Pluto Koehnen, contributor

MAGA, also known as “Make America Great Again,” has been popularized by Donald Trump during his presidential campaigns in 2016, 2020, and 2024. While originally used by Ronald Reagan in the 1980s, MAGA has formed a cult-like movement idolizing Donald Trump over the last decade. MAGA supporters have been deemed hypocritical due to their unceasing loyalty to President Trump’s words and actions, despite their prior beliefs. And no matter how many times Donald Trump changes his mind on his policies, they always follow.

Many MAGA supporters take a pro-life stance, which opposes abortion. A large rationale for this is that “all children deserve the chance for life.” Despite this conviction, MAGA advocates will turn a blind eye to the hundreds of children being detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), who are now targeting any person of color. In early December, Trump called on ICE to detain the Somalis of Minnesota, calling the group “garbage.” ICE brought violence and murder into the city while the said pro-lifers stood silent. If all children deserve life, and we are all children of God, then how is murder outside the womb okay? If murder is regardless of development stage, it should also be regardless of race or ethnicity.

Restricting trans women in women’s sports has also been a hot topic. MAGA patrons state that keeping trans women out of sports will protect cisgender women. While rationalizing their transphobia with feminism, MAGA propagandists defend President Trump’s spew of insults towards women. On Nov. 18, 2025, Donald Trump said “quiet piggy,” to a reporter, while on Aug. 14, 2018, he referred to Omarosa Newman as a “crazed, crying lowlife… a dog.” In his recent term, President Trump has threatened the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which offers reasonable accommodations to pregnant employees. If MAGA is so eager to protect cisgender women, why would they elect a man who has shown to be sexist since the early 2000s? If MAGA is so solicitous about the welfare of cisgender women, why do they continue to disregard policies that affect said gender?

During the COVID-19 pandemic, people were required to wear a face mask and carry a COVID-19 vaccine card to protect themselves and those around them. However, many people saw these regulations as an attack on their individual freedom. In June 2020, the Pew Research Center reported that more Democrats than Republicans followed said regulations. Donald Trump said that mask-wearing was “voluntary.” However, now ICE agents —many times Trump followers— wear face masks to protect their identity as well as require citizens to carry proof of residency on them. 

MAGA advocates seem to live in a state of cognitive dissonance, rationalizing Trump’s poor behavior despite prior beliefs. Politicians of any sort should never be idolized; they are not above being human. They are people who represent a general group’s beliefs, not yours as an individual. Undying loyalty to anyone, especially a politician, is dangerous. The ability to have our own feelings and to be our own people prevent us from falling into a position that many MAGA supporters are in right now.