate, but he and his team were also constantly working together on social media to advertise him, his campaign, and his promises. He went as far as to stream himself addressing the concerns of multiple undecided voters, and offered to appear on other streamers’ livestreams to discuss his ideas with them.

This, compared to what people saw as Byron Donalds’ dependence on Trump’s endorsement to be successful, drew young adults from all around the state to him, and he was immensely popular with college kids, even as the heads of those colleges did their best to kick him off their campuses and silence Fishback supporters, which itself made him more popular.

About a year ago, I theorized that Fishback’s eventual loss would serve no further purpose beyond him becoming an excuse to say Groypers, that is, followers of Nick Fuentes, are not successful politically. And sure, politicians are currently trying to turn Fishback into a “failed Groyper,” but what critics with this line of thinking have failed to address is that soon, the boomer audience and their policies will mean nothing. Whether the average young voter is a Republican or a Democrat, they all agree that boomer politicians and their “aging cults” need to go.

Both parties’ young audiences, millennials or Gen Z, are already starting to lean on social media to bring in voters, as we’ve seen with the Democrats’ DSA, which has found success through several “social media campaigns”, such as those of current NYC mayor Zohran Mamdani and Abdul El-Sayed.

Young Republicans in support of Fishback have already pledged to vote Democrat in the general gubernatorial election in 2026 to combat Byron Donalds as part of a call by Nick Fuentes to punish the GOP establishment by participating in a “blue wave” that, if successful, will force the Republican Party to introduce a 2028 candidate who is less like Vice President JD Vance and more like a Fishback-esque politician. Trump-endorsed candidates, including incumbent Representative Cory Mills and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, have already begun to suffer, partially because of this wave and partially because of their own controversies. Catalina Lauf, an anti-Groyper, pro-Trump candidate, also lost her own primary (where she was attempting to take over Byron Donalds’ old congressional seat in Florida), receiving just 22% of the vote in that district.

While not many Trump-endorsed candidates have lost, in a race where two seats make the difference between a Republican-led, pro-Trump Congress and a Democrat-led Congress, only a few more Mills, Laufs, and Lindells need to lose.

All that being said, it’s unlikely that a simple defeat of Fishback will scare young voters anytime soon. Even some pro-Israel influencers are admitting it. Rod Dreher, when contacting the Times of Israel for an article of theirs attacking Fishback and low-IQ former Congressional hopeful Dan Bilzerian, stated that he “[didn’t] think” that what he described as a “threat from the far right” has gone away. He also admitted that influencers similar to Fishback and Fuentes have the wind at their back in terms of “benefiting from the shocking rise of anti-semitism among Generation Z.” While he expressed doubt that Fuentes-esque influencers would have an impact even heading into 2028, he still warned that “the threat is near.”

This comes as Dreher has also admitted that roughly 40% of congressional/administration staffers at most are supporters of Nick Fuentes, or at the very least sympathize with several of his talking points.

Fishback didn’t shy away from proudly promising future victories himself. In a speech given by Fishback following his loss in the Florida gubernatorial primary, he told supporters that his beliefs were still on the ascent. He stated that victory was near, “perhaps not for [his] campaign tonight, but victory for our movement has never been closer.”

So, instead of latching on to the promise that was the Fishback campaign itself, and rioting for him, or lashing out when somebody states the simple truth of the primary loss, the move should INSTEAD be to search for the qualities Fishback has, or, most importantly, the qualities that Nick Fuentes seeks, in other candidates all around the country, especially as the midterms grow near. There needs to be attention placed on the “manual” Fuentes described moving ahead.