Opinion: It's not just hopium: People really are leaving MAGA
But I stuck with MAGA. The fear of losing my community terrified me. For the better part of a year, I spent myriad sleepless nights wrestling with my conscience.
The final straw came for me on May 24, 2022, when a gunman massacred 19 kids and two teachers at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. MAGA’s response was that we needed more guns. My research had shown me that was egregiously mistaken. Overwhelmed by guilt for having contributed to this madness, I quit MAGA.
Three months later, I published a mea culpa, in which I renounced my support for Trump and apologized for my hurtful deeds and rhetoric. I never imagined that anyone would care. But the opposite was true: I was deluged with requests for help from people hoping to save their relationships with their friends and loved ones in MAGA.
https://www.salon.com/2026/06/08/its-not-just-hopium-people-really-are-leaving-maga/Open linkView original on sh.itjust.works
Ex-MAGA are welcome to join hands and support each other and pat each other on the back for their newfound clearheaded Democratic fervor, but keep it the hell away from me.
Platforming a virulent racist for the last 10 years and cheering his attempts to destroy our country isn't in the "Oops, sorry!" class of mistakes.
Good on you for opening your eyes. Now fuck off.
People can change their views but the straw that broke the Camel's back thing makes me think less that they have really grown or changed as a person and are alligned with the same world views, hopes, dreams, and goals, as me and more that they will jump off the bandwagon and go back to their shitty views as soon as someone more "moderate" comes along on their side.
If nine people go and sit with a racist at a table, that table has ten racists at it.
Sorry, but if you voluntarily leap across what should be an elementary moral boundary for your talking head, I have no time for you now or ever.
there is nobody with a brain that you agree with 100%. Politics is about finding people who you agree with enough that you are willing to accept the differences.
That you don't agree with someone does not make their views bad, they are just different.
... Depends on the views
I'm sorry, but there is no plausible deniability anymore. What we knew going into the last election cycle is that Trump is:
Supporting this monster isn't a brief lapse in judgment, it is predicated on ignoring history or embracing his particular brand of sexual assault, racism, and stupidity.
Brown people are literally dying in concentration camps right now.
Those are all obvious things to people outside the cult, but you massively misunderstand how information is distributed and controlled in these conservative communities. When everyone around you, including people you like/respect, are just regurgitating Fox News talking points and shutting down any critical thinking, a lot of people just kinda shrink back and ignore those edges.
This doesn't excuse their ignorance, but ignorance (either willful or not) and fear of losing their community is a much larger explanation for their behavior than them all fully endorsing everything Trump is and does.
We can disagree about tax policy and whether or not seatbelt laws are a good idea, and be willing to accept the differences.
We cannot disagree about concentration camps and pedophile islands, and be willing to accept the differences.
It's not about 100%, it's really just one issue, white supremacy. Either you think people with not enough melanin are better than everyone else or you don't. That much is just black and white. I ain't got time for you if you're racist, period.
In 2024, 15% of black voters, 48% of hispanic voters, and 40% of asian voters voted for Trump. So in order for your argument to stand that all Trump voters are white supremasists, you'll have to make the rather unlikely argument that all these people of darker skinned races are also white supremacists.
And if they aren't, then there must be some other reason to vote for Trump. In which case, your argument kind of falls flat.
That's fine, if they just dont pay attention to politics and just voted for trump casually without knowing his white supremacy then surely those voters have abandoned maga already. That said, a lot of these former trump voters changed their mind before his second election.
And yes blacks and asians can also be white supremacists, just like women can be misogynists.
Oh, so this is worthless.
80% approval among his supporters. 80 fucking percent. And that has barely moved since the start of his presidency. The overwhelming majority of the people who voted for him last election have said they wouldn't change their vote.
As much as the dip shit writing this article wants you to believe it, thinking that his base is abandoning him in any meaningful way IS hopium, and that is dangerous as fuck. That's ultimately why Trump won again, because people ignored reality. They thought that surely people couldn't be THAT stupid and ignorant to not recognize what a horrible person Trump is. The harsh reality is yes, they ARE that stupid and ignorant. They still love everything he's doing and see Democrats as the literal devil.
