The New York Times columnist Ezra Klein declared that President Trump’s peak era is over—even for his most diehard supporters.
“Trumpism is failing both the voters and the vibes,” Klein wrote in Monday’s opinion piece, declaring that “the Trump vibe shift” is now “dead.”
“Vibes,” as Klein explained in an earlier op-ed, refers to the way mass culture was shifting in a “Trumpian direction,” with the “Trumpian right” mastering social media, pushing corporations to the right, and moving toward an “era of negativity,” ahead of the 2024 presidential elections.
Klein noted at the start of the year that while Trump’s election victory—won narrowly by the popular vote at 49.9 percent—was “close,” the real shock came from the “vibes” that made it feel like a “tectonic shift.”
“A year ago, we kept hearing that Trump was cool now. Is anyone saying that now?” Klein asked in his opinion piece on Monday, noting that Trump’s support since the start of his term has fallen to the “low 40s,” amid Republican election losses in November, splits in the party over the Affordable Care Act, and the feud between the president and his MAGA princess, Marjorie Taylor Greene.
The columnist noted that voters were “lied” to by Trump, 79, who promised lower prices during his presidential campaign and has since given himself an “A-plus-plus-plus-plus-plus” rating on the economy, even as 46 percent of Americans blame him for the cost-of-living crisis.
Meanwhile, Klein observed that the kill-off of “vibes” became evident in the backlash to Trump’s Truth Social post about the tragic deaths of Rob and Michele Singer Reiner, in which Trump blamed their deaths on “a mind crippling disease known as TRUMP DERANGEMENT SYNDROME,” after the couple was found murdered in their home.
“Offense can be refreshing when injected into conformity. But cruelty as the dominant culture repulses most people,” Klein wrote about Trump’s frequent response to “personal tragedy with narcissistic cruelty.”
The columnist highlighted the backlash Trump faced from his MAGA base after his post about the Reiners, as well as criticism from Trump supporter—and podcaster reportedly influential in his 2024 re-election—Joe Rogan, who condemned the Trump administration’s deportation policies as heartless.
Klein not only predicted that Trump’s vibes are dying, but also that Democrats are showing they can “win the attention wars.”
“What’s struck me about all of them is the way they embody a vibe different from anything Trumpism offers,” Klein wrote, pointing to younger Democrats such as New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, 34, and California Gov. Gavin Newsom, 58, whose social media strategies are drawing public attention.
“The defining expression of Trump’s second term—the expression he chose for his official portrait—is a scowl,” Klein wrote, noting that Mamdani’s smile represents the “opposite” of the president’s vibe and is winning people’s support, including that of Trump himself, who said after their meeting in November that he would be “cheering” for him.
The Daily Beast has contacted the White House for comment, but received no immediate response.
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