Trapped MAGA voters desperately want to leave Trump — but can't escape the movement

Zerrin Mueller, a supporter of Donald Trump, in Clearwater, Florida, U.S., November 3, 2024. REUTERS/Octavio Jones

In the United States' 2024 presidential election, Donald Trump attracted two very different types of voters. The hardcore MAGA voters, many of whom had voted for Trump in 2016 and 2020, were true believers who never even considered voting for a Democratic nominee. But Trump also attracted many voters who were described as "Trump-curious," some of whom voted for Democrat Joe Biden in 2020 — and they included Latinos, independents, swing voters, Generation Z, tech bros and the Manosphere.

Those voters, many of them frustrated over inflation and the economy, were willing to give Trump a chance but didn't have a deep psychological attachment to the MAGA movement.

In an article published on April 28, Salon's Chauncey DeVega takes a look at MAGA voters who are feeling increasingly frustrated with Trump but psychologically, are having a hard time "leaving" him even though the reasons for doing so are "piling up."

"Donald Trump's promise of a new MAGA golden age for America is cracking from within," DeVega argues. "A decade into his rise to power, a growing number of his coalition's supporters are not just tired — they are walking away…. The president's tariffs, which have in part led to spiraling prices for food, housing, gas and other essentials. His broken promise to end 'stupid foreign wars' — followed by a war of choice against Iran. The cruelty of Trump's mass deportations, which are ensnaring and killing Americans. The Epstein files. Greed and blatant corruption. An image of the president as Jesus Christ, which he proudly shared on April 12 and, after widespread criticism, including from evangelicals, he deleted the following day."

DeVega draws a distinction between "Trump-curious" voters of 2024 and hardcore MAGA voters who have a deep emotional bond with his second presidency.

"Polls also show that a growing number of 'Trump curious' voters — Hispanics and young men, specifically — who helped put him in the White House in 2024 are abandoning MAGA in growing numbers," DeVega explains. "These people are giving permission — symbolic but real — to others to join their exodus. Their message is being underscored by prominent right-wing influencers, including Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly and former GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, who have denounced Trump."

DeVega continues, " Leaving is not easy. For the most committed MAGA members, the movement is all-encompassing. It is their identity, social world and way of life. For many true believers, it means alienating friends, family, neighbors, and leaving the right-wing echo chamber of conspiracism, lies and 'mass radicalization.'"

According to DeVega, "leaving" Trump and MAGA "will demand rebuilding civic trust between people who have been on the opposite side of a deep moral and political chasm."

"This will be raw and uncomfortable because it will involve trying to build relationships between people who were hurt and who, in many cases, actively supported that pain," DeVega warns. "But in the end, these acts of maturity and vulnerability will be necessary if American democracy is to heal and be made stronger."

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