Portside

“History…would be of a very mystical nature if ‘accidents’ played no part in it…. including the ‘accident’ of the character of those who at first stand at the head of the movement.” —Karl Marx  

Most of the time it makes sense to skip past Donald Trump’s rantings on social media to examine the underlying material dynamics that shape US politics: The crisis of the neoliberal economic model. The erosion of US global hegemony. The 60-year right-wing backlash against the gains of the 1960s. The persistence of economic inequality, racial injustice, and patriarchy. The impact on the US working class of deindustrialization, COVID, and post-COVID inflation. The anti-democratic features built into the US electoral system.

The Left’s assessment of the moment and our strategies for transformative change need to be grounded in these realities. But a periodic check on Trump’s messages on Truth Social is also warranted. It tells us a lot about the way this aspiring dictator thinks and what appeals to a MAGA base consisting of 70% of Republican voters and 35% of the electorate overall. Left assessments and strategies will be mechanical and one-sided if this dimension of class struggle—what Marx calls “the ideological forms in which men (sic) become conscious of conflict and fight it out”— is neglected.

Truly a Mad King

So let’s take a look at one of Trump’s most-circulated recent posts, his Easter message:

Happy Easter to all, including the Radical Left lunatics who are fighting and scheming so hard to bring Murderers, Drug Lords, Dangerous Prisoners, and Wife Beaters back into our Country. Happy Easter also to the WEAK and INEFFECTIVE Judges and Law Enforcement Officials who are allowing this sinister attack on our Nation to continue, an attack so violent it will never be forgotten. Sleepy Joe Biden purposely allowed Millions of CRIMINALS to enter our Country, totally unvetted and unchecked, through an Open Borders Policy that will go down in history as the single most calamitous act ever perpetrated upon America. He was, by far, our WORST and most incompetent President, a man who had absolutely no idea what he was doing—But to him and to the person that ran and manipulated the Auto Pen (perhaps our REAL President!), and all of the people who CHEATED in the 2020 Presidential Election in order to get this highly destructive Moron Elected, I wish you, with great love, sincerity, and affection, a very Happy Easter.!!!

As Robert Kuttner put it in the American Prospect, Trump is “mad as a hatter.” Messages like this are unmoored from reality and narcissistic to the core; they drip with raw vengeance-seeking and dehumanizing contempt. Trump’s mental pathologies do not drive the fascist threat facing this country. But his obsessions, vindictiveness, and volatility shape the way this threat unfolds.

Even more important is the fact that millions of US people believe Trump was chosen by God (and/or the vast majority of people they consider “real Americans”) to lead the country. Further, the devotion felt by a third of the country is not despite Trump’s hatemongering and delusion but because of them. Fed a steady stream of Trump’s abusive messages (along with videos of GOP elected officials wielding guns, pictures of Kristi Noem gloating over manacled prisoners, and the like) it’s no surprise a “cruelty-is-the-point” culture gives a sense of purpose and belonging to the MAGA faithful.

Deep structures and a long history

Of course, Trump as an individual did not create this base for fascism. Rather, his combination of delusion and demagogic genius tapped into mass sentiments with deep material roots. The genocide of Native Americans, 250 years of racial slavery, and almost 100 years of Jim Crow have left a poisonous ideological legacy. The Black-led Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s ended legalized discrimination and racist immigration quotas and broke the white monopoly on political power. But that period’s “Massive Resistance” to desegregation soon re-emerged in the form of a backlash that passed through Nixon’s southern strategy,1970s crusades against affirmative action, and the Tea Party response to the election of the first Black President. It now manifests itself in a crusade to whitewash US history and replace racial inclusivity and equity with color-blind racism that is enthusiastically supported by the MAGA faithful.

The oppression of women and an ideology of rigid gender roles have long accompanied structures of racial hierarchy. The two are often linked by similar theological justifications. And misogyny crests during periods when war and militarism are high on the political agenda. Today’s Pete Hegseth-led campaign to purge “wokeness,” DEI, trans people, and respect for the Geneva Conventions from the military in favor of a “warrior culture” draws together ideological strands that have a long history and surged in influence after 9/11.

