Former Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. interpreted former President Donald Trump’s famous ‘Make America Great Again’ (MAGA) phrase in a positive light on Sunday.
Kennedy, who suspended his presidential campaign on Friday and subsequently endorsed Trump, explained how the ‘MAGA’ phrase has frequently “troubled liberals” who view the phrase as a “call for a return to an America before civil rights, gay rights, and women’s rights.”
What "MAGA" really means
The phrase has troubled liberals who think it is a call for a return to an America before civil rights, gay rights, and women's rights. But I have a more generous interpretation, one that is truer to my experience of Donald Trump as he is today. "Make…
— Robert F. Kennedy Jr (@RobertKennedyJr) August 25, 2024
However, Kennedy presented a different take of the phrase and explained that his interpretation of the phrase came as a result of meeting with Trump himself, his inner circle, and supporters of the former president, saying, “I have a more generous interpretation, one that is truer to my experience of Donald Trump as he is today.”
Kennedy said ‘MAGA’ “recalls a nation brimming with vitality, with a can-do spirit, with hope and a belief in itself.”
“It was an America that was beginning to confront its darker shadows, could acknowledge the injustice in its past and present, yet at the same time could celebrate its successes. It was a nation of broad prosperity, the world’s most vibrant middle class, and an idealistic belief (though not consistently applied) in freedom, justice, and democracy. It was a nation that led the world in innovation, productivity, and technology. And it was the healthiest country in the world,” Kennedy said.
“I have talked to many Trump supporters. I have talked with his inner circle. I have talked to the man himself. This is the America they want to restore,” Kennedy added.
Kennedy’s post on X, formerly Twitter, defending Trump’s ‘MAGA’ phrase has been viewed more than 3 million times at the time of publishing.
‘MAGA’ has been weaponized by Democrats, including President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who frequently use the phrase to brand Republicans that support Trump’s policies as “extremists.”
For example, Biden delivered the following remarks in Arizona last year weaponizing the Trump-coined phrase:
[T]here is something dangerous happening in America. There is an extremist movement that does not share the basic beliefs of our democracy. The MAGA Movement…[T]here is no question that today’s Republican Party is driven and intimidated by MAGA extremists.
More recently, during an event in Michigan, Biden again weaponized the phrase to call Republicans who opposed affirmative action as “MAGA extremists.”
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
