Nearing the abyss of MAGA
The presidential race in the United States has come down to this, a brutal match between two political groups: the Democratic Party, currently in power, and the Make America Great Again group, still quaintly called the Republican Party.
Actually, I take that back. There was, and is, nothing quaint about the hostile takeover of the GOP, the affectionate name for the Republican Party. The GOP has shared the political scene with Democrats since 1854. This duo of political life has worked civilly, more or less, for around 160 years.
Notable Republican presidents include Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Ronald Reagan and many others, whose policies, while not agreed upon by all, managed to hold the respect of the nation.
This party is no longer recognizable. Unless a person knows nothing about the last nine years of political earthquakes, it is clear that what is taking place is not a split between Republicans and Democrats. I don’t believe that anyone in America will maintain that the Republican Party and its platform, its ideals, have remained the same. Even George W. Bush reportedly said years ago, privately, “I am the last Republican.”
Not all Republicans allowed themselves to be taken hostage. Hundreds have come out strongly against Donald Trump, including his own vice president, Mike Pence, and his chief of staff, John F. Kelly. A couple of months ago at a small dinner in Spetses, former governor of Massachusetts Bill Weld, a lifelong Republican politician and author, told us of two groups he was instrumental in forming, the Lincoln Project and Republicans for Harris. It was heartening, but will it have been enough? Shrewdly, and interestingly against the advice of his campaign staff, Trump is doing his utmost to enflame the base of MAGA. It is repeatedly asserted that the much of his base is composed of non-educated white males. Not surprisingly, in April 2016 in Nevada, Trump declared, “I love the poorly educated!” Of course he does.
The point is that the GOP has shockingly evolved into the cult of MAGA, a new form of fascism containing all the old tendencies. Volumes of historical pieces can, and probably will be written detailing how this happened in America. This is not the subject here, although it is not difficult to point to a few reasons.
For one, FOX News, owned by Rupert Murdoch, is the most-watched cable news network in the US and has been the top-rated channel for the last eight years. Fox has repeatedly admitted to the lies it has spread and the connections between Trump and his people are widely known. The network has been repeatedly sued and has lost millions of dollars in lawsuits against it. It embraces wild conspiracy theories and has set millions of Americans against each other.
But part of the MAGA fringe script is the pride taken in lawsuits against them. Their leader, Donald Trump, now wears his impeachment and his long list of civil and criminal accusations, charges, indictments and convictions like badges of honor. The cases involve everything from his business dealings in New York, to the stealing of classified documents, to rape, assault, hush money paid from campaign accounts, insurrection at the Capitol, electoral interference. And more.
In an uncharacteristically lucid prediction, Trump declared: “Any time they file an indictment, we go way up in the polls. We need one more indictment to close out this election. One more indictment, and this election is closed out. Nobody [else] has even a chance.”
What is shocking is not that he said it. What is shocking is that he may very well be right. But the point is: What is at risk? The fundamentalist right’s platform is like a checklist of fascist dogma. One only needs to take a look at Project 2025 to quickly see what’s happening here. But in addition to Project 2025’s aims, the checklist is evident:
Nationalism/populism: Symbols are stolen, the flag becomes a weapon, groups of people screaming “America First” are not showing a love of country but rather a hatred and aggression against perceived enemies, people who look different, love differently, read different books.
The Leader becomes an almost cult figure. He can do no wrong. When threatened, he changes the narrative to be about his sacrifice for his followers. Trump repeatedly declares, “I am doing this for YOU.” (If they send me to prison, they are sending YOU, also.)
Religion and governance become connected. The evangelist churches in America are growing at an alarming rate. There is no better way to control a people, and the great majority of these churches are Trump supporters, to a frightening degree. They consider themselves as Christian, and hence, with their growing aggression, they are showing regular enmity and violence against other religions, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism.
Corporate power is protected. Political leaders need huge financial support. CEOs and corporations need laws protecting them. So they go merrily hand-in-hand.
Human rights are ignored, and spurned. Women are losing reproductive rights and basic rights pertaining to their own bodies.
The elections are upon us. We have voted. Mr Trump now says that if he wins, the American public “will never have to vote again.”
No one understands what he means. Shall we assume that he does?
Tenia Christopoulos is a writer from Washington, DC. She is a contributor to Kathimerini, The Washington Post, Insider Magazine and Tatler and is the author of “Lords of the Dance.”
