Dan Proft and the coming MAGA Meltdown

Yesterday, a Chicago's Morning Answer host had a complete breakdown on air from a simple call. It is illustrative towards explaining the eventual downfall of MAGA. First, please enjoy Dan Proft losing his mind after speaking to Joe from Skokie.

Proft, fresh off getting removed from the Board of Envision unanimously, is now spreading false information about the current disaster relief for those places recently hit by Hurricane Helene. Considering how the red bubble protects those who stay in it, the incentive is to be the worst version of yourself possible while calling yourself "patriotic" and "Christian" despite having the spirit of neither.

Earlier in the show, Proft went after Nikki Haley for daring to say MAGA "Is Starting To Fringe Out," You Need RINOs & People Who Don't Think Like You To Win. This happens in the Republican Party. The GOP of 1984, 1994, 2004, 2014, and 2024 all have different aspects based on the time and the leaders of the party. The 2024 version of the party happens to be the worst of all of them. Since 2016, The GOP has not fared well.

At the state level, it has been worse:

In 61 of the 99 state legislative chambers, the Democratic Party held more seats following the 2020 general election than it did after the general election in 2016. During President Donald Trump's term, Republicans lost a net 187 state legislative seats, decreasing the party's control of seats by three percentage points. Six state legislative chambers in five states flipped from Republican to Democratic control compared to the start of Trump's presidency. In five states—Colorado, Illinois, Maine, New York, and Virginia—this resulted in the creation of Democratic trifectas, where Democrats controlled both chambers as well as the governorship. Republicans did not gain control of any chambers by the end of Trump's presidency that they did not already control at its start. A deeper historical view since 1921 shows that Trump was the first Republican president to see a net loss of Republican-held state legislative seats during the first term since the Richard Nixon/Gerald Ford administration.

From an electoral standpoint, MAGA is in fact fringe in the eyes of the mainstream voter. The fact that is has become a major aspect of the GOP means the GOP is losing voters who would otherwise look for different electoral options. In terms of future elections, Trump's strategy of focusing on legal efforts to throw out votes in lieu of GOTV efforts that actually work has party members worried. 538 has VP Harris with a 56% chance of winning as of today. Decision Desk HQ currently predicts that Kamala Harris has a 54% chance of winning the Presidency. There is a chance she flips North Carolina, and even the Senate seats in Texas and Florida are in play.

In MAGA world, this is all either fake news or a sign that the Republic is failing. This same attitude just got a former county clerk in Colorado nine years in prison for election interference in 2020. Deep down, I suspect Proft knows it's all going to hell but he must keep face with the audience. A long list of grievances, many built on lies and propaganda, is all that he has. He speaks of this "ten year conservative revolt" under Trump and how this upcoming election is the most important. He said in 2022 that "civilization was on the ballot" but okay. His outrage over the SAFE-T Act has fallen after it has been shown to be a positive, successful change in Illinois. The show continues to lie about the economy, crime in the United States, migrants, and everything else to alleviate the members of the talk radio grease trap audience who deep down know they are losing.

It would be one thing if these folks admitted they are a political minority and acted like it. Instead, they are fed propaganda and lies to believe they are the majority but it is being stolen from them. In the likely event that Harris wins and Trump claims fraud, Proft and his show will no doubt amplify them again. From being part of a plot to storm the Cook County building to interfere in an election nearly twenty years ago to the false claims of fraud and illegal plots in 2020 to the Insurrection in 2021, Proft has shown complete disregard for our rules while claiming the be a champion of "People Who Play by the Rules". This isn't even original, as he proposed a People Who Play by the Rules Party back in 2008 and recycled the name after Liberty Principles PAC proved to be a failure and he needed a rebranding. From one scam to another, grifters gotta grift.

Proft is a small part of a much larger ecosystem of charlatans spreading fake new and propaganda to undermine confidence in institutions for their own gain. Fake newspapers, websites, and constant social media posts have pushed parts of the electorate to live in an alternative reality to protect themselves from facts they can't handle. Cognitive dissonance is part of the business plan. This is summed up well by Steve Benen in his book: Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past:

With unnerving frequency, the contemporary Republican Party sees the recent past as an enemy to be overpowered, crushed, and conquered. It's an effort predicated on the assumption that our memories can be bullied into submission, forced to give way to manufactured stories the GOP prefers. To see such authoritarian tactics in American democracy as anything less than dangerous would be a mistake. This campaign of rewriting recent history is built on a foundation of pernicious pillars. The first is a wholesale indifference toward reality.... The second is the absence of shame.... The third is the role of allies. ... Finally, there's the importance of repetition.

You'll find no better example of this template than Salem Media Group 's very own Chicago's Morning Answer. Proft must repeat this pattern to grift money from people richer than him. Despite moving to Florida, his money comes from his political activities here. Proft needs Illinois while Illinois never needed Proft in the first place.

If Proft is reading this, feel free to formally invite me on your show to talk. I'll even volunteer to come talk in person, though I imagine the studio is a safe space for you and don't want any pesky facts to be told to you without the buffer of a phone line. I will be happy to do a phone interview as well.

Point is, they (MAGA) are losing any many of them know it. They will try everything to undermine confidence in this election. Don't let them.