“This is a movement like nobody's ever seen before and, frankly, this was, I believe, the greatest political movement of all time.”
– President Elect Donald Trump, November 6, 2024
Donald Trump is a movement catalyst, and he knows it. In fact, the MAGA phenomenon offers valuable insights into the contextual nature of movements.
All movements, whether they are religious, social, political, etc., share common characteristics and require certain preconditions. But in explaining a specific movement, the starting point of the narrative is important. There is a reason why the MAGA movement would not have been possible in 1980s America but appealed to many in the 2010s. Let me explain.
Historically, religion played a central role in creating a sense of belonging for Americans. By becoming an active member of an organized group, most likely a church, people learned how to relate to others and become citizens in the process. Imperfectly, attendance in these groups built social capital and contributed towards a sense of cohesion in society.
Because trust between peoples was relatively high, democracy could work reasonably well. Nearly every American President has identified as Christian, with the vast majority specifying their denomination. In “Christian” America, faith was idealized as “love God and love your neighbor,” at least in the public sphere. Character and humility were important and valued for most Americans.
But that was then. MAGA is now. What changed?
The “Great Recession” of 2007-2009 and the related sub-prime mortgage rate scandal created significant societal distrust in America’s governing institutions, especially among the working class. It was an entirely avoidable problem precipitated by corporate greed and poor governmental oversight. The rich were getting richer, but the working class had more reasons to resent being ruled by so-called “elites.” This resentment has continued to fester.
By 2012, social media became ubiquitous. Intended to monetize clicks and likes, the algorithms actually manipulated our sociology which led to the increase in misinformation/disinformation and conspiracy theories. As we are all too aware, social media has normalized vulgarity, slander, and collective bullying. Not to mention, also an epidemic of mental illness.
In truth, a decline in civic engagement has been decreasing since the 1950s: social media simply accelerated it.
Foundational to this decrease in community participation, the Church in America lost 40 million members in the last 25 years, and those claiming no religious affiliation have increased from 14% of US adults in 2000 to 28% in 2024. “Nones” are now the largest religious cohort in the U.S.
These shifts have ushered us into an era referred to as “post-Christian America.” Today, a sense of belonging is felt, not through religious affiliation, but through expressing personal identity. One needs to discover who they truly are in their authentic self, and then communicate that via social media or other similar means. As societal trust once provided by religious affiliation declined and face-to-face interactions diminished, polarization, distrust, and resentment inevitably grew.
With this context in mind, we can now examine the specific dynamics of Trump’s MAGA movement. In her book, The Origins of Totalitarianism (1951) (HT: Berkowitz) political philosopher Hannah Arendt described three key mechanics of authoritarian movements (which she distinguished from totalitarianism):
- Hatred of the State. This highlights the paradoxical nature of authoritarian movements: there can be no movement without animosity towards the current incarnation of the State. Foster discontent in order to control.
- A Mood of Disruption. Authoritarians are not interested in policy (it’s too complex to motivate the working class) but in what Arendt calls the “mood” of the movement. By tapping into this collective emotional atmosphere, authoritarians use a rhetoric of disruption, resentment, and a desire for unity against perceived threats.
- A Group to Blame. Authoritarian movements often consolidate power by identifying a scapegoat—a group to blame for societal problems—which helps unify supporters through a shared adversary. They create propaganda to spread this narrative, manipulating information to reinforce the perceived threat and justify actions against the targeted group.
With a good grasp on how religion works in politics, Trump’s 2015 prepower alignment with evangelical leaders emphasized carefully selected “Christian values,” tapping into collective identity and emotions to reinforce loyalty among the “nones” and the nominally Christian working class. The economic hardship following the Great Recession fueled resentment, which Trump capitalized on through his repeated promises to “drain the swamp.”
By framing scapegoats as threats to religious and national values (“they’re eating the pets”), he uses propaganda to create a common enemy (“enemies from within”), uniting his base through shared fears and advancing an authoritarian movement centered on his celebrity status (“I alone can fix it”).
Similar to other successful movements, MAGA operates like an open social network. Importantly, anyone can opt in, as long as they bend the knee to Trump, even if they were once against him. The fall and rise of Marco Rubio within the Trump orbit is evidence, as is V.P. Elect J.D. Vance, who previously referred to Trump as “America’s Hitler.”