All this is closely intertwined with an inherently exploitative economic system whose most recent phase—neoliberalism—has seen a dramatic growth of both economic inequality and the political power of a billionaire oligarchy.

A magnet for grifters, billionaires and conspiracy fabulists

Trump’s ascent to power is rooted in these underlying dynamics. But he has proven remarkably skillful at unleashing the most backward impulses in US society and re-branding them as simply all-American common sense. His delusional narcissism—genuinely seeing himself as a “stable genius” victimized by an unfair system—resonates as authenticity among millions who feel their economic well-being or status is under threat. Hence the heartfelt cheers when Trump declares that he will provide “retribution” for those taken advantage of by his ever-expanding list of dangerous “others” (the deep state, globalists, Marxists, Democrats, gangs made up of immigrants from “shithole countries,” etc.).

Trump’s demagogy is buttressed by an army of grifters, billionaires, climate change denialists, and wannabe fascists who amplify his hate-spewing for their own advantage. Tech bros and crypto scammers, anti-vaxers and conspiracy fabulists, Fox News personalities and podcast hustlers all play their part.

And in the last 18 months especially, Netanyahu, the Israel lobby, and genocide-enabling political leaders in both major parties have played a special role. The dehumanization of Palestinians and the smear that all who speak up for Palestinian rights are anti-Semitic have not only become the main justifications for US complicity in genocide. They are a centerpiece of attacks on freedom of speech, the right to protest, immigrant rights, and academic freedom.

Strategic implications: a broad front and a progressive trend

Trump’s power-obsessed narcissism and the existence of a mass base for fascism reinforce two central components of Left strategy during Trump’s second term. 

One, blocking a descent into fascism requires the broadest possible coalition, one that includes every possible opponent of MAGA’s power-grab.

Two, only a powerful and combative force within that front that is united on a program of structural change can bring enough energy to defeat MAGA and start a new progressive cycle in US politics. 

The drama from now through 2028 is whether it will be possible for the pro-democracy forces in US politics to remove MAGA from power by a combination of mass activism (strikes, civil disobedience, disruptive protests, organized noncompliance) and electoral victories. In the last few weeks, the administration’s drive toward autocratic rule has been meeting increasing resistance. Both popular disapproval of Trump’s administration and protest actions have increased substantially. 

It is also likely that opposition to the administration will continue to grow. The “liberation” Trump thinks he will accomplish via his “most beautiful word in the English language” tariffs, for instance, is as disconnected from reality as his social media rants. Economic disaster—higher prices, business closures, job losses, even a collapse of confidence in the US dollar—is quite possible. The political fallout could narrow Trump’s support to a MAGA hard core that itself might be demoralized and confused by what to them is an unexpected outcome. 

In a scenario where protest and disapproval grow to the point that Trump’s tell-the-President-only-good news advisers cannot shield him from how widespread it is, we can expect Trump’s vengeance-seeking obsession with power to come to the fore. His invoking martial law via the Insurrection Act or other means cannot be ruled out. 

Trump’s moves to gain complete control over the Justice Department, the military, ICE, the IRS, and the federal courts are designed to give him the tools to take that kind of step. He has made considerable progress. But he has not yet been able to purge non-MAGA people from every position of influence in those institutions. Thus, it is possible for a combination of active resistance and public disapproval to influence enough “inside” players to tie Trump’s hands. 

This means that conservative lawyers who actually believe in the rule of law; military personnel who think their oath is to the Constitution rather than to the President—along with working-class people who hold backward views on various issues but are not MAGA partisans—need to be part of the Left’s political vision. Efforts are also needed to take advantage of fissures within the MAGA bloc, which are already evident in fights within the House Republican Caucus among MAGA deficit hawks, Tech-Bro toadies, and MAGA populists). Anything that weakens the sense of impunity now prevalent among Trump’s base or spreads demoralization within their ranks (a little parody can sometimes go a long way) also should be part of our arsenal. 

