MAGAReport for 7/26/24 - the vibe shift
What a WILD ride it has been in MAGA land over the last 2 weeks
It was less than 2 weeks ago that Donald Trump was shot at (though maybe not actually shot?) during his rally. On that night, the far-right forums were full of anger but there was also an undercurrent of thrill. As I’ve written about often, there is so much appetite for violence on these message boards and finally some actual violence had happened.
They rode that wave into the RNC which started just 2 days later, where the mood shifted from angry to gleeful. While the reception for JD Vance was lukewarm, both the conventioneers and online communities were celebrating that Trump seemed unbeatable (despite the polls remaining quite close). People talked about how all their family, who were previously going to vote for Biden, were now going to vote for Trump because of the assassination attempt and the glory of Evan Vucci’s photo. They were certain that Trump was now a heroic figure that would bring the country together behind him.
Then came his convention speech which bored even his most committed followers online. You could feel the build up of the week morph into deflation on Friday, but the sense that Trump was destined for victory remained.
On Sunday, when Biden decided not to run and Harris became the Presidential candidate, there was a profound change in the online MAGA world. The immediate reaction was racist and sexist attacks, plus a descent into conspiracy theories about how Democrats were now certain to steal the election to get the first Black Woman elected President.
Since then, I have been waiting for them to coalesce on some points that I could share with all of you. It’s five days later and that hasn’t happened. The racism and misogyny continue, but they are really flailing around to find something to stick to.
This community thrives on conspiracy theory, and we have seen a few of them pop up over the last week. They hypothesized that Biden was actually dead and not just recovering from Covid. When he gave his address on Wednesday night, they tried to prove it was actually an AI-generated Biden, in the process of which, they they manipulated some images and revealed that they struggle to read analog watches. They are suggesting something nefarious is going on because, after Trump backed out of debating Harris - allegedly because Obama hadn’t endorsed her - news of the Obama endorsement came out. Now they are going back to conspiracy theories around the shooting, but they are not coalescing on anything. Was it the deep state? Was the Secret Service complicit? Were there multiple shooters?
Beyond the conspiracy theorizing, there’s just not much going on. It’s the usual rage bait about immigration, inflation, and isolationism. They have no plans for any kind of action and are not even focused on any specific lines of attack.
That said, I think they are setting themselves up to justify violence if Trump loses in November. To see how that plays out, we just have to wait.
In the meantime, here is a glimpse of some of the misogyny I’m seeing just so you get a little taste of it.
Women do not pay the consequences of their votes.
That's because men pay 75% of the taxes while women receive 80% of the welfare. Women supply 15% of the military and women are not exposed to conscription.
Women have rights, men have responsibilities. It's a classic example of a moral hazard.
Stop Women Suffrage!!!
Perhaps women should elect politicians for relevant roles:
Lt. Governor for Home Economics
This is brilliant, and what I'd imagine is going on in the minds of women anyway. Let's go.