When it Comes to the MAGA Script, Words Matter

It’s no secret that the MAGA cult relies heavily on a specific, weaponized vocabulary to push their fascist agenda to the masses. They identify words, acronyms, or terms, like “WOKE,” “DEI,” or “ANTIFA”, and use this in their messaging to completely reshape and redefine the political narrative.

But what makes these words or terms so insidious? They sound mysterious, and are incredibly easy to manipulate. Ask any random Republican what DEI actually stands for, and they probably don’t know. But they’ve been convinced that it’s a destructive force in our country, due to Republican leaders framing it as a type of “reverse discrimination”.

The perception of ANTIFA follows a similar pattern within the MAGA script. While the term ANTIFA (short for anti-fascist) has existed on the fringes for decades, the MAGA cult re-introduced it as a way to target Democrats as the enemy. It wasn’t so long ago when Kristi Noem said in a cabinet meeting that they arrested the “girlfriend” of ANTIFA. For the record, ANTIFA is not an organized group with founders. It is an un organized, decentralized ideology.

The MAGA cult also tries to “soften” words to avoid accountability. JD Vance recently referred to the January 6th Insurrection as a “protest” instead of an insurrection…a day in which violent MAGA supporters beat and killed police officers, and threatened to hang Mike Pence. Donald Trump has also referred to the war in Iran as an “excursion” to avoid congressional approval.

We also see dehumanizing language applied to immigrants on a regular basis by the MAGA cult, as a way justify harsh policies and abuse. They often refer to immigrants as “illegal aliens”. Recently, the Trump regime created a website that is dedicated to convincing people that immigrants are like aliens, invading our country, and need to be stopped.

In a recent hearing with the Homeland Security Committee, DHS Secretary MarkWayne Mullin said that “racism is a reckless term that is thrown around way too often”, in an effort to downplay or mask his own racist behavior.

Maga Republicans also use “Trump Derangement Syndrome” A LOT, which now been shortened to TDS. As most people know, this is not a real syndrome. It’s a made-up, MAGA marketing phrase, designed to convince people that Democrats have an unhealthy obsession with Trump. What if Democrats were to throw that back at Republicans and accuse them of having Biden Derangement Syndrome, or BDS? They are a bit obsessed with him, but again, it’s not a syndrome. Just a weaponized label.

So language manipulation is nothing new in politics. Dictators and demagogues throughout history have used this exact type of propaganda scheme to gaslight the public. They also rely heavily on the media to reinforce their scripted propaganda, and with the media now being taken over by multi-billionaires who are Trump loyalists, the Maga messaging can catch on quickly.

Recently, the MAGA script just got a brand-new update. They’re now redefining the phrase “The top 1 percent”, which is a term that is used among Democrats to describe wealth inequality. Senator Chris Murphy points out in his new book, Crisis of the Common Good, The Fight for Meaning and Connection in a Broken America, “The top 1 percent controls wealth on a scale unmatched in our history, roughly equal to the bottom 90 percent.”

Over Memorial Day weekend, Pete Hegseth gave the commencement address at West Point, and MarkWayne Mullin gave a speech at the Coast Guard Academy Graduation. Aside from Hegseth telling the West Point Graduates that they’re “FIT not FAT”, Hegseth and Mullin put forth a deliberate and synchronized effort to stay on script when speaking to the graduates.

Both Hegseth and Mullin referred to the top 1 percent in their speeches, by saying that it’s the military graduates who are the REAL 1 percent-ers of America. Pete Hegseth actually called the West Point graduates the ELITE top 1 percent, while taking cheap shots at Princeton University for their WOKE policies. It’s not likely that Princeton University will be asking Pete Hegseth to give the commencement speech at their school, EVER. He would be boo-ed off the stage.

So the MAGA Republicans are doing this as a way to not only redefine the term “Top 1 Percent”, they’re trying to take the spotlight away from the billionaires, in order to shield them from accountability, and to hijack a term that people like Bernie Sanders has been warning us about for decades. And for good reason.

It’s time for the Democrats to get ahead of this propaganda-filled, right-wing messaging and flip the script. If the MAGA cult is going to manipulate words or phrases, then Democrats can do the same. Let’s start by redefining “MAGA” to what it actually should stand for: Make Accountability Great Again.