MAGA As Grift, MAGA As Ideology

Is it a scam? Yes. Is it authoritarianism? Yes. The two are interconnected and inseparable and that reveals everything about the mindset.

This past week former Trump Campaign head and advisor Steve Bannon was charged with six counts of money laundering and conspiracy in New York, bringing the ideologue into a second brush with the law following his pardon by Donald Trump in 2021. The case revolves around problematic fundraising for the group We Build The Wall that netted at least $15 million dollars on the promise of aiding in the construction of a barrier on the southern border. Addressing the charges, an expectedly defiant Bannon thundered, “They will never shut me up, they’ll have to kill me first.”

That Bannon’s crime was so intertwined with bedrock principles of the Make America Great Again Movement - aggression toward immigrants and a repudiation of open, liberal society - is no accident. After all, the MAGA Movement has both come to encompass the authoritarian energies of America and has also created a brand new sub-economy of influencers, media startups, merchandise flows, and, most importantly, full-proof opportunities to liberate true-believers of their hard earned dollars.

Bannon’s place in all of this is incredibly telling. Of everyone in Trump’s circle, Bannon is one of the actual ideologues who buys into the philosophy of the core of the matter. For years now Bannon has studied illiberal philosophies like Traditionalism, steeped himself in the esoteric principles that have served as foundations for fascistic movements and regimes, secured partnerships with similar-minded individuals and organizations, and traveled the world several times over to secure a project with the goal of finally destroying liberalism once and for all.

All of this has been Bannon’s life work since he became convinced that modernity had gone too far and needed rolled back in favor of traditional hierarchies and power and control through religious fundamentalism. Say what you want about nearly any other of Trump’s cronies and hanger-ons, and their work has been proof enough that their principles or ideals are only as firm as the next cut check, but Bannon’s bonafides are unquestionable.

So. How is it that a true-believer could come to such a place?

How is MAGA both a grift and an ideology?

The answer to these questions reveals what all of this is actually about.