From Drain the Swamp to Drown in Debt: Dozens of MAGA Betrayals Just 3 Months In

Three months into the Trump administration, and the new regime is repeatedly trampling MAGA’s most cherished values—to the praise and glee of much of his base. The fierce opposition MAGA correctly expressed toward Biden and the Democrats for years has morphed into mindless submission in a staggering show of cognitive dissonance and hypocrisy.

Across the board, MAGA is eating its principles and itself. From big government and economic suicide to civil liberties violations and MAHA betrayals, much of the MAGA base appears more interested in power than principle. The following is a sampling of this hypocrisy and authoritarianism, with some examples falling into multiple categories.

-Deportations without due process based on the government’s accusations (egregious errors are already piling up)

-Suppression of speech through detention and attempts to deport legal immigrants over criticism of Israel

-A prevailing MAGA delusion that basic constitutional rights and the natural rights they’re rooted in only apply to “citizens”—in other words, people the government designates as worthy of rights (the government is harassing “citizens,” too)

-REAL ID enforcement, which increases federal authority over states and citizens and is paving the way for a biometric digital identification system

-ICE surveillance of social media for criticism of the department

-The deletion of a federal police misconduct database that Trump himself created, a move against transparency and accountability for government enforcers

-Both the Senate and House Republican budget proposals increase the deficit and debt ceiling and allow for major increases in military spending (lawmakers in both houses have shown repeated support for these measures, as has Trump)

-In February, numerous Republicans in the Senate voted down Senator Rand Paul’s amendment to make significant spending cuts

-Elon Musk’s DOGE operation and the White House claim massive savings, but so far, the only rescissions package they’ve sent to Congress to make the cuts permanent is for a paltry $9.3 billion

-On the question of tariffs, at least some of MAGA has gone from complaining about government intervention in the free market to insisting that paying higher prices is patriotic

-Farmers can’t survive with the new economic restrictions? The government may have to bail them out (as Trump did in his first term)

-No action on promises to “abolish the income tax” or “abolish the IRS”

-The very premise of MAHA relies on big government and widespread prohibition. ‘Ban this chemical or that additive,’ MAHA demands, unconcerned with how such expansions of power might be abused in the future

-Trump appointed a seed oil industry insider to be the chief of staff of the USDA

-This agency has granted preliminary authorization for a poultry vaccine to stem bird flu outbreaks, while RFK Jr. betrays his MAHA base and past rhetoric by promoting the MMR vaccine

-Trump’s FDA has fast-tracked a self-amplifying mRNA vaccine

-Trump appointed a healthcare lobbyist to be the top health official at the Office of Management and Budget, and his chief of staff, Susie Wiles, previously worked at a lobbying firm that has served pharmaceutical clients and the sugar lobby

-Trump appointed Wall Street bankers with ties to the Federal Reserve (Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick) and George Soros (Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent)

-Trump bragged that Charles Schwab, who owns the deeply entrenched banking corporation, made $2.5 billion off tariff-induced market chaos

-Trump’s plan to ‘take back’ the Panama Canal led to Larry Fink and Blackrock's acquisition of significant control of the canal; Trump was reportedly aware of Blackrock’s play, and he intentionally omitted their name from his congressional address touting the acquisition (China may block the sale)

-No Epstein list despite repeated assurances from top officials

-Deep administration ties to Palantir, the CIA-backed corporation spearheading the rise of the technocratic police state

-A $500 billion deal with top tech behemoths (Sam Altman of OpenAI and Larry Ellison of Oracle)

-No apparent DOGE scrutiny of Elon Musk’s extensive military and intelligence contracts

-Continuing aid to Ukraine despite much bluster and posturing

-Unquestioning support for Israel as Trump facilitates billions of dollars in weapons sales and backs up whatever military force the war criminal regime uses on civilians

-Appointments of hardcore Zionists and pro-Israel shills in direct violation of “America First”

-Calls to annex Gaza, which would further entangle the US in foreign conflicts

-Threatening war with Iran

-Bombing Yemen and Somalia in a continuation of years-long unconstitutional incursions that have thus far failed to eliminate the targeted terror groups but have killed countless civilians

None of this is to say Democrats and the left are any better or more consistent than Republicans. They, too, chronically abandon their purportedly most cherished values in favor of power and control. “My body, my choice” usually only applies to a narrow category of gendered decision-making about sex. “Compassion” often only extends to people who comply with left-wing ideology. What was left of the mainstream left’s support for peace and free speech has been traded for perpetual militarism and demands for government censorship.

Regardless of the ideological faction, the current system invariably produces people who not only don’t care when their “team” violates their values and rights but also often can’t even recognize that it’s happening. This is an inevitable consequence of the nature of the system: roughly half of the voting population (along with everyone else) is forced to submit to the other half based on whoever wins a majority at the ballot box. It is difficult to resist the temptation of the illusion of power: the people can choose between ruling over others or being ruled over. In reality, the ruling class holds the power while those they rule over beg for crumbs of representation.

Because the stakes are so high, people are more willing to abandon their values in exchange for feeling they have some say over the increasingly deteriorating system. Further, because people have been so conditioned to outsource their power to politicians and the State, they are more willing to rationalize hypocrisy and tyranny; if they view voting and government as their only relief and avenue to make changes, how could they fully question those they believe are their only hope? Doing so would threaten their entire worldview and identity and belief in the need for government.

Is a system that repeatedly requires people to sacrifice their principles and liberties worth salvaging?