The Bulwark Podcast Bill Kristol: The MAGA Elites Are Such Frauds
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Feb 2, 2026 
Bill Kristol, veteran conservative analyst and commentator, offers sharp critiques of MAGA elites and establishment collusion. They unpack Immigration enforcement misuses, Epstein documents and elite networks, political weaponization of federal power, and cultural flashpoints from the Kennedy Center to Bad Bunny. Fast-paced commentary on power, cover-ups, and political theater.
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Policing Momentum Outlasts Presidential Orders
- Border Patrol and ICE have institutional momentum that overrides presidential directives.
- Bill Kristol warns funding and deployments will keep abusive behavior going even if rhetoric changes.
Claw Back Funding, Not Just Policy Promises
- Fight funding and appropriations for ICE and CBP, not just surface reforms like masking.
- Demand claw-backs of authorized money and push to de-deploy roving border units from cities.
MAGA's Turn Toward Identity Politics
- MAGA supporters embraced identitarian reactions to the Minneapolis killing, celebrating the ethnicities of officers.
- Kristol calls this a bleak example of the right adopting ugly identity politics.
