How Trump Turned Authoritarianism Into Patriotism

Through executive orders, cultural warfare, and psychological manipulation, Trump didn’t just normalize authoritarianism, he branded it as the highest form of American loyalty.

Introduction: Authoritarianism in Red, White, and Blue

MAGA’s signature crusade—branding entire groups as “enemies” of America—rests on a remarkable moral inversion. Supporters cheer policies like mass deportations, family separations, or rejecting 14th‑Amendment citizenship as if defending liberty, even while shattering core American values. In this worldview, innocent people become “criminals” by dint of their identity, and any opposition is framed as a threat.

But evidence shows the opposite. For example, more than 75% of ICE detainees in California had no documented criminal history (CalMatters, 2025), and a Syracuse University study reports 46.4% of all ICE detainees nationwide have no criminal record (TRAC Reports, 2023). A 60 Minutes investigation similarly found that 75% of Venezuelans sent to a Salvadoran prison by the Trump administration had no U.S. rap sheets (CBS News, 2024).

We’ll explore how authoritarian psychology—right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) and social dominance orientation (SDO)—predisposes MAGA adherents to embrace such punitive policies, and how motivated reasoning and scapegoating (“lock them up,” “they aren’t real,” “DEI is unfair”) allow them to live with blatant contradictions. Through scholarly findings and statistical data, we show the dangerous reality masked by MAGA’s rhetoric.

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Authoritarian Followers: RWA and SDO

MAGA’s hard‑line base aligns closely with the classic “authoritarian follower” profile identified by psychologists. These individuals obey strong in-group leaders, harshly punish anyone who disobeys the group’s norms, and rigidly defend traditional hierarchies (Manson, 2022).

As Manson (2022) summarizes, authoritarians:

“obey authority figures from their in‑group… punish rule breakers… and rigidly endorse long‑held traditions.”

Social dominance orientation (SDO) is related but distinct: it reflects a worldview that society should be a pyramid of superior and subordinate groups (often along race and gender lines). High‑SDO individuals favor policies that preserve group supremacy and oppose anything—like affirmative action or DEI—that challenges the status hierarchy.

Research confirms that conservatives, particularly Trump supporters, score higher on both RWA and SDO, and these traits mediate support for anti-democratic policies (Wolf, Kim, Brisbane, & Junn, 2025). In a national survey, conservatives with high RWA and SDO were more likely to support leaders who defy democratic norms and endorse authoritarianism.

These traits fuel motivated reasoning: MAGA adherents dismiss evidence that contradicts their worldview (e.g., that immigrants or trans people pose no threat), while accepting narratives that justify their hostility. This explains the power of slogans like “they’re criminals,” even in the face of statistical data showing most detainees have no record (TRAC Reports, 2023; American Immigration Council, 2021).

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Rising Prejudice in the Trump/MAGA Era

Longitudinal research shows that Trump’s presidency didn’t just reflect existing prejudice—it amplified it. Ruisch and Ferguson (2022) analyzed over 10,000 participants across 13 studies and found that explicit racial and religious prejudice significantly increased among Trump supporters during his presidency. Conversely, Trump’s opponents became less prejudiced.

Wolf, Gray, and Osborne (2025) further confirmed this trend, showing that MAGA-aligned individuals became more comfortable expressing bigotry when they perceived it to be legitimized by political leadership. Trump's rhetoric functioned as a permission slip for prejudice. Labels like “criminals,” “illegals,” and “vermin” helped normalize what had previously been social taboos.

Kelly (2017) adds another layer to this by explaining how Trump’s entire rhetorical strategy hinges on flipping moral expectations upside down. He frames victimhood and revenge as civic virtues, portraying cruelty not as a failure of ethics, but as a necessary show of strength. His base, feeling powerless or displaced, is told their suffering is proof they deserve to strike back. This allows them to justify harsh, even inhumane policies as a form of self-defense or patriotism.

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Attacking Trans People, DEI, and 'Bad Hires'

Transgender people and DEI programs have become primary targets of MAGA wrath. This is no coincidence. Studies show a strong correlation between authoritarianism and transphobia (Wolf, Gray, & Osborne, 2025). For authoritarians, traditional gender norms are sacrosanct, and those who deviate from them are seen as threats.

MAGA rhetoric often describes trans people, especially youth, as frauds or predators, ignoring both science and lived experience. Similarly, DEI initiatives are dismissed as unfair advantages for unqualified people, reinforcing the idea that white men are the rightful default. These narratives are rooted not in merit but in hierarchy.

Manson (2022) notes that far-right politics thrives on perceived threats to tradition. Both anti-trans policies and anti-DEI backlash are driven by this threat perception. In this worldview, promoting equality becomes a form of persecution.

Wolf et al. (2025) describe how MAGA messaging encourages “punishment and retribution” against those who challenge this order. In such a climate, cruelty is not just tolerated—it is moralized.

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Due Process, Deportations, and Camps

In 2024, MAGA rallies proudly featured signs calling for “Mass Deportation Now!”, cheering proposals that would detain and expel millions of undocumented immigrants. Historian Andrea Pitzer warned that these plans resemble 21st-century concentration camps, where people are imprisoned based on identity without due process (Pitzer, 2024).

