"Make America Great Again" (MAGA,)[1] is an American political slogan and political 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. The slogan became a pop culture phenomenon, seeing widespread use and spawning numerous variants in the arts, entertainment and politics, being used by both supporters and opponents of Trump's presidency. Originally used by Ronald Reagan as a campaign slogan in his 1980 presidential campaign (Let's Make America Great Again), it has since been described as a loaded phrase. Multiple scholars, journalists, and commentators have called the slogan racist, regarding it as dog-whistle politics and coded language.
The phrase has been used in politics and literature on numerous occasions.
See also: Ronald Reagan 1980 presidential campaign.
"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.[2] [3] [4] [5] 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."[6] [7]
See also: Bill Clinton 1992 presidential campaign.
The phrase was also used in speeches by Bill Clinton during his 1992 presidential campaign.[8] Clinton also used the phrase in a radio commercial aired for his wife Hillary Clinton's 2008 presidential primary campaign.
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."[9]
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.[10]
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."[11] 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!"[12]
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.[13]
Trump began using the slogan formally on November 7, 2012, the day after Barack Obama won his re-election against Mitt Romney. Trump used the slogan in an August 2013 interview with Jonathan Karl.[14] By his own account, he 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." 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.[15] [16] [17]
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".[18]
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.[19] The slogan was so important to the campaign that at one point it spent more on making the hatssold for $25 each on its websitethan 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."
Following Trump's election, the website of his presidential transition was established at greatagain.gov.[20] 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.[21] However, Trump's 2020 campaign continued to use the "Make America Great Again" slogan.[22] 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.[23] [24] In late 2021, this phrase became the name of a pro-Trump Super-PAC, which was also mocked.[25]
A 2020 executive order, titled "Promoting Beautiful Federal Civic Architecture," was nicknamed "Make Federal Buildings Beautiful Again" by proponents and the press.[26] [27] [28]
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.[29] [30]
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.[31] [32]
See also: Social media use by Donald Trump.
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 Presidentialit's MODERN DAY PRESIDENTIAL. Make America Great Again!" on July 1, 2017.[33]
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."[34]
Trump attributed his victory (in part) to social media when he said, "I won the 2016 election with interviews, speeches, and social media."[35] 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.[36]
See also: Racial views of Donald Trump. Regarding the use of it since 2015, the phrase "Make America Great Again" is considered a loaded phrase and "dog whistle". Marissa Melton, a Voice of America journalist, among others, explained how it is a loaded phrase because it "doesn't just appeal to people who hear it as racist coded language, but also to those who have felt a loss of status as other groups have become more empowered." 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."[37]
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." 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.[38] [39] 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."[40]
A 2018 study that used text mining and semantic network analytics of Twitter text and hashtags networks found that the "#MakeAmericaGreatAgain" and "#MAGA" hashtags were commonly used by white supremacist and white nationalist users, and had been used as "an organizing discursive space" for far-right extremists globally.[41]
"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.
"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".[42] [43]
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.[44] [45] [46]
At the 2024 Republican National Convention, some people wore clothing with the slogan "Make American Great Again Again"
The phrase has been parodied in political statements, such as "Make America Mexico Again", a critique of Trump's immigration policies regarding the US–Mexico border and a reference to Mexico's loss of 55% of its territory to the US with the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo.[47] [48]
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.[49]
John Oliver spoofed the slogan on his show Last Week Tonight with John Oliver in a segment dedicated to Trump, urging viewers to "Make Donald Drumpf Again", in reference to the original ancestral name of the Trump family.[50] [51] The segment broke HBO viewership records, garnering 85 million views.
A 2018 essay about the Barack Obama birtherism conspiracy in the Journal of Hate Studies by two professors at Bates College was titled "Make America Hate Again: Donald Trump and the Birther Conspiracy".[52]
The phrase has been adopted by some environmentalists. In June 2017, French President Emmanuel Macron rebuked Trump over withdrawing from the Paris Agreement. The last sentence of the speech he delivered was "make our planet great again."[53] Members of the Fridays for Future Movement have also frequently used slogans like "Make Earth Greta Again", referring to environmental activist Greta Thunberg.[54] In 2019, Grant Armour and Milene Larsson co-directed a documentary film named Make the World Greta Again.[55]
In late 2022, the political slogan "MAGA Communism" 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.[56]
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. Cruz later sold hats featuring "Make Trump Debate Again" in response to Trump's boycotting the Iowa January 28, 2016, debate.[57]
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said America "was never that great" during a September 2018 bill signing.[58] [59] Former United States Attorney General Eric Holder questioned the slogan in a March 2019 interview on MSNBC, asking: "Exactly when did you think America was great?"[60] [61] 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."[62] Trump subsequently tweeted "MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!" later that day.[63]
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."[64] On September 1, 2022, he dedicated remarks at the White House "on the continued battle for the soul of the nation" 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."
After Florida governor Ron DeSantis announced his run for the 2024 Republican Party presidential primary, several new outlets said he promised to "Make America Florida".[65] [66] [67] [68] [69] [70]
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.[71] [72] [73] [74]
Gary Johnson's 2016 campaign used "Make America Sane Again" though not officially.
