Out-of-control policy gave birth to 'Trump's Katrina' — and left MAGA shattered: analysis

As federal immigration officers continue to ravage Minneapolis with their chaotic and sometimes violent operations, a growing “fissure” in Trump’s base of support is starting to emerge — and it may be already beyond repair, according to analysts.

Journalists Greg Sargent and Alex Shephard said Monday on The New Republic’s “Daily Blast” podcast that, at the center of Trump’s crumbling base of support, is his immigration policy. Recent polls show that nearly two-thirds of Americans say Trump’s crackdown had gone “too far.”

While chaotic and violent immigration enforcement operations have been documented across the nation, it's the operations in Minneapolis, Sargent argued, that would ultimately become “Trump’s Katrina,” referencing former President George Bush’s disastrous response to Hurricane Katrina and the political collapse that followed.

“I think I’m not the first to say this, but it’s sure looking like Minneapolis is going to be kind of akin to Trump’s Katrina,” Sargent said.

Shepherd concurred with Sargent’s assessment, and argued that the Trump administration’s refusal to reverse course on its aggressive mass deportation efforts appear to already be fracturing the president’s “core MAGA base,” which he described as splintering coalition of devout Trump loyalists and Republicans who “kind of go along with a lot of this nonsense.”

“I think that we’re not even close to seeing the bottom here yet, but it’s really, really starting to break,” Shepherd said, referencing Trump’s base.

“I think Minneapolis kind of – to my surprise – is one of the things that really helped do it. And I think, especially as the administration keeps trying to push to deport five-year-old Liam Ramos, it’s only going to get a lot worse.”

Furthermore, both Sargent and Shephard noted the number of Republican lawmakers who openly called on Trump to apologize for the racist video depicting Barack and Michelle Obama as primates posted on his social media account as yet another sign of Trump’s crumbling coalition.

“I think what we’re starting to see now is an increased willingness for politicians to call this kind of stuff out,” Shepherd said.