The right-wing media’s debate over the reported memorandum of understanding between the United States and Iran provides a test of whether, ten years after President Donald Trump first took power, his supporters are still capable of independent thought. Some of the biggest names in MAGA propaganda are failing it.

The framework agreement Trump and Vice President JD Vance reportedly signed virtually on Sunday appears to leave the U.S. in a worse geostrategic position than before they launched the war with Iran in February — but the full terms of the U.S. surrender are unclear because the actual text of the memorandum has yet to be released. Trump said Monday that the American people won’t be able to see the “very powerful document” that he’s already signed on their behalf until “sometime after Friday,” when a formal signing event is scheduled. Vance, meanwhile, has been on a media tour purporting to describe in detail the contents of the agreement that he signed, which he claims is “about a page and a half” long and a “very general” document.

If you have two functioning neurons to rub together, this seems very suspicious. Why is Vance going on Fox News host Sean Hannity’s show to talk up the MOU — while complaining that the U.S. press is adopting “talking points and propaganda” from the Iranian regime “that has no support in the text of the agreement that we've actually negotiated” — rather than simply putting out the document so the public can see it? Are the terms supposed to be so good for the U.S. that we’re worried about embarrassing Iran?

The lack of disclosure is raising concerns among some of MAGA’s hawks, who supported launching the war and prefer to see further escalation rather than an agreement that ends the conflict.

“I have asked for days, why can’t we, the people, see the damn MOU?” Fox host Mark Levin posted to social media on Sunday night. “Not through people briefed by an anonymous person. Honestly, I’ve never seen anything like this. If it is a great outcome for peace, then release it.”

“Alright, so, we still don’t have much information at this point,” Ben Shapiro complained Monday at the beginning of his podcast on the reported agreement. “No text to the MOU. Could have been released — I mean, it’s been signed. We know that because that’s been announced by the administration.”

“We still have a lot of questions,” Shapiro continued. “So here’s the thing: Just release it, then we can talk about things we know. Because that’s the really cool thing about written agreements. They’re filled with words, and those words, we can all read them and they mean things, and then we can understand what they mean, and then we can discuss them publicly. Either that or we don’t have any choice but to speculate.”

And Substacker Erick Erickson noted on Tuesday that “the administration has been conspicuously slow to publish” the text of the agreement, adding: “When a deal is good, you release the text. When you guard it, you are managing a story rather than reporting a victory.”

But plenty of big MAGA players are willing to help the administration manage the story by shilling for the MOU without showing much interest in why Trump won’t just release the text of the agreement they are cheering for.

Hannity interviewed Vance Monday night and had the vice president walk him through the purported ins and outs of the unreleased agreement. The host did raise the issue of the document text, though he presented it as an opportunity for Vance to rebut a critical talking point rather than an actual issue.

“A lot of people are questioning why not release the memorandum of understanding,” Hannity said. “You said it will happen this week.”

But when Vance responded by citing vague “sequencing” concerns and saying that Trump wants to keep it secret until the Friday signing, Hannity swallowed that without further comment.

“Trust in Trump” was MAGA shill Benny Johnson’s take on Sunday, acknowledging that he didn’t know the details of the agreement but nonetheless celebrating it as “historic,” “the deal that we all wanted,” an Iranian “surrender” and a “massive W” for the president.

And Fox host Jesse Watters, a similarly credulous buffoon, seemed to reel off the administration’s talking points while scoffing at the “fake news” and “Iranian spin.”

“The details of the deal, they'll be released after Friday. Everybody will be able to read it,” he said, apparently incurious about why the text wouldn’t be available sooner.

Trump has spent years culling his propagandists through scandal, corruption, crimes, and insurrection. What remains at the highest levels of right-wing media are the purest hacks.

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters