Donald Trump’s MAGA project is based on fear, not reality

A few days ago, Christie NoemRepublican governor of south dakota, A hard-line “Make America Great Again” (MAGA) supporter, sometimes mentioned as a potential running mate because of his Spanish translation. Donald Trump, warned that President Biden is “remaking” the United States, turning us into Europe. My first thought was: So will our life expectancy increase by five or six years? In context, however, it was clear that Noem believed, or hoped his audience believed, that Europe was a scene of havoc caused by hordes of immigrants.

As it happens, last year I spent some time traveling through various cities in Europe and none of them were hell. Yes, generally speaking, Europe has problems dealing with immigrants and immigration has become a hot political issue. And yes, Europe’s economic recovery has lagged behind that of the United States. But visions of a continent ravaged by immigration are a fantasy.

Yet such notions are now common currency in American right-wing politics. Remember the days when pundits proudly declared that Trumpism was caused by “economic anxiety”?

Well, despite the booming economy, there’s still a lot of righteous concern, reflecting the real struggles of many people: America is a nation plagued by inequality, insecurity, and injustice. But the anxiety that drives MAGA is not driven by reality. Instead, it is driven by a dystopian vision that bears no relation to actual experience.

That is, at this point, Republican political strategy largely relies on scaring voters who are doing relatively well individually, not only through official statistics but also through their own accounts, by telling them that things happened to other people. has been

This is most evident when it comes to the US economy, which had a very good (in fact, almost miraculously good) 2023. Economic growth not only defied widespread predictions of an imminent recession, but exceeded expectations; Inflation has fallen and the Fed wants it to be around. And people feel it in their own lives: 63 percent of Americans say their financial situation is good or very good.

However, a few days ago, Nikki Haley declared that “our economy is in ruins and inflation is out of control.” And Republicans who listened to her probably believed her. According to YouGov, about 72 percent of Republicans say our 3-2 economy (about 3 percent growth and 2 percent inflation) is getting worse, while only 6 percent say it’s getting worse. Getting better.

Again, this negative judgment does not reflect personal experience. In December, YouGov Americans were asked to assess 2023 as a whole. Republicans said it was terrible for the nation, and 76 percent said the year was bad or terrible. However, it is strange to say that 69 percent of Republicans (about the same number) said the year was good, good or excellent for them personally.

Now, that last survey wasn’t specifically limited to the state of the economy and likely reflected things like perceptions of crime. But there was a significant drop in crime in 2023, which would have contributed to a better economy by fostering a sense that things are getting better in a rational world.

But the world – especially the Megaworld – is not rational. And it’s a long-standing observation that Americans say national crime is going up even as it’s going down, and when they admit it’s going down where they live.

Once again, these misconceptions are strongly associated with partisanship, with Republicans surprisingly willing to believe things that aren’t true.

It is one thing to falsely believe that Europe is a continent on the brink of destruction (although millions of Americans visit Europe and therefore have the opportunity to see it for themselves every year). It’s harder to forgive the belief that New York — one of the safest big cities in the United States — is some kind of urban wasteland. After all, estimates say that over 50 million Americans visited the Big Apple last year, and many people who haven’t visited New York know someone who has or who, like me, actually lives here. However, only 22 percent of Republicans say the city is safe to visit or live in.

destruction of NY It raises the question of the extent to which MAGA proponents are willing to ignore the evidence of their own eyes. People buy gasoline all the time; When Trump says that “gas prices are now $5, $6, $7 and even $8 a gallon,” double the price clearly displayed on giant billboards across the country, do his supporters believe him?

And then, of course, there’s the Covid pandemic, in which the politicization of vaccines by MAGA seems to have increased the death rate among Republicans.

What does this say about America’s future? It can’t be good. In fact, a large segment of our body politic has joined a cult of personality whose beliefs are almost impervious to reality.

So how did this happen to us? The truth is I don’t know. But you can’t seriously talk about the state of America without acknowledging the pervasiveness of the fear-based MAGA worldview.

© The New York Times 2024