Ex-Trump Aide Sounds Alarm Over MAGA Departure Amid War: 'The Base Is Departing'
Caroline Sunshine, communications director for Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential campaign, criticized the White House's “information ecosystem,” asserting it fails to alert the former president about his MAGA supporters distancing themselves over the war in Iran.
“There’s an information ecosystem around the president right now that is designed to keep opinions like mine out or demonize supporters like me as disloyal and not relevant to hear from. And that needs to change,” Sunshine stated during an interview with CNN’s Elex Michaelson early Saturday.
Sunshine, who previously starred on the Disney Channel, stands among a select group of conservatives openly opposing the war in Iran, which has resulted in the deaths of at least 13 U.S. service members and left hundreds injured.
As global markets face turmoil and fuel prices surge due to Iran's closure of the Strait of Hormuz, neither Trump nor Iranian officials appear ready to de-escalate the situation.
“The president should revert to his own advice,” Sunshine remarked to Michaelson.
“He was very clear, no new wars, and this is just a case of, ‘This isn’t what I ordered.’ It’s like being at a restaurant, and you go, ‘Oh, yeah, this isn’t what I ordered,’” she elaborated. “Sorry. I ordered no new wars. Not ‘no new wars except the war with Iran,’ not ‘no new wars, except the war that everybody in Washington, D.C., has wanted for 30 years.’ I ordered no new wars.”
She emphasized that Trump is not receiving a comprehensive understanding of his supporters' sentiments.
“I am the president’s base, and the base is leaving,” Sunshine cautioned.
Despite her concerns, a recent poll indicates that over 90% of self-identified MAGA-aligned Republicans back Trump’s military actions.
“Who’s MAGA? Because what I’m hearing from everyone is, I’m a ‘three-time Trump voter, and I’m not MAGA anymore. I’m not. I’m now non-MAGA,’” Sunshine expressed. “MAGA, the base is leaving because they don’t agree with this conflict, and they don’t believe that this is what they voted for and they’re correct.”