Without popular resentment of the ruling “elites,” normalized social vulgarity, and Christian faith on the decline, the MAGA phenomenon would not have the social space necessary to develop into a movement. Trump is an iconic President for a post-Christian America in our post-truth world. He is also the undisputed GOAT of reality/news TV, which has been MAGA’s limitless resource for mass mobilization.
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Exit polls and election analysis reveal two consistent issues explaining Trump’s landslide victory: inflation and immigration. American voters decided that Trump’s impeachments, indictments, and his antics did not matter as much as their personal bank accounts. To a degree, I can relate.
Yet this election is not unique. Every incumbent governing party facing election in a developed country this year lost the vote, which is the first time this has ever happened. This is mainly due to the effects of global inflation (not solely in America), which were as much as Trump’s fault as Biden’s, and also beyond both of their control. Trump however did a masterful job of placing the blame entirely at the feet of the Biden/Harris administration.
Republicans often spoke this year of a mythical migrant crime wave. Trump was able to successfully perpetuate the zero-sum-thinking myth that more immigrants are bad for a country of immigrants. Ironically, the U.S. has a strong economy but actually needs more immigration for our economy to stay that way.
And thus, MAGA’s 2024 election dominance has been called a “triumph of misinformation.” This is not to say that Democrats are simply losers in the battle for reality. They have their own disfunctions and their own policies to blame. For instance, Trump was also able to leverage working class dismay of the progressive Left’s LGBTQ+ ideologies. And then there is Biden’s arrogance in deciding that he was indispensable to the Democratic party after signaling that he was going to be a one-term, transitional president… We could go on about Democrats, but this article is about the MAGA movement.
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Yet more irony – MAGA Republicans are celebrating and Democrats are catastrophizing for the same reason: propaganda. As an authoritarian, Trump expertly plays the game of perception and illusion. And as a showman, he peddles both impossible promises and contrived fears.
Yet Trump has no ideological anchor. We might be grateful that he cares most about his own fame and not a specific ideology. Since the MAGA movement is likely to continue to be loyal to Trump himself, he will be unable to “make America great again” but also unable to take us down into some ideological abyss. Trump is no fascist and no totalitarian. While authoritarian regimes seek to consolidate political power and suppress opposition, totalitarian regimes aim to dominate every aspect of life. This is not something Trump is seeking, nor would it be possible in a “don’t tread on me” individualistic society like the U.S.
Trump’s reelection is not the end of democracy in America. Remember, he was deeply unpopular after his first term. The sky is not falling. Has the MAGA movement peaked? Probably, but it will likely hang around for a while too. Everyone just needs to stop freaking out.
But more to my point, as followers of Christ, we reject the politicization of our faith on both sides of the ideological aisle, and we care about all nations, not simply whatever country we find our temporary citizenship. In Jesus and the Powers: Christian Political Witness in an Age of Totalitarian Terror and Dysfunctional Democracies, N.T. Wright and Michael Bird bring us back to first principles:
The gospel calls us to believe in Jesus Christ, to belong to the Church and to build for the kingdom. If we perform that role properly, we will walk in the way of the cross, and build – right under Caesar’s nose! – things that challenge the edifices of totalitarian regimes, that show forth the beauty of God’s new creation, that demonstrate that there is a different way to be human, liberated from the lusts of pleasure and power, attaining a genuine human life by conforming to the image of the Son of God. (pg. 99)
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Around 4/5 American Evangelicals who voted cast their ballots for Trump. In my view, it is perfectly acceptable to vote Republican or Democrat. Because I am not a fan of either, I can understand why someone is more disillusioned with the Democratic Party than the Republican.
What I personally find most troubling is, specifically, unfettered support for a man with Trump’s pernicious behavior. This cult-like loyalty to Trump is a crisis of discipleship in the Church, but also a crisis of citizenship in America (HT: Jethani).
Finally, not to sound triumphalistic or dismissive, but the greatest movement of all time is not MAGA (sorry, Mr. President), but the Church participating in the motus Dei. Lessons gleaned from reflecting on the MAGA movement are not for our edification, but for our admonition.