Are there many leaving MAGA, with buyer's remorse? No. But I anticipate there will be a gradual, and then sudden, leaving amongst the regretful. Though it belies our sense of urgency, we must also be patient, as it will take some time for many Trump voters to feel the consequences of their choice. I know many will construe my statement as a defense of ignorance, but it's not. There is a lot of, "they knew what they were voting for," commentary about Trump voters--and, in particular, MAGA voters.

I say this without judging, as I was once a zealous MAGA supporter; and I am not saying it is inapplicable to non-MAGA: I was political before 2015, but was ignorant and cynical; I believed both parties were the same; and an erroneous desire to see our established political order obliterated was my entrée into MAGA. MAGA inarguably appeals to the disillusioned; that disenchantment manifests itself personally, politically, etc. The existential question is: why have so many of the disaffected amongst us gravitated to MAGA? I ask this not to pressure anyone into concurring with anyone's decision to remain in the MAGA community, but to understand the root causes for so much unhappiness amongst so many of our countrymen and women.

🧵 I published this last month:

MAGA's true believers don't understand capitalism — Trump will teach them a hard lesson America is a nation at war with its mythologies.

For all the electoral postmortems about the desire for economic change, what’s unsurprisingly absent is what seems, to me, an obvious omission: an all-enveloping misunderstanding of American capitalism.

I’m not dismissing the importance of anxiety about solvency, about the challenges that small businesses face (I’m a proprietor of one myself) and about the cost of future entitlements. (We’ll get to the problems of liberalism in a bit). Most of us in this country will worry about money for the duration of our lives.

🧵One of the reasons I left MAGA, in 2022, was because of the acceptance of avoidable deaths, suffering and trauma, as well as the blatant disregard of human life. In watching the President’s recent presser on the aviation accident in D.C., it was deja vu all over again, to use an old maxim. And it reminded me of all those insufferable COVID press conferences, when Trump was mismanaging the pandemic. There is also an obsession Trump has with Obama, which is a topic for another tweet.

I know many will construe my statement as a defense of ignorance, but it's not.

There is a lot of, "they knew what they were voting for," commentary about Trump voters--and, in particular, MAGA voters. But I think this is the actual problem: many, if not most, *didn't* know for what they were voting; or, had only a partly-formed idea. My evidence is that most Americans are apolitical and don't pay attn. to politics, and political media, the way many of us here on Twitter do.

🧵 The 2 primary reasons I left MAGA were: the acceptance of avoidable deaths, suffering and trauma; and the defense and justification of Trump-inspired political violence.

https://twitter.com/kylegriffin1/status/1881708574025584834

Here’s what I would have said if I were in MAGA now: "What about the Summer 2020 protests?"; and, "they are politically persecuted." Exactly what you hear right now. And there are also some with whom I congregated who said, in the immediate aftermath of Jan. 6, that Trump should not run again; and they said that because they knew Trump was partly responsible for the Capitol riot.

🧵This is an ode to MAGA Americans, on behalf of Leaving MAGA:

Dear MAGA Americans,

I was a devoted member of MAGA nation for seven years; it made me feel I was part of something important: a movement that was trying to save American democracy.

But starting in 2021, I realized I had been mistaken. It took me a full year to finally break away. During that time, I came to understand that MAGA is sustained by a series of myths that are intended to create perpetual feelings of desperation and panic. Succumbing to these predatory myths does not mean you are unintelligent, weak, or lack good character and morals. I have a Bachelor’s degree; have been a working professional my entire life; am a family man; and consider myself a relatively honest and intelligent person. I think the same about you.

I understand the reasons you have for supporting MAGA. And I know many of us traveled different paths to get there. I gravitated to Donald Trump because I have always been suspicious of our two-party system, and I saw him as the right man at the right time.

🧵2 hills I will die on are:

1. Democrats, as a whole (as are Republicans), are afraid to have candid conversations with voters, and fear them. Yes, it’s a fine balance, and I don’t proclaim to think I’m an expert on this. There is a way, however, to acknowledge economic worries (which most Americans will endure for the duration of their lives), AND educate on how those anxieties are a direct result of capitalism, AND still be pro-capitalism (which I am).

🧵 I respect Tom’s intellect, and digitally subscribe to The Atlantic. I don’t want to engage in a debate, but to offer a perspective as an ex-MAGA volunteer, activist and pundit (bylines in Fox; The Federalist; and WND, which originated the Obama birther conspiracy; amongst others). I was a MAGA fanatic, who did have doubts. It took me a year to leave MAGA, for a variety of reasons: MAGA is a community, and I had a second family; and, the realization that I’d not only been wrong about most of what I was certain of, but that I’d allowed myself to be influenced into adhering to those beliefs. To paraphrase Hemingway: my epiphany occurred gradually, and then suddenly, all at once. The Leaving MAGA Road to Damascus was quite long for me.

Please share our story with any undecided voter you may know.

I Was MAGA. Why Am I Voting Solely for Democratic Candidates?

For seven years, I was an unapologetic member of MAGA nation. If someone had told me then that I would be addressing the 2024 Democratic National Convention to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris, I would have considered it a personal affront. Yet there I was, appearing in a 1-minute video in August, acknowledging the grave mistake I had made supporting former President Donald Trump.

At this critical juncture of American history, I believe the story of my odyssey into, and out of, MAGA can help others who may be having doubts or remorse about staying in the movement and community.

🧵Given former President Trump's firing squad comments about Liz Cheney, I feel compelled to share; and, to make another appeal to undecideds.

As I predicted many months ago, we are seeing accelerated levels of panic and desperation on the party of the GOP, Trump and their surrogates---both in, and outside of, politics. Why? Because Trump and the GOP do not expect to win Tues., and know that a likely historic repudiation is merely hours away. Perhaps they were more confident when President Biden was the nominee; but once VP Harris replaced him, the GOP and Trump knew it would take a true Hail Mary to win.

🧵1. The process of leaving MAGA was what I refer to as my Year of Heaven and Hell, commencing in Summer 2021, with Summer 2022 when I finally, and fully, left MAGA. I did not support the Jan. 6 riot, and in the six months following it, I always acknowledged my opposition to it. 2. But I also publicly said that those who continued to talk about it hyperbolized the adverse effects and consequences of the day. I had thought that groups such as QAnon, the Proud Boys, et al. were fringe hobbyists.