Esther Bachmann

MAGA is not a conservative movement. They call their opponents communists. Yet, they are the ones embracing what American conservatives would call communism. Look at what is happening: 1. The Cult of the Leader Communist regimes built personality cults around their leaders. Their portraits were everywhere. Buildings and institutions carried their names. Loyalty to the country gradually became indistinguishable from loyalty to the leader. Now look at MAGA. Giant portraits of Donald Trump. Buildings and institutions being named after him. Political loyalty increasingly measured by personal loyalty to one man. That is not traditional American conservatism. Conservatives once distrusted concentrations of power and defended institutions over individuals. Today, MAGA has embraced the cult of the leader. 2. Government Ownership of Private Companies Capitalism rests on private ownership. Communism moves ownership and control toward the state. Yet the Trump administration acquired a roughly 10% stake in Intel – making the federal government a major shareholder in one of America’s largest technology companies. Other examples include MP Materials, Trilogy Metals, Lithium Americas, USA Rare Earth, and the list goes on. Call it whatever you want. Government ownership of private corporations is not a principle of free-market conservatism. 3. Government Direction of Prices Free markets allow prices to emerge from supply and demand. Command economies have politicians telling businesses what things should cost. Trump increasingly speaks as if the president should determine prices – from demanding lower oil prices to directing pharmaceutical pricing. Again: where is the free-market conservatism? Sounds more like the Soviet Union. 4. Protectionism Instead of Free Trade Traditional economic conservatism emphasized competition, private enterprise, and open markets. MAGA increasingly embraces tariffs, government protection of favored industries, industrial policy, and political intervention in international commerce. This is economic nationalism and state intervention – not classical free-market conservatism. 5. Government Checks for Political Support Trump has proposed a $5,000 “dividend” for American adults while explicitly connecting it to Republicans winning Congress. First of all, this is an illegal bribe. Second, it is completely fiscally irresponsible. 270 million adults × $5,000 = $1.35 trillion. America is already approaching $40 trillion in federal debt. Third, if Democrats proposed handing voters $1.35 trillion in government checks, MAGA would scream “socialism.” When Trump proposes it, suddenly it becomes conservative economics. 6. Friendship With Authoritarian Regimes For generations, American conservatives defined themselves partly through opposition to communist and authoritarian regimes. Yet Trump has repeatedly expressed admiration for or cultivated unusually warm relationships with Vladimir Putin, Xi Jinping, and Kim Jong Un. This type of behavior would be despicable to traditional Republicans. Opposing authoritarian regimes was a distinct feature of the traditional conservative movement. 7. The Party Becomes the Leader Perhaps this is the most important transformation. Conservatism traditionally emphasized institutions, constitutional limits, individual responsibility, private property, and skepticism toward concentrated government power. MAGA revolves around one individual. The leader defines the ideology. The leader decides which principles still matter. The leader decides which former enemies are now friends. And when the leader abandons yesterday’s conservative principles, millions of followers abandon them with him. This is the great irony of MAGA. For years, they have called everyone else communists and socialists. Yet today they are the ones embracing communism.