Disturbingly, Trump-era ICE operations detained and deported U.S. citizens, including children, without access to legal representation (New York Magazine, 2020). These are not isolated incidents but indicators of systemic disregard for legal protections.

Despite this, MAGA justifies these abuses by claiming immigrants are inherently criminal. Yet, data consistently shows immigrants are less likely to commit crimes than native-born Americans. For example, only 1.6% of immigrant men aged 18–39 are incarcerated, compared to 3.3% of native-born men (American Immigration Council, 2021).

Nonetheless, supporters continue to chant for more raids and camps. Even when confronted with facts, like the 75% of Venezuelans deported without records (CBS News, 2024), officials insist they’re criminals “just not on paper.” This illustrates how deeply motivated reasoning distorts policy, turning statistical outliers into symbolic enemies.

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From Grievance to Erasure: Why MAGA Wants to Undo Civil Rights

The MAGA movement isn’t just pushing new policies—it’s actively working to dismantle the legacy of civil rights. Calls to repeal the Civil Rights Act or the 19th Amendment no longer live only in the fringe—they’ve entered MAGA-aligned spaces as serious talking points. Supporters argue that racism and sexism are no longer pressing issues, and therefore protections for minorities and women now constitute “privilege.”

This isn’t about fairness. It’s about grievance.

At the core of this argument lies white grievance politics, where equality feels like loss. Social Dominance Orientation explains this response well: when people accustomed to social advantage face equalizing forces, they interpret it as oppression. If a law once meant to uplift the marginalized now threatens in-group status, the MAGA logic goes, it must be dismantled.

But there’s another layer—one that adds complexity and danger: members of marginalized groups themselves sometimes echo these demands. Some Black Americans argue that civil rights laws are unnecessary. Some women call for repealing women’s suffrage. These voices don’t refute systemic bias—they reflect a deeper psychological pattern.

Psychologists call it outgroup system justification—when individuals from disadvantaged groups internalize dominant ideologies to rationalize inequality. It’s a way of saying, “I succeeded without help, so others should too.” For some, it’s aspirational distancing: an attempt to signal exceptionalism by separating from the group and aligning with power. In MAGA spaces, this earns cultural capital. A Black person who says racism is over, or a woman who says feminism went too far, becomes a badge of validation for reactionary policies.

In the end, whether motivated by grievance or by internalized hierarchy, the goal is the same: erase legal protections that challenge the supremacy of the dominant group. It’s not just authoritarianism—it’s authoritarianism disguised as justice.

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Moral Inversion at the Heart of MAGA

What emerges from this political and psychological framework is a reversal of morality. Due process, civil rights, and compassion are rebranded as weaknesses. MAGA ideology demands loyalty not to the Constitution, but to a tribal hierarchy.

This isn’t merely political hypocrisy—it’s authoritarian psychology. The undocumented are presumed guilty, trans children are viewed as threats, and people of color advancing through DEI are seen as illegitimate. Meanwhile, state violence is justified as moral necessity.

Wolf et al. (2025) warn that MAGA’s “fear-laden rhetoric” seeks retribution against nonconformists, echoing classic authoritarian patterns. As Niemöller warned, when you start with silence in the face of oppression, the eventual collapse of justice is only a matter of time.

Ultimately, MAGA has not only flipped the moral compass—it has smashed it. Trump didn’t change people’s values—he legitimized the cruelty they already had, and flipped the moral labels we assign to actions. Compassion became weakness. Cruelty became patriotic. That’s the real flip. And in its place, it has raised a flag that waves not for liberty, but for order enforced through exclusion.

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References

American Immigration Council. (2021). Immigrants and crime: Reality vs. rhetoric. https://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/

CalMatters. (2025). Most ICE detainees in California have no criminal record.
https://calmatters.org/justice/2025/04/ice-detention-center-investigation

CBS News. (2024). 75% of Venezuelans deported by U.S. had no criminal record. 60 Minutes. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/venezuelans-deported-60-minutes/

Kelly, C. R. (2017). Donald J. Trump and the rhetoric of ressentiment. Quarterly Journal of Speech, 103(1–2), 43–65. https://doi.org/10.1080/00335630.2016.1260768

New York Magazine. (2020). Deported Americans: ICE’s detention of U.S. citizens. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2020/10/ice-deporting-u-s-citizens.html

Osborne, D., Sibley, C. G., & Barlow, F. K. (2023). The psychological causes and societal consequences of prejudice during the Trump presidency. Journal of Social Issues.

Pitzer, A. (2024). Trump’s massive deportation plan echoes concentration camp history. Scientific American.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/trumps-massive-deportation-plan-echoes-concentration-camp-history/

Ruisch, B., & Ferguson, M. J. (2022). Prejudice trends among Trump supporters. PubMed. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35137491/

Santos, R., & Jost, J. T. (2024). Support for the MAGA agenda: Race, gender, and authoritarianism in the United States. Political Psychology.

Manson, J. H. (2022). Why some people follow authoritarian leaders—and the key to stopping it. Scientific American.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-some-people-follow-authoritarian-leaders-and-the-key-to-stopping-it/

TRAC Reports. (2023). Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention data. Syracuse University. https://trac.syr.edu/immigration/detentionstats/

Wolf, L. J., Gray, K., & Osborne, D. (2025). The authoritarian dynamic and support for anti-trans legislation. Psychology of Political Behavior.