Objections We Hear: “MAGA and Republicans Are Not the Same”

We sometimes share clips showing Builder-like behavior from Democrats and Republicans from before the Trump era. This can lead to some liberal members of our community responding with objections like: 

“Republicans back in the day were more respectful — but MAGA is extreme and not interested in reducing toxicity.” 

“I can get along with traditional Republicans, but not these MAGA Republicans.”

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Some people on both “sides” think getting along with and engaging with political opponents was perhaps possible in the past — but not anymore. For anti-Trump Americans, the rise of Trump and the MAGA movement represented a major surge in political hostility and a breaking of long-held norms and traditions of behavior. Trump, to many people, changed the game. 

These views help explain why many draw a firm and judgmental line between MAGA and non-MAGA Republicans. People’s concerns are understandable; political polarization has deepened and our divides can easily seem insurmountable. 

But drawing such a firm line between MAGA supporters and traditional Republicans can deepen our division. Here are some thoughts on why this instinct can divide us and how to avoid adding to the division.  

Where Is The Line Between “MAGA” and “Non-MAGA” Republicans?

One problem with such framing is that there’s no clear boundary between “MAGA” and “non-MAGA” Republicans. For one thing, Trump was the choice of almost all Republican voters. It’s true Trump has had a major influence on the GOP; political parties are, after all, always shifting. This is especially true in polarized and turbulent times. 

Also, our political preferences these days are more about our hostility toward the “other side” than enthusiasm for “our side.” Many Trump voters aren’t completely aligned with Trump or highly enthusiastic about him or all of his policies. They may have simply viewed him as the better of two options (just as that dynamic plays a role in some Democrats’ choices). As we’ve argued, we should separate our views of politicians from our views of their supporters. 

The reality is that the Republican Party, like any political group, is complex. Trying to draw a firm line between “MAGA” and “non-MAGA” Republicans is difficult, if not impossible. The harsher we judge and criticize MAGA, the more we alienate and insult the people who voted for and supported Trump.

Trump Didn’t Create Our Divides 

Some people believe Trump is the cause of our toxic divides, but it’s important to see that partisan hostility had been growing for decades before his election. Political scientist Nolan McCarty and others have argued Trump’s rise in 2016 was a natural consequence of our escalating polarization. 

The angry rhetoric and distrust we see today are part of a long-running self-reinforcing pattern of conflict. In the early 2000s, and before that, you can find extremely toxic and dehumanizing rhetoric from people on both “sides.” Going back decades, there have been many people who make arguments similar to those we hear now: “The ‘other side’ has become so extreme and crazy that we can’t engage with them in good faith now.” 

We must see that this kind of thinking has been fueling the widespread hostility that got us where we are now. If we want to break this cycle, we must try to understand each other and take more depolarizing approaches — even if it  seems harder to do now. 

This Pattern Also Exists on the Other Side

The tendency to write off political opponents as “too extreme to engage with” isn’t unique to anti-Trump Americans. Many Republicans say the same thing about today’s Democrats: accusing them of becoming too extreme; seeing them as highly toxic and insulting. They’ll say things like, “Democrats weren’t so bad a few years ago; now they’re too extreme to work with.” 

This is how conflict generally works. Both groups are able to find a lot of evidence of their opponents’ badness. People in both groups will think, “Why is it on us to take the high road when they are so hostile and rude?”

Why Understanding Matters

While Trump didn’t create political toxicity in America, Trump supporters should be willing to see why people believe he amplifies toxicity, just as we ask anti-Trump supporters to reframe their mindset on MAGA. Writing off our “enemies” as irredeemable and unworthy of empathy and engagement plays a role in widening our divides — and creates the same patterns of behavior that bother us.  

As we often say: understanding each other doesn’t mean agreeing. It means recognizing the complexity behind people’s choices and seeing them as people first, not enemies. How we think about and treat each other plays a role in breaking the vicious cycle of toxic polarization.

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