"Make America Great Again" (MAGA, US: /ˈmæɡə/)[1] is an American
political slogan and movement most recently popularized by
Donald Trump during
his successful 2016 presidential campaign. "MAGA" is also used to refer to Trump's political base, or to an individual or group of individuals from within that base ("a MAGA", "MAGAs"). The slogan became a pop culture phenomenon, seeing widespread use and spawning numerous variants in the arts, entertainment and politics, being used by both those who support and those who oppose
Trump's presidency. Originally used by
Ronald Reagan as a campaign slogan in his 1980 presidential campaign, it has since been described as a
loaded phrase. Multiple journalists, scholars, and commentators have called the slogan
racist, regarding it as
dog-whistle politics and
coded language.[2][3][4][5]
Use of the phrase before Donald Trump
The phrase has been used in politics and literature on numerous occasions.
"Let's make America great again" was famously used in
Ronald Reagan's 1980 presidential campaign. At the time the United States was suffering from a worsening economy at home marked by
stagflation. Using the country's economic distress as a springboard for his campaign, Reagan used the slogan to stir a sense of patriotism among the electorate.[6][7][8][9] During his acceptance speech at the
1980 Republican National Convention, Reagan said, "For those without job opportunities, we'll stimulate new opportunities, particularly in the inner cities where they live. For those who've abandoned hope, we'll restore hope and we'll welcome them into a great national crusade to make America great again."[10][11]
During the
2016 electoral campaign, in which Hillary Clinton opposed Trump, Bill Clinton suggested that Trump's version, used as a campaign rallying cry, was a message to White Southerners that Trump was promising to "give you an economy you had 50 years ago, and... move you back up on the social totem pole and other people down."[13]
In fiction
Author
Octavia E. Butler used "Make America Great Again" as the presidential campaign slogan for the dictator Andrew Steele Jarret in her 1998 dystopian novel, Parable of the Talents.[14]
In December 2011, following speculation that he would challenge sitting president
Barack Obama in the
2012 United States presidential election, Trump released a statement in which he said he was unwilling to rule out running as a presidential candidate in the future, explaining "I must leave all of my options open because, above all else, we must make America great again."[15] Also in December 2011, he published
a book using as a subtitle the similar phrase "Making America #1 Again" – which in a 2015 reissue was changed to "Make America Great Again!"[16]
On January 1, 2012, a group of Trump supporters filed paperwork with the
Texas Secretary of State's office to create the "Make America Great Again Party", which would have allowed Trump to be that party's nominee if he had decided to become a third-party candidate in the presidential election.[17] Trump himself began using the slogan formally on November 7, 2012, the day after Barack Obama won his re-election against
Mitt Romney. By his own account, Trump first considered "We Will Make America Great", but did not feel like it had the right "ring" to it. "Make America Great" was his next slogan idea, but upon further reflection, he felt that it was a slight to America because it implied that America was never great. He eventually selected the phrase "Make America Great Again", later claiming that he was unaware of Reagan's use in 1980 until 2015, but noted that "he didn't trademark it."[18] On November 12 he signed an application with the
United States Patent and Trademark Office requesting exclusive rights to use the slogan for political purposes. It was registered as a service mark on July 14, 2015, after Trump formally began his
2016 presidential campaign and demonstrated that he was using the slogan for the purpose stated on the application.[19][18][20]
However, Trump did not trademark the phrase in commerce. On August 5, 2015, radio personality
Bobby Bones, took note of this and successfully filed a trademark for the phrase's use in commerce. Two days later Bones
tweeted at Trump, offering the use of his slogan back in exchange for a $100,000 donation to the
St. Jude Children's Hospital. On October 29 Bones followed up the tweet with an image of a check from
The Trump Organization, the amount on the check was undisclosed and Bones said that Trump could "have [his] slogan back".[21]
Trump used the slogan in public as early as August 2013, in an interview with
Jonathan Karl.[22]
During the 2016 campaign, Trump often used the slogan, especially by wearing hats emblazoned with the phrase in white letters, which soon became popular among his supporters.[23] The slogan was so important to the campaign that at one point it spent more on making the hats – sold for $25 each on its website – than on polling, consultants, or television commercials. Millions were sold, and Trump estimated that
