All posts tagged: MAGA

MAGA lost big in Hungary — but the battle for Europe isn’t over

MAGA lost big in Hungary — but the battle for Europe isn’t over

Published by Sam Flores

It wasn’t a great week for the far right’s self-appointed crusade to reconquer Europe as a fairytale paradise of whiteness and Christianity. Maybe that’s because that whole idea is vaporware, rooted in a nonsensical social and historical vision and devoted to a losing battle against economic and demographic reality. But that quality of noble, doomed struggle toward impossible goals is both the far-right movement’s fundamental weakness and the source of its power and danger. Viktor Orbán, the pudgy poster boy for “illiberal democracy” and object of a mysterious man-crush by legions of American conservatives, suffered a catastrophic electoral defeat in Hungary that felt, at least for a day or two, like the global MAGA movement’s Waterloo moment. As for Donald Trump, what is there to say? The entire world is over him, big time, and it’s the unique curse of America’s narcissistic self-regard that we’re still stuck with him, dominating the headlines day after day with his empty, contradictory and randomly-punctuated blather. Trump heads into the latter stages of his presidency as a damaged and …

How working-class white Southerners can help defeat MAGA

How working-class white Southerners can help defeat MAGA

Published by Sam Flores

There’s a big misconception that poor white people are Donald Trump’s base. There’s so many images of “hillbillies,” “rednecks,” “white trash” and “trailer trash” used in the media to portray racism in this country, to make the case that poor white people in the South hold all of the racism in the entire nation. Many liberals like to say we are too ignorant and stupid to vote for candidates and issues that relieve our suffering. But during our work in rural North Georgia in the 2020 elections, we saw gains for the Democratic ticket in the poor white communities where Showing Up for Racial Justice, the antiracist organization I work for, called and knocked for the general and runoff elections, because we talked to them. We engaged people who are often ignored, abandoned and scapegoated around issues that matter to them, and they cast a vote against MAGA and for all working-class people. We had doors slammed in our faces, people who were tired of election talk, but we also had conversations with people who …

MAGA Is Increasingly Convinced the Trump Assassination Attempt Was Staged

MAGA Is Increasingly Convinced the Trump Assassination Attempt Was Staged

Published by skeptic

In recent weeks, as criticism of President Donald Trump from his own supporters has reached a fever pitch, a new conspiracy theory has taken hold: Some of the president’s biggest supporters are now claiming, without evidence, that Trump staged the assassination attempt on his life in Butler, Pennsylvania in 2024 and is covering it up. During an open-air campaign rally on July 13, 2024, Trump survived an attempted assassination when a bullet fired by a 20-year-old on a roof nearby clipped the top of his ear. Corey Comperatore, a Trump supporter sitting near the president, was shot and killed. The shooter was later killed by Secret Service agents. Conspiracy theories around the Butler assassination quickly permeated the internet, but for many Trump supporters, his survival was seen as a sign from God that he was the chosen one. As Trump’s hold over MAGA has waned, though, an increasing number of his supporters have begun to push the narrative that the entire incident was staged. “I think that maybe it was staged,” Tim Dillon said on …

Reports of a MAGA civil war over Iran are greatly exaggerated

Reports of a MAGA civil war over Iran are greatly exaggerated

Published by Sam Flores

Donald Trump’s war against Iran lasted 40 days, with a fragile ceasefire set to expire April 22. The president and his handlers convinced themselves it would be a lightning war. This did not happen. He also believed the war would have a rally-round-the-flag effect, buoying his historically low poll numbers. Instead, the opposite happened: poll after poll shows that a majority of Americans oppose the war, and they blame Trump for the spike in gas prices, inflation, and other harm he has caused the economy. A new Zogby poll reports that 48% of likely voters are “ashamed” that he is president. This has led many political observers to conclude that the failed war against Iran signals one more step toward the end of Trump’s presidency. The term “MAGA civil war” is being bandied by outlets from the New Republic and the BBC to the Daily Beast and Forbes after MAGA influencers including Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens and Alex Jones, who were once counted among Trump’s most staunch supporters, turned against him over his …

MAGA Indians Went All In on Trump. Many Right-Wingers Can’t Stand Them

MAGA Indians Went All In on Trump. Many Right-Wingers Can’t Stand Them

Published by skeptic

“American culture has venerated mediocrity over excellence,” Ramaswamy wrote, in an attempt to explain why tech companies hire foreign workers. The post was met with a tidal wave of slurs and revulsion towards the visa program. It also reportedly expedited Ramaswamy’s January 2025 departure from DOGE. While Ramaswamy and even Elon Musk defended aspects of the H-1B visa, others want the program scrapped. In January, Texas Republican Party chairman Abraham George—an American citizen born in India—called for the state to ban hiring workers on H-1B visas. Florida governor Ron DeSantis and Texas governor Greg Abbott have also pledged to eliminate hiring at universities and in the government through H-1Bs in their states. Sidharth, a conservative tech entrepreneur and Musk superfan, says right-wing messaging about H-1Bs—that they’re preventing Americans from building a livelihood—is rife with misinformation. He’s not sure that matters. “The average American living in the suburbs is not going to figure that out. He’s going to believe what he sees on YouTube and X,” says Sidharth. His name is a pseudonym which he uses …

