The GOP establishment isn't fighting MAGA anymore – it's waiting MAGA out.
Trump just endorsed the Sticker Mule CEO running for Congress in upstate New York, and his Republican opponent's response told you everything about the strategy.
Smullen refused to shake his hand after losing a debate Trump's own allies called a knockout.
The GOP Establishment Has a New Strategy to Kill MAGA
Anthony Constantino isn't a career politician.
He's the founder and CEO of Sticker Mule – one of the world's fastest-growing printing companies, with over five million customers across 100 countries and more than 1,000 employees in New York, South Carolina, and Italy.
He put a massive "Vote for Trump" sign on top of his Amsterdam, New York factory during the 2024 campaign.
He commissioned a seven-foot bronze statue of Trump.
He held four major rallies before the election.
He wrote what became the most viral Trump endorsement of the entire 2024 cycle – sent directly to five million customers.
Trump called him "a great guy who will never let you down" and gave him his Complete and Total Endorsement for New York's 21st Congressional District.
And when Constantino showed up to debate his Republican primary opponent last week, Smullen wouldn't shake his hand afterward.
"I view it as an important moment in the history of MAGA," Constantino said on Breitbart News Saturday. "These swamp creatures – I call them 'swamplings' – the ones in New York state aren't so tough."
He explained exactly what the establishment is doing.
"They're looking to get back into power and hoping that MAGA just fades away."
RINO Primaries in 2026 Are Following the Same Playbook
What's happening in New York's 21st District isn't a local grudge match.
It's the same fight playing out in state after state.
Establishment Republicans who lost the argument and lost the White House in 2016 and 2024 have decided their best strategy is patience.
Wait Trump out.
Smile for the cameras.
Refuse to shake hands where nobody important is watching.
https://twitter.com/RogerJStoneJr/status/2060915687648817197
Then, when the movement loses energy or Trump leaves office, quietly reclaim the party machinery they've controlled for decades.
In Indiana in May, seven state Republican senators who blocked Trump's redistricting push got primaried – five of them lost.
In Texas, Ken Paxton just crushed four-term incumbent John Cornyn – the candidate the entire GOP Senate establishment had circled the wagons around – after Trump endorsed Paxton days before the vote.
Marjorie Taylor Greene described it plainly: party elites were conspiring to "carefully select" establishment-friendly candidates rather than let the grassroots choose.
The establishment isn't fighting MAGA head-on anymore.
They learned that lesson.
Now they play nice, attach themselves to Trump's coattails when convenient, and wait.
What Anthony Constantino and NY-21 Tell Us About the Next Two Years
Smullen isn't some obvious RINO.
He described himself as "the only Trump-appointed conservative" in the race and pledged loyalty to Trump's agenda.
He said all the right things.
Then he refused to shake the Trump-endorsed candidate's hand after losing a debate.
That's not a personality conflict.
That's the establishment mask slipping.
The New York Republican Party and the state Conservative Party both endorsed Smullen over Trump's own pick – because the machine doesn't care who wins the debate.
The machine cares who it can control after the election.
A CEO who built a company from scratch, backed Trump before it was popular, and put a giant sign on his factory without asking the establishment's permission is exactly the kind of congressman the swamp can't absorb.
Constantino self-funded his campaign to the tune of $7.6 million – he doesn't owe the machine a thing.
The primary is June 23.
"These swamplings are hoping to wait President Trump out," Constantino said. "Which is why I'm excited to get elected and keep the MAGA movement going."
The swamp is watching New York. So is everyone else.
Sources:
- Sean Moran, "Exclusive – Anthony Constantino: 'Swamplings' Hoping to Wait Out Trump, Take Over GOP," Breitbart News, June 7, 2026.
- Emily Russell, "Trump Endorses Anthony Constantino in Race to Represent NY21," NCPR News, April 21, 2026.
- "Trump's Endorsement Power Faces Its Biggest Test in May 2026 Primaries," Fox News, May 3, 2026.
- "Intraparty Tensions Shape the 2026 Midterm Primary Landscape," Brookings Institution, May 2026.
- "'Team That Refuses To Win': Marjorie Taylor Greene Blasts GOP Elites," Daily Caller, 2026.
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