counterfeit versions outnumbered the real hat ten to one. "...but it was a slogan, and every time somebody buys one, that's an advertisement."[18]
Following Trump's election, the website of
his presidential transition was established at greatagain.gov.[24] Trump said in 2017 and 2018 that the slogan of his
2020 reelection campaign would be "Keep America Great" and he sought to trademark it.[18][25] However, Trump's 2020 campaign continued to use the "Make America Great Again" slogan.[26] Trump's
vice president,
Mike Pence, used the phrase "make America great again, again" in his
2020 Republican National Convention speech, garnering ridicule for implying that Trump's first term had failed.[27][28] In late 2021, this phrase became the name of a pro-Trump
Super-PAC, which was also mocked.[29]
A 2020 executive order, titled "Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture," was nicknamed "Make Federal Buildings Beautiful Again" by proponents and the press.[30][31][32]
Less than a week after Trump left office, he spoke to advisors about possibly establishing a third party, which he suggested might be named either the "Patriot Party" or "Make America Great Again Party". In his first few days out of office, he also supported
Arizona state party chairwoman
Kelli Ward, who likewise called for the creation of a "MAGA Party". In late January 2021, the former president viewed the proposed MAGA Party as leverage to prevent Republican senators from voting to convict him during the
Senate impeachment trial, and to field challengers to Republicans who voted for his impeachment in the House.[33][34]
The phrase is being used again as the official slogan of Trump's
2024 presidential campaign. On June 3, 2023, Trump called his supporters Magadonians, prompting mockery on social media.[35][36]
Donald Trump took the campaign slogan to social media (primarily to
Twitter), using the
hashtags #makeamericagreatagain and its acronym #maga. In response to criticism regarding his frequent and untraditional usage of social media, Trump defended himself by tweeting "My use of social media is not Presidential – it's MODERN DAY PRESIDENTIAL. Make America Great Again!" on July 1, 2017.[37]
In the first half of 2017, Trump posted his slogan on Twitter 33 times. In an article for Bloomberg News, Mark Whitehouse noted: "A regression analysis suggests the phrase adds (very roughly) 51,000 to a post's retweet-and-favorite count, which is important given that the average Trump tweet attracts a total of 107,000."[38]
Trump attributed his victory (in part) to social media when he said, "I won the 2016 election with interviews, speeches, and social media."[39] According to RiteTag, the estimated hourly statistics for #maga on Twitter alone include: 1,304 unique tweets, 5,820,000 hashtag exposure, and 3,424 retweets with 14% of #maga tweets including images, 55% including links, and 51% including mentions.[40]
Regarding the use of it since 2015, the phrase "Make America Great Again" is considered a
loaded phrase. Marissa Melton, a
Voice of America journalist, among others,[3][4] explained how it is a loaded phrase because it "doesn't just appeal to people who hear it as
racistcoded language, but also to those who have felt a loss of status as other groups have become more empowered."[2] As
Sarah Churchwell explains, the slogan now resonates as
America First did in the early 1940s, with the idea "that the true version of America is the America that looks like me, the American fantasy I imagine existed before it was diluted with other races and other people."[41]
Writing opinion for the Los Angeles Times, Robin Abcarian wrote that "[w]earing a 'Make America Great Again' hat is not necessarily an overt expression of racism. But if you wear one, it's a pretty good indication that you share, admire or appreciate President Trump's racist views about Mexicans, Muslims and border walls."[4] The Detroit Free Press and the Los Angeles Times reported how several of their readers rejected this characterization and did not believe the slogan or MAGA hats are evidence of racism, seeing them more in patriotic or
American nationalist terms.[42][43]Los Angeles Times columnist
Nicholas Goldberg described MAGA as both one of the worst campaign slogans ever and "a fabulous campaign slogan", writing: "It was vague enough to appeal to optimists generally, while leaving plenty of room for bitter and resentful voters to conclude that we were finally going back to the days when they ran the world."[44]
"Make America Great Again" has been the subject of many parodies, jokes, instances of praise, references, and criticisms which base themselves on the four-word slogan.