For those who think paying attention to internal MAGA fissures and seeking alliances with people whose politics we sharply disagree with is diluting our radicalism, a review of Lenin’s words on the subject would be of value:

“The more powerful enemy can be vanquished only by exerting the utmost effort, and by the most thorough, careful, attentive, skillful and obligatory use of any, even the smallest, rift between the enemies, any conflict of interests among the bourgeoisie of the various countries and among the various groups or types of bourgeoisie within the various countries, and also by taking advantage of any, even the smallest, opportunity of winning a mass ally, even though this ally is temporary, vacillating, unstable, unreliable and conditional. Those who do not understand this reveal a failure to understand even the smallest grain of Marxism…”

A radical contingent to drive the anti-fascist front

While a broad front against MAGA is essential to stave off authoritarian rule, it is not sufficient. A well-organized progressive force with a vision of a robust multiracial and gender-inclusive democracy and an economy that works for workers and the poor is also needed. This is for two main reasons. 

First, a majority coalition against MAGA cannot gain the depth of support needed for victory based solely on a critique of MAGA’s anti-democratic and anti-popular nature. A positive vision of a post-MAGA society is needed to energize the exploited and oppressed constituencies that have both the interest and capacity to drive the broader anti-fascist coalition. 

That vision is not going to come from the current Democratic Party leadership because their program calls for a return to a slightly-tinkered-with pre-Trump status quo. In fact, the (mal)practice of the current Democratic Congressional leadership—lack of any collective focus, failure to even vote consistently as a united bloc against every administration proposal and nominee—blunts the credibility of their anti-MAGA argument. It normalizes Trump’s presidency and creates the perception that Democrats don’t really believe their claim that Trumpism is a dangerous threat to US democracy. Only a radical contingent that opposes MAGA across the board, promotes grassroots protests and defiance by elected officials, and offers a vision of transformative change can catalyze and cohere a winning resistance movement.

Second, putting gains for democracy and a better quality of life on a firm foundation—and pushing MAGA not just out of governmental power but back into the margins of US politics—will take more than electoral victories, even when those are flanked by mass action. It will require an assault on the structures that undergird inequality, exploitation, and the tendency toward fascism. Only a force that grasps the systemic links between authoritarianism, oligarchy, militarism and the MAGA threat we face today can chart the kind of assault needed. 

These considerations inform not just the Left’s approach to the current anti-MAGA resistance. They shape our perspective on what it will take to put the Trump era behind us and start a new progressive cycle in US politics. For this, we need to think deeply about the composition and program of the new governing coalition we hope to put in power in 2028. 

Of prime importance, that coalition and its steps toward structural change must galvanize and sustain truly mass support. Working-class-oriented progressives are extremely unlikely to have the strength to govern alone, even if the trend in US politics from Bernie and AOC leftward grows significantly, and union density (a prime measure of the level of working-class organization) triples in the next four years and is accompanied by a commensurate positive shift in union members’ politics.

If we succeed in becoming part of a new governing coalition in 2028, the political challenge will involve maximizing progressive influence on key winnable fights that deliver gains to a majority base and simultaneously expand that base’s political horizons. It will be urgent to start a dynamic where initial wins yield bigger wins and move the center of gravity of the coalition steadily leftward while simultaneously weakening the MAGA opposition. Only getting that kind of dynamic into motion and sustaining it can make what comes immediately after MAGA a steppingstone toward deep structural transformation instead of a temporary period of grace before the next backlash. 

Max Elbaum is a member of the Convergence Magazine editorial board and the author of Revolution in the Air: Sixties Radicals Turn to Lenin, Mao and Che (Verso Books, Third Edition, 2018), a history of the 1970s-‘80s ‘New Communist Movement’ in which he was an active participant. He is also a co-editor, with Linda Burnham and María Poblet, of Power Concedes Nothing: How Grassroots Organizing Wins Elections (OR Books, 2022).

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