An undefined, indefinable glorious past; a present that is of turmoil and loss; a future of reclamation and renewal — all popular mobilisations, religious and secular, populist and elite, have this understanding of time in common. At its core, the Make America Great Again — MAGA — movement that Donald Trump leads in the U.S. also follows this understanding of the past, present and the future. It has precedents and parallels, but there are uniquely American and contemporary factors too that fuel MAGA.
MAGA has an immediate history which starts around the turn of the millennium with the 9/11 terrorist attack, and an economic crisis. Within the decade, yet another economic downturn battered the country, and Barack Obama was elected the first non-white President of the country in 2008. A sharp division in the American society emerged against this backdrop, about the country’s identity, purpose and claims of exceptionalism. The MAGA movement is the result of this churn. The heart of the debate is globalisation, and its discontents on two fronts — cultural and economic. MAGA is an insurrection of the dispossessed who may not care for, or understand, or are incapable of, or reject the standards of liberal democracy.
Dominant account
The dominant account of MAGA considers its foot soldiers as a group of racist, misogynist bigots led by a megalomaniac. This view is supported by the unhinged statements by Mr. Trump and his associates about migrants and women. It can be safely assumed many racists, misogynists, homophobes, and nativists of America are in MAGA, but it is not limited to them. The 2024 victory of Mr. Trump is a clear demonstration of the wide base of support that MAGA has. Around 45% of Latinos are estimated to have voted for Mr. Trump this year; and so did around 20% of Blacks and considerable sections of Hindus and Muslims.
Fertile ground
Global trade had devastated American manufacturing and impoverished its working class. By 2010, the current generation could not take for granted a life better than the previous one, as has been the case in the U.S. all through history.
The country was meanwhile caught in wars abroad. Mr. Trump, earlier a New York businessman and a Democrat, was an opponent of trade and wars for decades. By 2015, he had made up his mind to make the Republican Party the platform of his politics and personal ambitions. The ground for MAGA was already fertile. What was lacking was “someone with the political talent, charisma, fame, or resources to popularize its ideology (as Ronald Reagan did for his sunny small-government conservatism) — until Trump,” writes Isaac Arnsdorf in Finish What We Started — The MAGA Movement’s Ground War to End Democracy. It was Reagan who first used the slogan, ‘Let’s Make America Great Again,’ and Mr. Trump has counted him as the last great President of the country before himself.
Strange and paradoxical as it may well be, a major section of American working class found a champion in Mr. Trump. The economic distress of the majority is not captured in expert accounts but Mr. Trump could sense the opportunity to market his politics.
Apart from identifying the potency of anti-globalism as a political agenda, Mr. Trump who has no record of being a practising Christian, also sensed the cultural dispossession that the white Christians of America were confronting. The religious composition of the population is changing due to changing patterns of migration, and an evident trend of secularisation.
In the early 1990s, 90% of U.S. adults identified as Christians, but now the figure is around two-third of that. The proportion of those who identified as followers of no religion grew sharply in the same period, which is currently at 29%. They form the ruling elite of the country.
The Gist
After Barack Obama’s back-to-back victories, a sharp division in American society emerged, about the country’s identity, purpose and claims of exceptionalism. The MAGA movement is the result of this churn
The 2024 victory of Trump is a clear demonstration of the wide base of support that MAGA has. Around 45% of Latinos are estimated to have voted for him; and so did around 20% of Blacks and considerable sections of Hindus and Muslims
While the Christian, nativist right is a major driving force of the MAGA movement, it has found common cause with other religious groups against the non-religiosity of the elite and with the resistance to transgenderism
The share of Muslims and Hindus among new immigrants began to rise too. Christianity is part of MAGA’s motivation and Mr. Trump constantly invokes it. In 2016, he promised “Christianity will have power,” and in 2024 he asked Christians to unite behind him.
But he specifically sought to enlist Hindus and Muslims too into MAGA. Critics of MAGA could never imagine that it might appeal to minorities. “The MAGA movement now controlled one of the two major parties, but it remained unpopular with a majority of Americans… Democrats discovered that Trump’s MAGA brand was widely disliked,” writes Mr. Arnsdorf in the book that was published after the 2022 mid-term election setback for the party. Democrats would discover something else by 2024 — minorities in MAGA.
Minorities are the most ardent aspirants to the promised greatness of America, and they probably connect with the slogan as well as the current reality of challenges very well. Minorities are also evidently concerned about protecting their religious rights, perhaps even more than Christians. Mr. Trump promised them that, and showed the irreligious third of the population as their enemy.
While the Christian, nativist right is a major driving force of the MAGA movement, it has found common cause with other religious groups against the non-religiosity of the elite. For instance, the large sections of Hindu and Muslim conservatives are vocal supporters of MAGA’s resistance to transgenderism.
Electoral performance
This explains the latest surge in MAGA’s enhanced popularity, and Mr. Trump’s electoral performance. He could flip Pennsylvania, Michigan and Wisconsin, which gave Joe Biden his victory in 2020. In Pennsylvania, Mr. Trump increased his support among Lations to 42%, from 27% in 2020. In Dearborn, in Michigan, where 55% of the population is Muslim, Mr. Trump won more than 42% votes and led Ms. Harris by around six points. In 2020, three-fourths of the city had voted for Mr. Biden. African Americans’ support for Mr. Trump is constantly on the rise —from 8% in 2016, to 13% in 2020 and 20% in 2024. Exit polls suggest that a third of pro-choice women voted for Mr. Trump. This is the “the biggest, the broadest, the most unified coalition in American history,” Mr. Trump said after the results.
In the late 19th century, the U.S. had witnessed a populist upsurge that sought to rein in its robber barons and protect the interest of the commoners. Both parties had to respond to the questions raised by this populism. The ruling establishments of Republican and Democratic parties have so far tried to dismiss MAGA as an inconsequential disturbance that would eventually fade. The 2024 elections showed it is persistent.
Published – November 10, 2024 01:02 am IST
