March 29, 2024

Trump Base Has Collective Meltdown Over Possible DACA Deal


DACA protest at Trump Tower in NYC, September 5, 2017. (cc/Harrie van Veen)


“This a betrayal of the highest order,” fumed one Breitbart editor


By Jake Johnson / 09.14.2017

“At this point, who DOESN’T want Trump impeached?”

That was right-wing anti-immigrant provocateur Ann Coulter’s furious reaction Thursday to reports that President Donald Trump had reached a deal with Democrats to protect young immigrants by acting quickly to “enshrine the protections of [Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals] into law.”

As Common Dreams reported, Trump denied having reached such an agreement, but that didn’t stop his most fervent backers from collectively freaking out over the possibility that the president had undercut their deepest nationalistic desires.

“This a betrayal of the highest order,” a Breitbart editor, speaking anonymously, told the Washington Post. “Donald Trump should be ashamed of himself. He wasn’t elected to do this.”

This sentiment was reflected on Breitbart‘s homepage, which blared “Amnesty Don” and denounced Trump for “caving” on DACA.

Other right-wing pundits and lawmakers expressed their dismay on social media. In a torrent of outraged tweets late Wednesday night, Fox News host Sean Hannity declared that if Trump works with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), “it’s over.”

Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa.) remarked that if the president does salvage DACA, “Trump’s base is blown up, destroyed, irreparable, and disillusioned beyond repair.”

But Trump’s high-profile fans in the media and Congress weren’t the only ones melting down. Anger at reports of a deal with the Democrats was also palpable in online comment sections and Reddit threads.

A subreddit called r/TheDonald, which boasts over 490,000 subscribers, featured some of the more indignant responses.

“SEND THEM BACK! BUILD THE WALL!!!” one commenter wrote.

Another Reddit user, in a post that has since been deleted, fumed: “Bullfuckingshit. No fucking DACA amnesty. Period.”

Trump’s decision last week to end DACA—an Obama-era program that protected more than 800,000 young immigrants from deportation—was met with outrage by rights groups and Democratic lawmakers, who called the move “evil.”