The New Republic takes a look at where the MAGA base is these days. They point out that generally a base movement loses momentum when their party is out of power but that it never happened with the MAGA cult. (I think that’s because its cult leader stayed on as party leader and was still in the public eye.) Now they’re building a new army of foot soldiers:
[D]efying the odds, the MAGA movement continued to flourish under Joe Biden. Now, with Trump returning to the White House, the far right grassroots is barreling into 2025 with plenty of momentum, while their leader both helps set their agenda while sustaining it by crowd-sourcing their conspiracies and lies for his own use.
The far right is currently animated by several themes, many of them interrelated. For several years, demonizing “DEI” (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) frameworks—which focus on identities, racial and otherwise—was an obsession. But the far right has gradually replaced DEI with “woke,” a vaguer and broader idea which can refer to the vast majority of left-leaning positions and be applied to any number of hot button, culture war topics.
The backlash over gender, sexuality, and reproductive rights continues, with trans issues front-and-center. After Roe v Wade was struck down in 2022, attacks on abortion rights increased. And when Trump was reelected, the slogan “Your Body, My Choice” spread like wildfire after being embraced by far right leaders like Nick Fuentes.
Anti-immigrant rhetoric has also increased, particularly as Trump has promised to deport tens of millions. His racist vilification of immigrants was epitomized by his embrace of unfounded rumors that Haitians in Springfield, Ohio—who were, for what it’s worth, legal residents—were stealing and eating pets.
Finally, completely discredited “race science” theories have returned, often focusing on bogus IQ studies. Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, has promoted them on his social media platform X, as has Trump, who has blamed violence by immigrants on “bad genes.”
Well, that certainly sounds like fun, doesn’t it?
The article goes on to discuss how happy the far right is with Trump, “the tax-cutting businessman, the international negotiator—and the authoritarian strongman … A demagogue and a xenophobe who is committing to cutting taxes for corporations and the wealthy and who pitches himself as the only man who can keep the country—and the world—safe.” The fact that he a batshit crazy imbecile makes them love him all the more. And they adore his cabinet picks which are just as batshit crazy as he is.
Then there is the base itself:
The far right has two wings. One is openly white supremacist, and is vocally opposed to groups like people of color, Jews, Muslims, and LGBTQ+ people. The other is more moderate in its beliefs; people of color—themselves an increasing part of Trump’s base—are welcome, as are Jews. Both wings overlap in their hatred of “communism” (also a catch-all term for anything to the left of them), embrace of conspiracy theories, contempt for democracy, and desire for traditional social hierarchies.
The white supremacists and their moderate cousins often see-saw in popularity, one rising as the other falls. In recent years, the moderates have swung high. Moms for Liberty, which has focused on banning school library books—especially those with LGBTQ+ content but also ones with pro-diversity or antiracist messages—started 2024 with almost 300 chapters. But their influence has waned as the year went on.
That’s an interesting observation. The “moderate” MAGAs have been in the lead over the past year or so. But as the article points out, that often changes.
[O]pen white supremacists are doing quite well. Active Clubs—white supremacist MMA training gyms—are in full flourish, and have even expanded overseas. While they’ve had limited public activism, observers worry they could soon transform into a fully-fledged fighting force.
A new wave of swastika-waving neo-Nazis has emerged, too. The media-friendly Blood Tribe, who use striking aesthetics and a confrontational approach, were early promoters of the pet-eating rumor. A Columbus, Ohio march by their splinter group Hate Club 1488 grabbed so much attention that even President Biden denounced it.
This is a growing movement. Yikes.
But they also discuss the successful strategy of lawsuits in going after some of these people and it’s working to some degree, citing Giuliani and Alex Jones as examples. Law enforcement has also managed to arrest some of the high profile neo-Nazi terrorists and militia types although I wonder if that’s going to continue under the new regime. The convicted J6 insurrectionists and other terrorists are, as the author puts it “red meat to the base who see them as political prisoners.” If Trump pardons the worst of them it will likely fuel a resurgence of the groups like the Proud Boys.
As Far Right grassroots remain mobilized, the next four years will likely be an environment where far right individuals and groups can be fully activated and function as Trump’s foot soldiers—legally or otherwise.
Great. Just what we need.
If you have some time to read a long form investigative piece, I highly recommend this from Pro-Publica which profiles a highly unusual character who went undercover with some of the most violent militia types to expose their plans. Probably the most startling fact uncovered is just how many of them are what we would normally think of as normal upstanding citizens, doctors, lawyers, cops. Chilling stuff.
Democrats are telling us that this is all about economic anxiety. Sure it is.
