Editor’s Note: There are many practical conversation starters and resources at the end of the linked article for anyone trying to help someone leave MAGA. With Trump’s approval ratings in the tank, now may be the time to approach someone you know and care about, to start the conversation and invite them into the resistance community.
Make America Great Again, or MAGA, is many things: a slogan, an ideology, a voter base, an individual or group, and even a Super PAC, ‘MAGA, Inc.’
MAGA, can also be used to refer to an individual. MAGA and its close cousin MAGAt (homophone of maggot) are often used pejoratively to suggest someone is ‘stupid,’ ‘selfish,’ ‘racist,’ ‘rabid,’ ‘fascist,’ ‘nazi,’ etc etc.1 2
When I hear folks talk to MAGA supporters, especially in comment sections on social media platforms, I often hear language that is antagonistic, argumentative, condescending, and at times, cruel.
I often wonder to myself when I see this language, if the speaker would choose a different approach if they knew that the person they were talking to had doubts about MAGA. Would we perhaps choose to speak differently if we knew that the person we were arguing with was having a deep internal crisis; one in which the math was no longer adding up, the cracks were starting to show, MAGA was no longer feeling like the home and community it was, but leaving seems impossible.
People who voted for Trump are our family members, neighbors, coworkers, and community members. Community is the antidote to fascism, and at this juncture, it’s imperative that we build community in every form, in every direction, with everyone we encounter; including people who have drastically different political values.
I won’t tell you this is easy, but I will tell you that it’s a skill, and skills can be learned. We are at a moment in this new administration where many Trump voters’ shelves are becoming perilously overburdened, and today I want to ask you to come with me as we listen to the stories of people who left MAGA, and explore options for how we can help other people like them.