That's where we're at. Don't believe any horseshit that claims that his base is turning against him. Treat any source that makes such a claim as a psy-op.
Of course most of his supporters support him. Honestly, that should be 100%.
The key thing to ask, though, is how many of those supporters does he have? And the numbers are definitely dropping.
The last thing most people will do is admit they're wrong and when given the chance to change their minds the first thing they'll do is make excuses for why they don't need to.
If nothing else, a large portion of his supporters are elderly and/or in very bad health. Even if not a single one of them changes their mind, there will still be fewer and fewer as time goes on.
I remember people saying the electorate changing via attrition as older people die and younger people reach voting age would be sufficient to make things better 20 years ago... Still waiting...
A fair point. But I am afraid they're being replaced by young idiots who listen to crappy comedian podcasts and Facebook AI slopaganda. We just gotta hope they stay unvaccinated, eat raw and keep taking unregulated pharmaceuticals.
It's a bit of a paradox, but the more people that become disaffected with maga and leave, the higher that approval rating will go.
Even if true, come midterms and the presidential election they will vote for the most racist people.
We don't know that.
The fuck we don't. Anyone who doesn't have their head up their ass could tell you his base is going to vote the same way they always do.
Just because it's happened exactly like that the last 300 times doesn't mean it will happen this time, right?
I USED to be a MAGA until Trump RAISED the Cost of GAS! NOW I would NEVER vote for Trump! ONLY people CLOSELY Aligned with Trump who will do the EXACT same Thing but ARENT Trump because I HATE MAGA!
the author doesnt seem to understand that he is an exception, not the rule.
I mean, that kind of tracks for someone who has historically only thought of themselves.
Don't get me wrong, there must be a path to redemption, and this one seems to be on it, but they're not as far down that path as they think.
Most of them will never try to redeem themselves they will just stop talking about it.
The day I see a three time Trumper stand between ICE officers and an immigrant then I'll think they are actually on the path of redemption. But they hate immigrants so it won't happen.
Maybe if I were to see them actively supporting progressive causes, like donating money and volunteering hours... Maybe. I need to see action.
Ex-MAGAs need to know that while we are glad they've quit the Dark Side, it will take years of redemption before anyone trusts them again, if ever.
For one thing, we need to apply the 14th Amendment/ Section 3 to anyone who supported the Jan 6 Insurrection, including those who simply repeated Trump's Big Lie that the election was stolen. They knew it wasn't true, and their validation of his Big Lie encouraged MAGAs to turn traitor and join the Insurrection.
Anyone who supported MAGA should be prohibited from holding office.
Too little too late. Fuck the lot of em straight to hell.
They’ll cling onto the next shiny fascist movement
I have an ex who - between actual chemical addictions - chases religion, politics,and men, in roughly that order.
Every time she finds a new vessel for her misguided faith, she starts sounding a lot like this guy.
I'll bet he was that guy at MAGA fundraisers that staked out a position near the crab dip and regaled the poor hungry patrons on the repressive nature of surgical masks and free speech with his new found expertise while they politely fingered the crackers and questioned the choices that led them there.
I like your writing style.
They might be claiming to have been tricked, but by and large the ignorant fools and hateful are still just that. That's the true problem. They will find some other fuck head that will do what they want and he will be a lot slicker about it. I don't believe these bastards learn to single thing from this whole dumbass episode of American history
Just remember that, like them, we’re in a bubble here.
Nah I'm pretty sure I'm immune to propaganda I think Garfield told me I was
MAGA will fall apart as soon as Bonespurs has his final Big Mac Attack and dodges justice for good. All the little MAGettes will be backstabbing each other and throwing each other under the bus to claw for scraps of the reeking power vacuum he leaves behind.
Too little too late
Interesting story, although his two primary reason (COVID and Gun Proliferation) for leaving would not resonate with the rest of the Maga community. So this is not pathway forward for his fellow Magats but his own unique journey.
https://youtu.be/DqmwVsZTIzA
Eric can teach you all how to stay MAGA.
Lol, "You look like your dad was a tiki mug" for Laura Loomer.
Hopium
I mean, if you had a MAGA flag, I'm going to remember who you are and forever see it as a demonstration of a lack of character.