Derivatives used by Trump
"Keep America Great" has been the most popular derivative of "Make America Great Again", with
Trump's 2020 presidential campaign adopting it as the official slogan, though often used alongside "Make America Great Again".[46][47]
Upon Trump announcing his candidacy for president in the
2024 election, commentators described his use of the tagline "Make America Great and Glorious Again" ("MAGAGA"). The term has come to be a humorous descriptor for Trump's re-election bid, and many outlets have commented on the humor that "MAGAGA" provides, usually on the word "gag" being part of the acronym.[48][49][50]
Anti-Trump derivatives
After Donald Trump popularized the use of the phrase, the phrase and
modifications of it were widely used in reference both to his election campaign and to his politics. Trump's primary opponents,
Ted Cruz and
Scott Walker, began using "Make America Great Again" in speeches, inciting Trump to send
cease-and-desist letters to them.[18] Cruz later sold hats featuring, "Make Trump Debate Again", in response to Trump's boycotting the
Iowa January 28, 2016, debate.[51] The phrase has also been parodied in political statements, such as "Make America Mexico Again", a critique of
Trump's immigration policies regarding the
US–Mexico border.[52][53]
Adult film star
Stormy Daniels, who
allegedly had an affair with President Trump, took part in a "Make America Horny Again" strip club tour. The tour followed Trump's initial 2016 campaign trail and part of the revenue was donated to Planned Parenthood.[54]
One of the most widespread anti-Trump derivatives of "Make America Great Again" during the Trump presidency and the 2020 election was "Make America Think Again", often combined with 2020 Democratic primary candidate
Andrew Yang's preferred version of "Make America Think Harder" ("MATH"). The slogan has been spotted at numerous anti-Trump events from Democratic political rallies to marches to social media, with
Live Science noting "Think Again" as one of its top hashtags for 2017.[57][58][59][60]
Political commentator and author
Peter Beinart published a 2006 book titled The Good Fight: Why Liberals – and Only Liberals – Can Win the War on Terror and Make America Great Again[69] drawing on the philosophy of theologian
Reinhold Niebuhr after the
2003 invasion of Iraq and during the early years of the
War on Terror.
In late 2022, the political slogan "
MAGA Communism", itself a reference to the MAGA phrase, trended on
Twitter after being
tweeted out by former
San Clemente city council candidate
Jackson Hinkle. MAGA Communism adherents call on those who support the American
working class to ally with members of the MAGA movement.[73]
Use of the slogan by Trump's political rivals
New York GovernorAndrew Cuomo said America "was never that great" during a September 2018 bill signing.[74][75] Former
United States Attorney GeneralEric Holder questioned the slogan in a March 2019 interview on
MSNBC, asking: "Exactly when did you think America was great?"[76][77] During
John McCain's memorial service on September 1, 2018, his daughter
Meghan stated: "The America of John McCain has no need to be made great again because America was always great."[78] Trump subsequently tweeted "MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!" later that day.[79]
During remarks at the White House on May 4, 2022, President
Joe Biden referred to former President Trump's "Make America Great Again" movement, saying, "This MAGA crowd is really the most extreme political organization that's existed in American history, in recent American history."[80] On September 1, 2022, he dedicated remarks at the White House "on the continued battle for the soul of the nation"[81] to attacks on "Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans", saying that "Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our republic," and that "MAGA Republicans have made their choice. They embrace anger. They thrive on chaos. They live not in the light of truth but in the shadow of lies."[82]
Fashion designer
Andre Soriano used the "Make America Great Again" official presidential campaign flag to design a MAGA Gown for celebrities in Hollywood to wear on Red Carpe, such as at the
2017 Grammy Awards.[93]
In films
The tagline for The Purge: Election Year (2016) is "Keep America Great" (a phrase Trump would later use as his 2020 campaign slogan); one of the TV spots for the film featured Americans who explained why they support the Purge, with one stating he does so "to keep my country [America] great".[94] The next film in the franchise, The First Purge, was subsequently advertised with a poster featuring its title stylized on a MAGA hat.[95]
^Rebecca Solnit (2018). Call Them by Their True Names: American Crises (and Essays). Haymarket Books. Trump's slogan, 'Make America great again', seemed to invoke a return to a Never Never Land of white male supremacy, where coal was an awesome fuel, blue-color manufacturing jobs were what they had been in 1956, women belong in the home, and the needs of white men were paramount.
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