MAGA Is Starting to Look Beyond Trump

MAGA Is Starting to Look Beyond Trump

Published by skeptic

For months now, it seems that every day brings with it a new faction of MAGAworld getting angry with President Donald Trump over something he says or does. In recent memory, to name a few, podcaster Joe Rogan has compared ICE raids to Gestapo operations; conspiracy theorist Alex Jones has questioned Trump’s cognitive abilities; former US representative Marjorie Taylor Greene claimed Trump had “gone insane;” former Fox News host Tucker Carlson called the president a “slave” to Israel; and conservative influencer Candace Owens claimed Trump belongs “to the Epstein class.” Even on Truth Social, a social media platform created by Trump as a haven to post without any backlash, there is backlash. “What!?! You are way outta line,” a Truth Social account holder called CaliMAGA69 wrote in response to Trump’s recent criticism of Owens, Jones, Carlson, and former Fox News host Megyn Kelly as “low IQ” losers. “Most of these people, especially Alex Jones, have been your Day 1s!! You need to step back and take a good hard look at who is whispering in …

Trump posts bizarre image of him and Jesus embracing as MAGA Christians rage at President | World | News

Trump posts bizarre image of him and Jesus embracing as MAGA Christians rage at President | World | News

Published by Sam Flores

Donald Trump has posted an image of him and Jesus appearing to embrace despite mounting anger from Christians. The post on Truth Social was captioned: “The Radical Left Lunatics might not like this, but I think it is quite nice!!! President DJT”. The new photo was originally posted on a page on X called “Irish for Trump” alongside the caption: “I was never a very religious man .. but doesn’t it seem, with all these satanic, demonic, child sacrificing monsters being exposed … that God might be playing his Trump card!” The latest post comes just days after President Trump sparked international fury by posting an image depicting him as Jesus, dressed in robes and using divine power to heal a man. It was later taken down from the platform amid a backlash. Mr Trump claimed he never intended to liken himself to the son of God and insisted it was supposed to depict him as a doctor. A significant number of Christian voters helped Mr Trump secure his presidential election victory in 2024. But …

Democratic contenders, MAGA heirs emerge

Democratic contenders, MAGA heirs emerge

Published by Sam Flores

The shadow primary for the next presidential race is already underway as both parties ramp up this year’s midterm fight.  Potential Democratic contenders, from established names to rising stars, are openly weighing 2028 bids, signaling a wide-open field as their base searches for a new standard-bearer. Several top names, including former Vice President Kamala Harris, addressed the possibility at the National Action Network (NAN) conference last week as they pitched visions for their party’s future.  Across the aisle, Vice President Vance is positioned as the MAGA movement’s heir apparent, but recent polling and President Trump have suggested that Secretary of State Marco Rubio could be the successor, stoking questions about where the GOP base will go after more than a decade of Trump dominating party politics.  Here is The Hill’s latest roundup of the top 2028 presidential hopefuls: Democratic comeback bids Harris, who ran in 2020 and became the party’s pick in 2024, has remained at the fore of Democratic polling and chatter about who will lead the party in 2028 — and she’s openly admitted to considering a comeback bid. “Listen, …

Viktor Orbán’s Loss Was Also a Defeat for MAGA

Viktor Orbán’s Loss Was Also a Defeat for MAGA

Published by Daniella Wilson

Viktor Orbán’s loss in yesterday’s election is just as much a defeat for Donald Trump and his vice president, J. D. Vance, as it is for the now-toppled Hungarian strongman. Seldom have American leaders intervened so overtly in a foreign election, and seldom has their preferred candidate fared so badly. Trump has a way of distancing himself from people who disappoint him. Last night, when reporters asked him about the outcome in Hungary, he turned and walked away. But having tied himself so tightly to Orbán, he may find it unusually difficult to dissociate himself from the prime minister’s downfall. Red Make America Great Again caps and other pro-Trump symbols saturated Orbán’s campaign rallies. But the opposition party—led by Péter Magyar, a conservative who had deserted Orbán’s inner circle—opted for different imagery: The euphoric crowds that occupied the streets of Budapest to welcome the end of the prime minister’s 16-year reign featured fireworks, flags, face paint, and plum brandy. And along the banks of the Danube, the Hungarian tricolor mingled with the emblem of the …

Viktor Orban Loses in Hungary as a Documentary Helped Bring Him Down

Viktor Orban Loses in Hungary as a Documentary Helped Bring Him Down

Published by Daniella Wilson

On Sunday Hungary’s far-right leader Viktor Orban fell in an election after 16 years of some of the most bigoted and, by many accounts, corrupt rule in post-Soviet Eastern Europe. And a documentary may have helped make it happen. Peter Magyar’s center-right  Tisza trounced Orban’s Fidesz  in parliamentary elections by a margin of nearly three-to-one, a stunning turn after so many years of Orban consolidating power with extrajudicial tools like gerrymandering, court-packing and the co-optation of an independent media. Tisza won 135 out of 199 seats (Fidesz took just 55), giving the former a supermajority that will allow constitutional changes. Many factors contributed to the polarizing prime minister’s loss, including an economy persistently among Europe’s weakest and a fatigue with the ruling party’s demagoguery, often deployed to cover up its own alleged corruption. But Tisza also had a a secret weapon: an independent documentary called The Price of a Vote released just two weeks before the election. Clocking in at just under an hour, the film makes up with investigative brawn what it lacks in formal polish. The filmmakers travel through the Roma …