Since 2016, the phrase "Make America White Again" was used by hate groups and politicians who align themselves with Trump.[75] Australian political commentator and former Liberal Party leader John Hewson also used the slogan in reference to his belief that recent global movements against traditional politics and politicians are based on racism and prejudice. He comments: "There should be little doubt about US President Donald Trump's views on race, despite his occasional 'denials', assertions of 'fake news', and/or his semantic distinctions. His election campaign theme was effectively a promise to 'Make America Great Again; America First and Only' and—nod, nod, wink, wink—to Make America White Again."[76]
Neo-Nazi James Mason expressed that the election of Trump gave him hope, commenting that "in order to Make America Great Again, you have to make it white again".[77]
"Make America Great Again" has frequently been parodied in advertising, the media, and other outlets of popular culture, with varying levels of comparison to Trump from none at all to a rebuke of the former president and his ideology.
The slogan was parodied by Dunk-a-roos as "Make America Dunk Again"[78] and the film s tagline of "Make America Bait Again."[79]
Make Everything Great Again was a street art mural by artist Mindaugas Bonanu in Vilnius, Lithuania. Inspired by graffiti painting My God, Help Me to Survive This Deadly Love, it depicts Donald Trump giving a fraternal kiss to the Russian president Vladimir Putin.[80]
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 carpet, such as at the 2017 Grammy Awards.[81]
The tagline for (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".[82] The next film in the franchise, The First Purge, was subsequently advertised with a poster featuring its title stylized on a MAGA hat.[83]
In The Boys Season 4, the political slogan "Make America Super Again" serves as the main rallying cry for the primary antagonist Homelander as he successfully executes his own version of January 6 coup in The Boys universe.[84] [85]
In 2011, Republican former United States Senate candidate Christine O'Donnell published a book about her campaign in the 2010 Delaware special election titled Troublemaker: Let's Do What It Takes to Make America Great Again.[86]
Political advisor Dan Pfeiffer's second book is called Un-Trumping America: A Plan to Make America a Democracy Again.
Political commentator and author Peter Beinart published a 2006 book titled The Good Fight: Why Liberalsand Only LiberalsCan Win the War on Terror and Make America Great Again[87] drawing on the philosophy of theologian Reinhold Niebuhr after the 2003 invasion of Iraq and during the early years of the War on Terror.
Snoop Dogg's second EP is called Make America Crip Again with the second single titled "M.A.C.A." Dogg was quoted in Rolling Stone magazine as saying that 'Make America Great Again' refers to a time in the past that "always takes me back to separation and segregation so I'd rather Make America Crip Again" and referred to a time "when young black men in impoverished areas organized to help their communities and to take care of their own because society basically left them for dead."[88]
Singer Joy Villa produced a single "Make America Great Again" a few months after appearing at the 2017 Grammy Awards in a 'MAGA' dress.[89]
Australian heavy metal band Thy Art is Murder recorded a song called "Make America Hate Again" on their album Human Target.[90]
The episode "What's Past Is Prologue" has Gabriel Lorca vowing in one scene to "Make the Empire glorious again."[91] [92] [93] [94]
In the South Park episode "Where My Country Gone?" (2015), supporters of Mr. Garrison, who runs a campaign that is a parody of Trump's, are seen holding signs bearing the slogan.[95]
Senator Armstrong, the antagonist of the 2013 video game used "Make America Great Again" as his campaign slogan.[96]
Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus, a first-person shooter video game with Nazis as the enemy, was given the advertising tagline "Make America Nazi-Free Again", which some people objected to as anti-Trump, though a company executive said the game was not a "social critique on 2017 America." Peters Hines, the studio’s vice president of marketing and public relations, was quoted on GamesIndustry.biz as saying, "Wolfenstein has been a decidedly anti-Nazi series since the first release more than 20 years ago. We aren’t going to shy away from what the game is about. We don’t feel it’s a reach for us to say Nazis are bad and un-American, and we’re not worried about being on the right side of history here."[97]
During his campaign for the 2019 Indonesian presidential election in October 2018, former opposition leader Prabowo Subianto used the phrase "make Indonesia great again", though he denied having copied Trump.[98]
During the Swedish European Parliament election in May 2019, the Swedish Christian Democratic Party used the slogan "Make EU Lagom Again".[99] [100]
The Spanish far-right party VOX used as slogan "
Hacer a España grande otra vez", or "Make Spain Great Again".[101] [102]In Singapore, the slogan "Make Yishun Great Again" was used by content creators as a running joke where the town itself has a stereotype for being dangerous. There were hats sold with the phrase. [103]
The right-wing populist United Australia Party used the slogans "Make Australia Great" and "Make Australia Great Again" during the 2019 and 2022 Australian federal elections.[104] [105]
In Israel, the Israeli far-right has used the similar expression "Make Israel Great Again" along with the acronym MIGA.[106]
In Mongolia, much like Trump tapped into the anger and resentment of working-class, President of Mongolia Khaltmaagiin Battulga has managed to harness the energy and passion of the Mongolian MAGA movement base. The "Mongolia Will Win" or "Moya" grassroots movement originated from President Battulga's 2017 election slogan "Монгол Ялна" (Mongol Yalna), with "Мояа" (Moya) being a derivative term.[107]
The 2024 Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union used the motto "Make Europe Great Again."[108] [109] [110]
